The time has come to admit that a large number of people have fallen through the cracks that formed in our economy under the years of exploitation by the oligarchs. The cash economy has absorbed more people in the past several decades than we ever knew we were losing from the taxpaying public. Building an economy through job growth may only be possible if we begin to expend dollars on getting things done that no one will make any money on. One job that has needed to be done for a long, long time is rebuilding soils. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of jobs could be created by simply offering soil stewardship and restorative agriculture classes for farmers. Building the soils would benefit generations to come and considering how badly we need to address ecological issues, starting the ecological recovery needs to start from the ground up.
Second, we need a much larger cadre of well-trained rapid response teams that have been trained for search and rescue as well as remediation of ecological disasters. like with the massive breach of the underground storage facility in California, currently spewing billions of cubic feet of methane into the atmosphere. Letting corporate players continue to play fast and loose with public health, ecological quality and to fumble at every opportunity can not be allowed to stand. We need to take river clean up to the next level, moving up through watersheds and protecting sensitive areas all along the way. We need to at least afford nature the protection we would wish to have for all people as well. Securing riverbanks from erosion, investing in the reforestation of significant portions of headwater areas and limiting disturbances on both steep slopes and groundwater recharge areas will help as well.
Third, we must bring back ecologically inspired legislation of the type and kind that used to exist in Wisconsin. for instance, when wells are tested and they are found to be contaminated, surrounding wells need to be tested for the same contaminants to determine how extensive the contamination of the water table is and get a handle on possible sources of contamination so that the best course for remediation and how to place responsibility can be determined. Otherwise, we are all just taking shots in the dark.
Fourth, teachers need support, not further removal of resources. We could easily triple the number of teachers and in twenty years the adults who benefited from the extra attention would pay our investment back hundreds of times over in both productivity and insight. We continue to try to save money in areas that have the highest return on investment, only because the benefits of living in an educated society accrue to everyone, not just a select few. The levels of mathematical illiteracy are overwhelming. Recently we saw in real time the level of distraction caused by a larger than average lottery pay out. Think if all the hours spent discussing what we would have done if we had won would have been put into getting actual work done.
Sticking with my format, I should include a fifth element in an effective jobs plan. This will be especially important with instituting single payer health care. Many, many more jobs will need to be created. Imagine how much more satisfying it would be for people to do productive work than having to tell people who have religiously paid insurance premiums that their bills are not covered. We need to accept that many current jobs, like the 400,000 lobbyists who ride herd and help write pending legislation in Congress and the large numbers of people involved in the shell games of think tanks and superpacs have more costs than benefits. We need to have our eyes on whether jobs that are created are for the further enhancement of those who have been winning the class war for decades or if they indeed are beneficial to society as a whole.
In this day and age, just getting paid is not enough to convey whether our job has purpose or meaning. Indeed, the two bear virtually no relationship to one another. I would go so far as to say that for those who volunteer, there is far more value in the work they do for free than there is in what brings home a paycheck. This is a situation that needs immediate and sustained attention. I also am loathe to suggest that government is the solution to every problem, but it can provide a safety net against exploitation and being lied to by our employers. We also need to remain vigilant and understand the growth industries as they become apparent. The last few years have seen more people go into farming than at any other time in our history. That means that there is a need for support services for young farmers and part of this could be provided through government subsidies for both internships for future farmers and mentors who have proven their exemplary land management skills, state of the art science regarding restorative agriculture and how to minimize off farm inputs while increasing plant health, stabilizing environmental conditions and increasing production.
Second, we need a much larger cadre of well-trained rapid response teams that have been trained for search and rescue as well as remediation of ecological disasters. like with the massive breach of the underground storage facility in California, currently spewing billions of cubic feet of methane into the atmosphere. Letting corporate players continue to play fast and loose with public health, ecological quality and to fumble at every opportunity can not be allowed to stand. We need to take river clean up to the next level, moving up through watersheds and protecting sensitive areas all along the way. We need to at least afford nature the protection we would wish to have for all people as well. Securing riverbanks from erosion, investing in the reforestation of significant portions of headwater areas and limiting disturbances on both steep slopes and groundwater recharge areas will help as well.
Third, we must bring back ecologically inspired legislation of the type and kind that used to exist in Wisconsin. for instance, when wells are tested and they are found to be contaminated, surrounding wells need to be tested for the same contaminants to determine how extensive the contamination of the water table is and get a handle on possible sources of contamination so that the best course for remediation and how to place responsibility can be determined. Otherwise, we are all just taking shots in the dark.
Fourth, teachers need support, not further removal of resources. We could easily triple the number of teachers and in twenty years the adults who benefited from the extra attention would pay our investment back hundreds of times over in both productivity and insight. We continue to try to save money in areas that have the highest return on investment, only because the benefits of living in an educated society accrue to everyone, not just a select few. The levels of mathematical illiteracy are overwhelming. Recently we saw in real time the level of distraction caused by a larger than average lottery pay out. Think if all the hours spent discussing what we would have done if we had won would have been put into getting actual work done.
Sticking with my format, I should include a fifth element in an effective jobs plan. This will be especially important with instituting single payer health care. Many, many more jobs will need to be created. Imagine how much more satisfying it would be for people to do productive work than having to tell people who have religiously paid insurance premiums that their bills are not covered. We need to accept that many current jobs, like the 400,000 lobbyists who ride herd and help write pending legislation in Congress and the large numbers of people involved in the shell games of think tanks and superpacs have more costs than benefits. We need to have our eyes on whether jobs that are created are for the further enhancement of those who have been winning the class war for decades or if they indeed are beneficial to society as a whole.
In this day and age, just getting paid is not enough to convey whether our job has purpose or meaning. Indeed, the two bear virtually no relationship to one another. I would go so far as to say that for those who volunteer, there is far more value in the work they do for free than there is in what brings home a paycheck. This is a situation that needs immediate and sustained attention. I also am loathe to suggest that government is the solution to every problem, but it can provide a safety net against exploitation and being lied to by our employers. We also need to remain vigilant and understand the growth industries as they become apparent. The last few years have seen more people go into farming than at any other time in our history. That means that there is a need for support services for young farmers and part of this could be provided through government subsidies for both internships for future farmers and mentors who have proven their exemplary land management skills, state of the art science regarding restorative agriculture and how to minimize off farm inputs while increasing plant health, stabilizing environmental conditions and increasing production.
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