Why do we assume everyone should be working?
This opinion piece questions the societal assumption that everyone must be employed, arguing that labor is a resource that should not be forced into use. The author suggests that current economic systems rely too heavily on wages for survival, potentially ignoring cases where non-employment might be more efficient.
Why it matters
It challenges fundamental economic dogmas regarding full employment and the role of social safety nets in an era of technological advancement.
I was talking to a friend of mine and I asked this. She said “of course everyone should be working, I mean, I’d like to be able to buy more stuff”
In that statement though there really is a non obvious implied logic. So the next question: does economics support that statement always? That if we want more stuff, and better lives, everyone should be working harder? No, only sometimes; in economics, utilizing a resource to it’s fullest at all times is not a given. Labor is a resource, like water, and yet we do not drain the oceans with the same fervour as we employ people, trying to find a job for every drop.
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