Let Them Work!

Alot can be said about work: “I love my job”, I hate my job”, “I don’t want to go to work today”, “I really love the work I do”, “my work is my passion”, “I can’t wait until I retire”.

Regardless of the many ideas surrounding it, work is one of the foundations of our existence: it’s how we provide for ourselves and our families, it’s how we accomplish things, it’s how we contribute valuable services and products to our communities and the world at large, it gives us a sense of purpose that we can carry out every day, and it can be a great source of accomplishment - nothing better than finishing a day on the job and stepping back to take pride in a job well done.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, “There were 7.7 million people not in the labor force who wanted a job in July. This figure is down from 8.2 million in June and 9.0 million in May. (The monthly that dates back to 1994 reached a series high of 9.9 million in April 2020.) Despite declining each month since April, this measure was still more than one and a half times as large as in February (5.0 million).”

In view of these statistics, there seems to be a definite need to work in this society, whatever the reason(s).

To inspect the aspect of work a little further, I’d like to frame it in this context: work is the act of exchanging one’s talents, skills, expertise and/or time so that in return, one receives money. One can then go out into the world and exchange this money for goods and services to provide for themselves and their families. I think this is a workable definition and one that could easily be applied to small businesses, corporations, governments and countries.

Now what happens when someone can’t work due to not-so-uncommon events in the business of living: a company lays off employees due to competitive pressures, economic downturns or poor management, or sometimes a person will get sick or injured, pulling them off the job. Given that these are more of a natural occurrence, there are facilities in place to take care of them: unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, worker’s compensation and disability insurance.

Now what happens when one is not allowed to work due to a global pandemic such as COVID-19. For sure not a common occurrence, at least in the US, not since the Flu Pandemic of 1918. What happens when one is willing and able to work but can’t because a governmental decision prevented one from doing so?

Before I proceed, I want to be clear that this is not a political statement of support or non-support of some political party or an effort to lay blame on what our political leaders did or didn’t do; rather it’s just a commentary on the way events played out.

I will say that I’m a proponent of the least amount of government that is necessary and policies that support minimal intervention in the lives of its citizens. In this particular circumstance, I believe that we all would have been better served if we each, individually or collectively, were allowed the decision as to whether or not to keep our businesses open or closed.

It seems to me that if we each have demonstrated the ability to gain employment or have created a business out of nothing, and additionally we’re exchanging our skills, talents and time accordingly, then we have demonstrated the necessary competence, experience, and the requisite reasoning to evolve a balanced response to the Coronavirus on our own. After all, we are the ones on the front lines of our lives and so are better positioned to put forth a solution that embraces both the preservation of life and the need to work, and as such, would be in the best interest of our loved ones, our communities, our businesses and our country.

Work is in our DNA, it gives us a sense of who we are as is evidenced by one of the most common questions asked of us “what do you do for a living?” and so to unilaterally cut across such a strong impulse can only result in unfavorable consequences, as is evidenced, in part, by a ballooning national debt, political and societal polarization and social services burdened beyond their ability to respond.

Hold the line!