I wanted to share a very insightful comment from this article from the Guardian on jobs data.  Comments sections are most typically filled with the most vile idiocy to be found anywhere on the internet, so instead of asking you to read through them, I’ll post this wonderful thought from user Newbunkle here:

The general public didn’t decide to strip themselves of the ability to share this planet and it’s natural capital. They didn’t decide to limit themselves to the opportunities other people allow them to have, instead of using a share of our resources to create their own. They didn’t decide to hand massive power and privilege to an unelected minority they then have to “compete” with.

 

This is a situation produced artificially by those who think other people exist to indulge their sense of entitlement. It has serious consequences for the people who find themselves disempowered and at the mercy of those with the control.

 

It’s rather like an abusive husband keeping a tight grip on the household finances so he can control his wife – letting her have some cash when she “deserves it”, and reminding her that she’s worthless all the time to make her feel she can’t complain. That’s another thing this system’s supporters like to do – demonise the jobless and accuse them of thinking too highly of themselves if they complain about their exploitation.

 

People have a right to a job because nobody should need the permission of anyone else to be active in our economy. Anyone who wants to work should have their share of our resources to do that with. They shouldn’t have to go begging to people who think they deserve special rights to control our resources and opportunities.

 

But that’s the point isn’t it? If people had to co-operate with others instead of having power over other people’s lives, they wouldn’t be able to sit back and leech off vulnerable people’s hard work. Scrounging employers are so used to their privileges they see them as normal, rather than the perversion of society they are. What a sick sense of entitlement.

 

Here is the link to the original comment for context.