Transcript of the Podcast Episode
Welcome to Jonathan’s Verdicts. I’m Jonathan Simeone. The title for this episode is: A Jobs Guarantee Makes Sense. The verdict for this episode is: guaranteeing every American who wants a job a job isn’t radical.
Some of the benefits of everyone who wants a job having one include:
- Fewer people getting government benefits
- Government collecting more taxes
- More projects getting done
- More Americans having the dignity that comes with work
There are two factors that must also be considered:
- There are currently about seven million jobs in the American workforce that employers want filled that aren’t filled.
- Only about 75 percent of the working-age population is working.
So, we have millions of jobs unfilled. We have a crumbling infrastructure. Large areas lack broadband. Millions of Americans aren’t working.
Given those realities and the benefits that would come from a guaranteed jobs plan, how can you intelligently argue against a guaranteed jobs plan?
During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt introduced a host of jobs programs. Those programs created new roads and parks, brought electricity to millions and did much to modernize America. All of that while providing millions of Americans decent jobs.
After the Great Depression, the will for government-provided jobs through projects that invest in America disappeared. Over time, our infrastructure began crumbling, areas of our country fell further behind, and good working-class jobs became much harder to find.
If America adopted a guaranteed jobs plan that promised a living wage and union protection, millions of working-class people would find the kind of work they want, our communities would revitalize and modernize, fewer people would need benefits, and America would be a much better place to live.
Oh yeah, millions of Americans would choose these good government jobs over the low-wage, little to no benefit jobs offered by corporations. Oops, I think I answered my question. The idea of a guaranteed jobs plan is regularly criticized because corporations want to continue exploiting American workers.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Jonathan’s Verdicts. I appreciate your support.
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