One of the key aspects of human efficiency is making decisions based on facts, data, and nonideological logic. This is a critical aspect of having an efficient government and political system. In this post, we will begin to look into the issue of jobs in the U.S.
The lack of jobs in this country is a growing problem which is having a serious impact on the middle class. Trump won the presidential election to a large extent by claiming to want to create jobs, but unfortunately his agenda is more in tune with eliminating them.
For example, in getting rid of regulations he was saying that they are “job-killers”. However, this is not the case. Most regulations have been implemented for a reason and it takes money and manpower to comply with them. Eliminating regulations will just cause companies to require fewer employees which will drive up their profits.
Bringing back jobs from overseas is a part of the solution to the problem of jobs. Reopening coal mines sounds good to coal miners but is not realistic.
The seriousness of the jobs situation in this country was recently highlighted in reports based on research about the surging death rates among poorly-educated, middle-aged whites due to distress related to the jobs situation. This is a growing problem for not just middle-aged whites but for many in this country. At the same time, retirement benefits are being eliminated and the social safety net is fraying.
There are really a number of problems and potential solutions involved in the jobs issue. These are:
- Filling the approximately 5.6 million unfilled jobs that exist in this country.
- The existing and accelerating issue of robots and automation replacing humans in many industries.
- The on-going issue of jobs going overseas.
- The shifting balance of wealth from employees to shareholders.
The next few posts will look at each of these issues in detail.
The problem of jobs in the U.S. is a real problem and unfortunately, it will get much worse in the future, as will be discussed. However, if it is handled right, the increased productivity due to job losses can be used to the advantage of workers and society if we allow the workers being displaced to benefit financially from this increased productivity, as is already being studied in more progressive countries like Switzerland.
In the short term, we need to fight the removal of critical regulations such as those that are protecting our environment, worker safety, and those insuring the financial responsibility of the banking industry.
The goal of these posts is to educate everyone about the true story behind issues that we are facing in this country. We can no longer allow ideology to make decisions for us when facts and data prove that we should be doing things differently.
Next: The Unfilled Jobs in the U.S.