COVID-19 changed the way people live and work – especially the latter. Both work and employment, for many, no longer offer what they once did. Businesses struggle these days finding workers, leaving job slots empty, according to news reports. Is COVID-19 helping bring Copiosis to life?
People unwilling to return to work also fear health hazards of resuming work. And COVID is not the only fear. Many states already cut back or eliminated unemployment benefits, and stricter “means testing” in applying for benefits are coming soon.
The message is loud and clear: “GET BACK TO WORK (even if you make more on unemployment)! SERVE THE MACHINE!”
Amid COVID-19’s reign, some political leaders strain logical thought. For example, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick recently suggested that older people should be willing to die so the “economy‘ can live. Really?
Seen another way, economic arguments make sense. That’s why government and labor leaders worry so much today about giving people jobs. After all, jobs allow people income. Income turns people into economy cogs. The Puritan Work Ethic also makes jobs sacrosanct, even while machines take ever-larger bites out of our job inventories.
Good Luck Putting That Genie Back!
The fact is, a lot of people now know what Copiosis feels like and they like it.
Thanks to COVID-19, they escaped the grind, slowed down, reflected and reassessed what really matters.
Not surprisingly, most don’t want to go back. Not if it means slaving away at soul-draining, life-sucking, often meaningless jobs. Jobs that – for many – don’t pay enough.
Some leaders, such as Andrew Yang, call for a Universal Basic Income. Experiments in UBI are ongoing around the world, and so far, results are encouraging. However, while it is a reasonable stop-gap measure, it’s not a long-term solution. Not as long as our economies run on money and debt – two major problems Copiosis eliminates.
With money and debt eliminated, anything becomes possible – including societies where, instead of working for survival and meeting society’s expectations and demands, people work for their own satisfaction – or not at all.