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During my paycheck days, when accompanied by my husband, recent acquaintances would ask what they considered a yes or no proposition. These many years hence, I submit the long version of an answer I felt compelled to squelch then.If someone asked me whether I had a job, I would have been ambivalent, but not outraged. Recalling my years of major activity from Twenty-Something to Sixty-Something I still believe I deserve a chance to explain the difference between working and just having a job. By the way, I consider myself now to have a part time job, albeit volunteer with hours of my choosing. I committed to editing for OpEdNews, despite not having drawn a paycheck since 1977.
Then, earning money was necessary for both my husband and me. We sustained comfortable living standards in return for what was sometimes rigorous activity when we had formal commitments to corporations. The corporations changed from time to time. However, our attitude toward the "boss" was determined before committing.
Consider persons and consider businesses. There is no comparison in positive net worth--leaving out who is the producer. (It riles to hear trickle-down proponents tell how entrepreneurs create jobs. Workers create production, based on their skills and attitudes, and companies hire those who will work for the wages/salaries to get the job done. Whether the finished output was precision springs or computer code, in most cases CEOs had only a vague notion how to perform the task they were paying the two of us to do.
There are huge ramifications coming from a time when the economy is broken. First, workers are without jobs. Second, they were stuck with the old firm in hopes of having pensions and lifetime health insurance. One only has to look at the likes of General Motors to realize that neither unions nor businesses are the kinds of corporations which can guarantee future events. Which gets people to the terrible predicament of reaching retirement age with sketchy prospects. As we discuss how private parties have made long term plans, we realize that federal government intervention can make both of them vulnerable--willing to come back to legislators for a fix.
In the current state of affairs, reassessing healthcare insurance is prominent. I ask whether corporations should be handling their employees' healthcare. Being past the paycheck stage, it would do little good for me to weigh in. I am of a generation of FDR reforms, but it does not make me believe that events since 1933 should be guidance for the future. I recognize that current legislation only handles reforms of business practices and does not address such larger questions as longevity, medical technology and global communication. What has not changed since my husband and I earned money after World War Two is that individuals must keep arms length from promises found in the handbook put out by a Human Relations Department. That includes being cautious concerning the establishment of a nest egg.
It is worthwhile to discuss greed and corruption of companies. I am not one to fault them completely. In a word, I'm a capitalist. For a person to invest in some form of capital is the only way to keep wheels turning. Being insignificant compared to big spenders, it requires endurance and prudence. When bubbles become the topic of the day, it behooves persons like me to watch the news. I watch my tiny holdings for trends, and I evaluate economic and political events. Through it all, there are no guarantees. It certainly makes any jobs symposium just another event. Perhaps I found it easy in the past not to plunge because I knew I was outranked. What I know now is that working is more than a paycheck. It can be as rewarding as helping a friend who, in turn, can return the favor by helping me. That's the way we saw things during the Great Depression!
