So, over the past several years, I have watched as I pay more in taxes, and get less of a return on my investment. I pay things like the Alternative Minimum Tax, and yet I haven’t taken a vacation in four years. My student loan debt far outweighs (like 100-fold) the amount I can save at any one time. Now, I am not seeking sympathy, but I am setting the stage for the root of my frustration and the subject of my entry this week. So now, learned reader, I invite you to hate me for my “wealth” as I am about to rant on the non-working members of our society who are not of my elite, wealthy means.
I noted socialism in my subject for a reason – for those who won’t get the connection as you read. My frustration is at the lack of working among many in our society. From those sit at home milking unemployment, to people who claim they need welfare as a way to sustain their family – this is targeted to you. Get to work.
However, I understand some of the challenges you might face, so I am here to eliminate road blocks and help you on your way. My plan is simple – it only has a few moving parts, but I will type slowly so that the dimwitted can keep up – government administrators.
First, if you are on any public service, there is an immediate test, effective the day you apply for the services. We test aptitude and skills (physical and mental). The bottom line is that everyone can do something. When I served in the army, much of my personal gear was put together by something called the [Something] Lighthouse for the Blind. If a blind man or woman can sew a canteen holder together, an able bodied person can do something as well. This test will identify a temporary career field for you, from child care to bed-pan cleaner. You should be motivated to score well on this test, because if you don’t, you get the jobs routinely seen on Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs. You can catch it on Discovery, I think, and you won’t ever want to score low after one episode.
This first step (testing and evaluation) is critical, as it removes the road blocks. If a parent can’t work because they can’t find affordable child care, then guess what – The state will provide it with other parents who scored fairly high in these skill areas. We can likely staff all aspects of the day care with people who are currently on public programs. Wait, you claim the care is substandard? No problem – Work harder to find a better job, and pull yourself out. Otherwise, state day care is what you get. (However, with the right safeguards, State child care will be on par with many private programs very quickly.) Road block removed.
Second step – Enable the search for jobs. So we have a tested workforce, who we train for all of the work that no one else wants to do. Apply these test results against the larger employment opportunity set and start scheduling interviews – In five hours a week – and we will even pay you for your time. For example, take Bill. Bill is on welfare. I don’t know why, he just is. He takes the test and he is qualified for quite a bit. High school diploma, no criminal record, can lift heavy stuff, and wants to go to college. He has two boys who the state will care for during his shift at the hospital. We put him to work at the hospital re-stocking supplies for the ER. He works for 35 hours a week, paid by the Federal Government (and not hospital coffers) as a contribution to the hospital and the hopes of reducing health care. Bill has 5 hours during the course of the week, where he has to find a job – but we will help him here. We search the database and find that Bill is well suited for a position at the prison as a guard, a full time job at the hospital managing inventory or something else. Bill interviews and does well on all three interviews. He has to take one. But let’s assume that Bill is socially inept – it could happen. Bill fails all three interviews. Each interviewer has to provide Bill feedback and the US Government can help with career training. Why? Because Bill is providing a service to his nation by working for the hospital instead of just living on the dole.
So, we train Bill and in four months he gets tired of looking for new work. Sorry Bill, you have six months. Six months, or we down grade you. Down grading is horrible, because the lower tier of jobs – those reserved for our lowest scorers – are really low. Scooping muck from police department horse stables. Or cleaning out sewer drains. Or cleaning public toilets – which really need cleaning. This program is really an Out or Down program, meaning get off of the services b y finding an opportunity or get pushed down the ladder so someone else can have clean clothes at the end of the day.
Third – Monthly drug testing. Pretty simple step – Certified drug testing, for all people collecting public dollars. Smoke weed once? Warning. Second offense? Off the program entirely for a year. Best of luck, but we don’t need to pay people who break the law. Prisoners don’t get paid well, why should you? However, I will throw an exception – If you announce up front that you are an addict – We send you to 30 days of treatment plus an extra 5 hours per week for NA/AA meetings. And then you work. By the way, if you fall off the wagon with this sort of help, then you are out of luck. And off the program.
Fourth – Enforcement. This is fairly simple, and can be a real cost savings. Many of the companies who can benefit from this program by getting free or low cost labor will be motivated to help us enforce this. They get free labor and all they have to do is attest that Bill is showing up for work. And be subject to inspections. In addition, we track it mostly digitally. For example, another person, let’s call him Dave, goes on unemployment for the first six months. Fine, so he gets a short-term state-sponsored vacation. At the end of six months, when he reapplies for benefits for another 12, he joins the program. If you couldn’t find a job in six months of trying, then maybe you need an incentive, and mucking sludge can help you find that desire.
So, where Mr. Wealthy elitist do you find the money to pay for this, people might ask me. I don’t know but I have a hunch. My hunch tells me that if you take people off of welfare faster, you reduce costs. If you make welfare less attractive, then you reduce costs. If you make unemployment a short term help instead of a long-term vacation, then you reduce costs. And if you enforce this overall, costs drop as well.
I write this inspired by a friend from Bulgaria. He and I were talking (at work, no less) and he was laughing because a guy I let go was going to be able to collect unemployment. I didn’t understand his laughter, and so I dug deeper. His simple reply was – “I will never be unemployed”. I knew exactly what he meant. If it came to it, he would be at McDonalds earning $8.00 an hour before he would ask the government for help. His pride was too strong to accept handouts so long as he was able-bodied.
But wait learned author – What about those who are disabled – Again, I go back to the test. I know there are people who simply are so physically and mentally crippled that they cannot go to work. However, my baseline for who can and cannot go back to work is set fairly high. There are soldiers returning from Iraq, missing a leg – who return to command six months later. There are elderly people with deep arthritis but a deeper work ethic who sew flags for their sons and daughters. And don’t forget the blind people who made my canteen cover. If you are in crippling pain, then I understand. But the State doctors judge this, not the local quack.
So this is my simple plan – Inspired by many of the Philadelphia Project’s residents who own Lexus and BMWs and have big screen TVs visible through their cracked windows. Enough is enough – it is time for change and it starts with America getting back to work – Whatever that job is to make this country great. While I have never been truly poor, I have never been afraid of hard work. I earned my “status” in the wealthy class, so I only ask of those what I expect from myself. No excuses and hard work. . .
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