"What about jobs?" people often ask to counter proposals to constrain some activity. Today's episode answers.

Here are the notes I read from:

What about jobs?
People out of work drain on society, not so happy
Store near me that sells trinkets
Of any value?
I'd prefer a hug, shoulder rub, or make me dinner
Many stages to make: plastic from oil, factory to make, transportation, store clerk
Factory, put near landfill
What about trucks and boats?
Better to drive and sail around in circles
Absurd, but actually better world paying to do worthless work with more hugs, shoulder rubs, and home-made dinners, oil in ground, people not displaced, skies clearer
Classic historical case of buggy whips
If legislated, people wouldn't die.
People out of work now clamor to work. People love to serve.
I don't know where people's faith in entrepreneurship goes. Constraints breed creativity.
Need problem to exist to solve it. If you wait for planned jobs to exist before demand, will never happen. If you keep going in counterproductive industries, we'll destroy Earth's ability to sustain life and society.
Economists are incredibly wrong in this area, especially free-market, Ayn Rand types.
I'm studying Edwards Deming. Japan: government and industry post WWII did what would be anticompetitive in U.S., but transformed nation and world, more happiness and products, no shortage of competition. Have you seen pictures of Sao Paolo before and after banning billboards.
So I'm pretty sure that if we outlawed just producing dioxins and PFOS and carcinogens and created some jobs programs to teach Initiative, which would be enough, or something better if you know, as other nations without our addiction problems do, we'd improve the world by everyone's standards, including the free-market, Ayn Rand types.
I think at the root is a belief that people want to be lazy. I just don't see it in at least 99%. If last 1% say 5% scare you, are you really going to let your fears of 5% of people drive economic policy to ecological ruin?
I would much rather have shoulder-rubs, dinner made for me, or to make dinner for her, hugs, and what entrepreneurs come up with than destroyed planet. Remember, all those trinkets mean extracting oil for materials, to drive factories, truck, boats, etc to deliver, $1.6B to haul away.

Also

Reddit post with many before and after pictures of Poland banning billboards

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On "AI & Entrepreneurship" - Interview with Peter Csathy