10.01.04

I've been thinking.

I know, it's dangerous. I do wish I could quash the need to do it. I'd be so much happier. Not to say that my thoughts are particularly incisive, witty, or even pertinent--heavens no!--just that unthinking herd-following seems to be expected (and rewarded) behaviour.

Yeah. *ahem* I was thinking about my television studio classroom yesterday, and how strange it was. Not any more odd than children in the outback learning by radio, I know, but strange for this very populated area.

I was downtown yesterday, panhandlers in the street asked for change, cigarettes, whatever. "I'm unemployed, too!" I wanted to scream, "Lay off!"

I gathered my pennies together to go to the grocery store on my way back to the house. This grocery store has one of those self-checkout lanes.

Hang on, I'll get to a point eventually.

Self-checkout. Hmmm. That way the corporation that owns the store doesn't have to pay for pesky employees. They can continue to charge us full retail, while we do all the work. Oh, and let's not forget the "preferred customer" card. Like they're not selling (and profiting handsomely) from that buying information, while throwing a mere lagniappe of savings our way.

Gads.

What was my point?

Oh. I can't understand why we're outsourcing and eliminating jobs when we've got too many people and not enough jobs as it is. We're still a cash economy, bartering little, green pieces of paper for goods and services. If we eliminate the means for people to get the little, green pieces of paper, aren't we cutting ourselves off at the knees? Considering that the American middle class on the whole contributes more to the economy than any other class does it make sense to diminish this sector of the tax base? It's like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

To eliminate jobs without an adequate plan for re-directing labour doesn't make sense to me. Then again, I'm not an economist or politician.

*grin*

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