6 Jobs For All.
6 Jobs For All.
“Does everyone consider themselves adequately employed?”
Jack Truly and the Professor sat on the verandah of the hotel. They had just returned from a two-day visit to a rural subsistence-farming constituency and were now enjoying a quiet sundowner as they reviewed the experiences they had had and watched the passing traffic, vehicular and pedestrian, plying back and forth. Ah! said the Professor, This is indeed a pleasant land.
Truly:- We saw how the homeless street people are employed in the cities. Now we have seen something of life in the rural areas. What I don’t fully understand is the employment situation out there? Does everyone consider themselves adequately employed, or to put it slightly differently, do they see themselves adequately provided with careers?
Professor:- The situation is very good actually because it meets their aspirations, and that is what counts. As Socrates analyses a society, he would say it was a ‘just’ society because all people at their own level give attention to their own business without interfering with other people. Yes, you could say there is full employment in The Good Country. There is a sensible mix of capitalist and socialist philosophy, so the state caters for the needs of the less well-equipped — less well-equipped in education and skills, that is — while private enterprise absorbs the more-qualified.
Truly:- That’s not a new trick — it’s been attempted in many places but never very satisfactorily. That’s why there is constant interchange between labour governments and conservative/capitalist regimes. No-one seems to hit the right mix.
Professor:- Well they have here — hit the right mix, I mean. The secret is that they allow population categories to find their own level. There is a determined and lasting hatred of manipulation of any section by another.
Truly:- Example?
Professor:- Well, the rural people have for generations lived in wattle and daub houses. In any other economy, ‘big-business,’ aided and abetted by government, would attempt to persuade them of the merits of ‘proper’ houses — such as cement or brick under corrugated iron. That provides profit for the macro operators. Here in The Good Country, local entrepreneurs are encouraged to extend on the design and quality aspects of wattle-and-daub building and provide affordable housing to the people. You saw some examples of really
magnificent houses in the community, did you not?
Truly:- Yes, I saw that and was struck with the thought of how well they make use of locally available materials, which must be good for the environment!
Professor:- Yes, of course. There was another very good example out there. In fact, you probably noticed it before this from the air when we flew into The Good Country. What struck you?
Truly:- I don’t know if you mean the dry-stone walls all over the place?
Professor:- Yes, I do. When we passed over South Africa, what did you see? — large open tracks of sparse grassland with broken fences, yes? By contrast, this place looks like Ireland from the air — neatly walled fields. These are differences brought about by the basic philosophy of catching resources at their least ‘manufactured’ state which, in this case says that conversion of sunlight to
vegetable matter, vegetable matter to meat-on=hoof, meat to human energy is a wasteful practice — so grow and eat more vegetables and fruit and less meat, and you have a better environment, and in the end a healthier population — and several other benefits. Think of lower healthcare costs, less ozone depletion because of less methane gas released from animal dung (you know about the damage being done to the countryside and environment in the ‘traditional’ areas in South Africa by their large beef herds and flocks of goats?), less erosion of topsoil because of fewer cloven hooves trampling and trampling all over, less desertification due to short-cropping of grass and shrubs by voracious sheep and goats. And – (the Professor gave Truly a big smile) – it also leads to work for dry-stone wall builders, as you noticed from the air.
Truly:- I won’t ask Why not wire fences?, because I already know the answer! Stone is a natural product, available abundantly locally, and well within the skills potential of rural workers! I must admit that is clever.
Professor:- Yes, but the really clever part is in the governmental philosophy which sees it, allows it, and encourages it. That’s the secret. You see, most other countries we know live and die by the maximise-profit motive — the more sophisticated you can make a thing, the more processing there is, the more it contributes to the life-style of the rich. And part of that process involves
brainwashing the less sophisticated persons into believing that if they haven’t got ‘it’ they haven’t got life. Advertising, of course, is largely to blame for the internal spiritual poverty of people.
Truly:- But, Professor, there must be a place for technology and general scientific advancement? There must be a place for education, for the aspirations of the bright and eager?
Professor:- Of course there is! You see that in the towns and cities, you also see it in some other rural farming areas where every conceivable high tech machine and system is in use. Remember the principle — allow peoples to find their own level and encourage development from there. Many a rural family has produced sons and daughters who today are leaders of industry, independently wealthy people. The point I’m trying to get through to you is, Take care not to make people feel guilty about being where they want to be. That’s negative! Just provide every help when they start to move themselves in a better direction. That’s positive! Remember what we saw in Homeless Park? — well the same principle applies at every level. Help those who want to move, while catering for the basic requirements of those who haven’t the vision yet.
There was a pause in the conversation while the Professor gazed intently at Jack Truly to see his reaction.
Professor (continuing):- Make no mistake about it, Jack — there is a place in any society for the wealth-creators, and the people of The Good Country understand this. You will find very little evidence of jealousy in the poorer people. A long time ago, a poor women said ‘Even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.’ That was in quite another context, but the principle applies universally — the poor need the rich as much as the rich need the poor. A just society goes out of it’s way to limit the damage caused
by excessive greed on the one hand, and blind envy on the other. They
manage that quite well here.
Truly (his brow knit in deep thought):- The stone hedges we saw from the air weren’t only around fields. The roads and railway lines also had stone walls running most of their length.
Professor:- Yes — that’s part of the scheme. Despite numerous attempts to privatise the rail and national road networks, the government consistently and persistently refuses. You see, apart from the fact that these networks link all communities, they are labour intensive industries. The state uses them to provide employment for the least skilled members of the community, but they also encourage the entrepreneurs among them. The building and maintenace of the stone hedges is contracted out to teams of workers who live and move with
the site as work progresses. Local landowners are quite happy for stone to be collected from their property, and have the benefit of their animals being separated from the roads and rails by stone hedges which are surer than fencing.
Truly (taking a long, thoughtful, drink from his glass):- The railways seem to be quite busy compared to other countries. I see passenger trains passing up and down all the time.
Professor:- That’s another story! You see, basic passenger train transport for the poorer people is heavily subsidized by the state (those who can afford it can pay for a higher level of service on the trains). This has positive spin-offs. Firstly, mobility is a need and a right of the poorest members of the community, and it also encourages commerce. And secondly, it reduces the need for motorcars and buses. That is good for the environment. The abundant system of
tracks required for passenger transport, also makes goods-traffic by rail a viable option, and that reduces the need for heavy lorries — which is good for the environment and for the roads.
Truly:- Stop! Stop! You are overloading me with truth! My brain is overtaxed in trying to find fault with it all!
They both had a good laugh, and went inside to get ready for dinner.
