Get a Job

In reviewing many blogs and even in asking the question on Facebook, DocBrain has found no answer for job creation. Everyone just blasts those who are of different political camps. Progressives blame Bush, Republican Congress, and even Reagan. Conservatives blame the Democrat Congress and particularly the Democrat oversight of affordable housing. Everyone wants to blame the money-lenders (ie, Wall Street, Banks). But none of this actually answers the question: Where have all the jobs gone? And, more importantly, how can we get back to full employment with real jobs?

Obama seems to think that India can export jobs to America. India has mainly acted to import job fillers to America and to take jobs from America to India. Our problem is that population growth has outpaced job creation. This growth is through childbirth as well as legal and illegal immigration.

Some believe that public sector jobs are the answer, that Capitalism is the problem, but these people fail to explain how public sector employment will provide a sustainable solution. Indeed, there is no example of a public sector economy that has withstood the test of time.

A private sector economy that is hampered by taxes and regulations cannot compete against unhampered competitors on the world stage.

The solution to the economy is indeed political, since economic activity is subservient to political control through law, regulation, and corruption.

One of the myths of America is that it is "Can Do". Americans aren't victims, they are heroes. So, the concept of Americans as "vulnerable" doesn't compute with our self-image. Just give us an opportunity and we'll take it.

The new myth is of economic injustice, that the few wealthy victimize the many poor. This is a gross misunderstanding of human ethics and motives, and implies a bias among those who promote this myth. If one looks at the inequalities among people in terms of income, one will often find differences that explain this. A preoccupation with wealth distribution fails to understand that happiness, the ultimate goal of every human, is not mathematically directly related to wealth. A "fair" distribution of wealth (and of the labor, responsibilites, and dangers associated with it) would likely not increase happiness.

So, it gets back to jobs. Jobs that have social meaning, bettering the world, creating a win-win situation.

My prior post listed some possible solutions. We will see if we move in that direction. But if we don't, get ready for some more pain.

Land Ho!

Ever wonder why the election maps are red in the middle and blue on the edges? One possible explanation has to do with land ownership. People who own land tend to be more often conservative than progressive. They see moral good in the hard work required to care for land and its fruits. Their values carry over to the small towns, where merchants and small business owners also see good and prosperity tied to their own efforts.

As people get packed closer together, such as on the coasts, land ownership is not all that important, particularly in the larger cities. Indeed, many rent apartments and have only the personal goods of daily existence. Expecting others to provide support, they see government as the answer to the support they need and want to add value to their lives (ie, police, fire, transportation, public parks). With no land to tax and only personal possessions, they feel comfortable with higher tax rates.

Jobs and vulnerability

Progressives would have us believe that it is our duty to help the vulnerable. This is only half the story, as the vulnerable have a duty to help themselves to not be a burden on the rest of us.

Some say the vulnerable cannot help themselves because they have lost hope and blame this lost hope on unfairness.

DocBrain believes that loss of hope is most often tied to a practicality and not a principle. So, if you can't find a job, you will lose hope. But, if you are working and earning your way in the world and someone says something bad about you because of their prejudice, your emotional response will not be hopelessness.

So, DocBrain believes that the key to solving hopelessness is to find practical solutions by which people can help themselves.

For example, unemployment benefits solve hunger but actually increase hopelessness and helplessness. Much better is for a person to be easily able to find employment that allows for satisfaction of needs (not necessarily wants).

So, the problem comes down to having jobs available. What can we do to have more jobs available across the skill range? Surprisingly, there are few answers to this question, and none that have controlled trials to support the conclusions. Many of the answers are contradictory. For example, in one survey the #1 answer was for the government to work on infrastructure (roads, rail, etc) and the #2 answer was to cut government spending to allow more private sector job creation (37% vs 36%). So, we really don't scientifically have the answer.

Some ideas that make some sense

• Bring back tariffs for manufactured goods. This raises the price of goods but also keeps jobs here. In addition, the money spent is spent here and continues to recycle here.
• Cut government spending for unemployment and social programs
• Increase infrastructure spending
• Make it easier to hire people by removing barriers for employers (ie, minimum wage, health care coverage, unemployment taxes).
• Increase opportunity for private companies and individuals to do business in government held lands, with a share of the profits going back to the government.

I'm sure that there are many good ideas, but the idea of supporting the world from our economy and taxing a shrinking rich to fund an enlarging poor in the name of helping the vulnerable is not working.