On an annual visit, Rudy’s doctor half-heartedly
quipped, “If all our patients were as healthy as you, we’d be unemployed.”
Realizing his faux pas, he grabbed Rudy’s forearm and added in a sober tone,
“Don’t repeat that to anyone around here.”
@
Indulge me while I advocate the devil's position. No one running for public office openly embraces we promote lingering high unemployment. Many run on platforms boldly proclaiming "I've introduced new legislation to address this problem." Voilà! Problem (almost) solved as if the solution was that simple, or perhaps even desired.
In reality, no amount of legislation will fix high unemployment. The root problem
is systemic. Oh sure, a major federal works program would provide transitory
relief, but nothing long-term sustainable.
Who among the
employed wants to cure it? Surely not those benefiting from the misfortune of others.
Furthermore, the unintended occupational consequences are mindboggling, should
you care to ponder them.
Neither the government
nor Corporate America wants the problem fixed. All that’s required is for the gullible
to envision someone diligently working in a dark rabbit hole on a viable solution.
After all, a major benefit of high unemployment is a higher crime rate!
The promise of low
unemployment amounts to seductive rhetoric. It would cast a doomsday spell over
expanding law enforcement, staffing for the various judicial systems, homeland
security, private security firms, and social service agencies, to note the
obvious.
The less obvious
benefiters include trade schools, colleges, legal defense firms, mental health and
healthcare facilities, bureaus of unemployment services, the NRA, weapons
manufactures, many charitable foundations, publishers of self-help
publications, HUD, libraries, relief agencies, as well as various public and
private prison systems.
Lumped together,
these entities represent a chunk of the nation’s economy. Removing those “we’re here to help you” jobs from the labor
pool would only result in additional unemployment. Who in their right minds
would want to undermine that reality in exchange for returning to an agrarian,
go-it-alone, deal-with-it yourself society! Tea
Party perhaps?
In the distant past, a declaration of war helped goose
the economy by pressing the masses into military service. In turn, this helped
modulate higher unemployment. With the end of compulsory draft and nine-year
Vietnam War, that unemployment, quick-fix tool disappeared like Alice in
Wonderland tumbling down the rabbit hole.
Welcome to the altered
state of virtuous perception versus reality. Whatever you have come to believe about
the evils of unemployment, it amounts to a utopian, idealistic mirage.