From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Thu Sep 11 1997 - 23:00:38 MDT
At 01:35 PM 9/10/97, Holly Pearson wrote:
>Yes. That is correct. Like I said, free-market economics is good for
>corporations, bad for people'.
This is a contradictory statement. At some level the cash flow of every
corporation ends up in the pockets of ordinary people.
>'But unemployment is very low - *that* is good for people.'
>
>Are you sure about that? How do you explain then that most people are
>working harder than ever before just to make ends meet? Real wages
>adjusted for inflation have been sinking for 25 years. Full-time benefited
>employment is decreasing at a dramatic rate, only to be replaced by
>part-time and temporary work. A recent poll showed that over 70% of
>working Americans feel they have less job security than ever before, are
more
>stressed out on the job, and are overworked. The 40-hour workweek is
>more like the 50 and 60-hour workweek for more and more people. This low
>unemployment has another ruthless edge called the free-market whose
>greatest success is driving innovation.
You make a number of unwarranted assumptions and judgements in the above.
First, low unemployment *is* good for people *especially* in a free market
economy. Low unemployment inevitably raises wages for the average worker,
as dictated by free market economics. The reason companies are willing to
pay me top wages is because involuntary unemployment is virtually
non-existent in my industry.
Second, you make the broad assumption that everyone wants to have
"Full-time benefited employment". I, for one, do *not* want full-time
corporate desk job. I have not been employed full-time in years and I keep
it that way. More and more people are taking this increasingly available
option. Many of my fellow professionals take between 2 to 6 months off per
year. Try and ask for that much time off from a company that gives
"Full-time benefited employment"! (I have to admit that I don't exercise
this option due to the fact that I seem to prefer stress as my environment
of choice.)
Thirdly, who cares if "70% of working Americans feel they have less job
security" when most working Americans also agree that job opportunities are
abundant.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:44:52 MST