The importance of a good job

SolitaryRoad.com

Website owner:  James Miller

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I think one of the most important concerns in life for anyone who does not have a good, secure, well-paying job is the question of the availability of good, well-paying jobs in his society, jobs that he could qualify for. This is true in particular for young people who are just out of school and just getting started in life. Unless they have parents who are willing to support them for the rest of their life, or they have inherited some large fortune, they need to find a decent job. Or find some way to support themselves by doing something (such as being a YouTuber). This basic fact of life is true around the world, in every country, whether you are talking about China, Russia, Great Britain, Egypt, Spain or some Latin American country.

Starting with the industrial revolution in the late 1700s science, technology and invention has been destroying large numbers of jobs and putting large numbers of people out of work, causing great personal stress and hardship in the process. Early examples are the spinning jenny and power loom. A spinning jenny could do the work of dozens of traditional spinners. The same was true for the power loom.

In recent times we have had the inventions of the computer, robots, and now Artificial Intelligence. I would say that Artificial Intelligence is going to destroy a gigantic number of jobs, especially office type jobs, white collar jobs. Certainly I can understand young people being very anxious and concerned about what it all means for them. When I was a young person I had a particular personality quirk that was of concern for me: I was slow. I was slow in everything I did. I could just see myself, once I got out into the work world, being fired from one job after another for being too slow. After being fired from a couple of jobs, finding jobs probably becomes more and more difficult. We live in a survival-of-the-fittest, dog-eat-dog world. Fears like that can give rise to a lot of dark, gloomy thoughts. That was why I felt that getting a college degree in a good field was important to me.

We live in a world of thousands of specialties and specialists. How easy it is to get a job in a particular speciality is determined by the law of supply and demand. See The Law of Supply and Demand. If there are few vacancies in a particular speciality and a lot of applicants the chance of landing a job is likely to be low and the wage is likely to be low. If there are many vacancies and few applicants, finding a job is likely to be easy and the wage is likely to be high. What the wage is is also dependent on how much skill and education is required for the job. If the skill and education requirements are high as with a spine surgeon, the pay is likely to be high. If little or no skill is required and the education requirements are few as in a job working as a waiter in a restaurant, the pay is likely to be low.

I can just see many young people who have just graduated from high school, who are not planning to attend college, being very apprehensive about how they are going to make a living in life. The career route that occurs to many is the military and many join the military. With America’s tendencies for getting involved in the affairs of countries around the world and getting itself involved in wars — and knowing that most soldiers retire after only 20 years of service which means they will retire when they are only in their early forties — and knowing how so many veterans suffer afterward with injuries of one kind or another — I wouldn’t choose the military. (It can be difficult finding a decent job when you are in your forties.) I suppose that if I were looking for a job without a college degree I would try to get into some specialized occupation such as plumber, electrician, hairdresser, carpenter, or cook.

Anyway, automobiles, airplanes and modern conveniences such as central heating, air conditioning, electric lights, telephones, and internet are all very nice but what is as important as a good job?

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ChatGPT question: What is the unemployment rate in different countries of the world?

Answer: Unemployment rates vary a lot from country to country depending on economic structure, growth, labor laws, and demographics. Here’s a snapshot of recent (2025 est.) unemployment rates from the International Labour Organization (ILO), IMF, and World Bank data (approximate, since rates change monthly):

Low Unemployment (<4%)

Qatar: ~0.1%

Thailand: ~1.0%

Japan: ~2.5%

Switzerland: ~2.5%

Singapore: ~2.8%

United States: ~3.9%

Moderate Unemployment (4–8%)

United Kingdom: ~4.5%

Canada: ~5.5%

Australia: ~4.3%

Germany: ~5.0%

Brazil: ~7.5%

China (urban surveyed): ~5.2%

High Unemployment (8–15%)

Turkey: ~9.2%

South Africa: ~12% (official, much higher if including discouraged workers)

Spain: ~11.5%

Italy: ~8.5%

Egypt: ~10%

Very High Unemployment (>15%)

Nigeria: ~33% (youth unemployment especially high)

Sudan: ~25%

Palestinian Territories: ~25–30%

South Africa (broad measure): ~32%

Yemen: ~30%+

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How do people survive who are unemployed? There are different possibilities. They might be working but are simply reported as unemployed. They could be on a pension. They might be living self-sufficiently out in the country growing their own food. Or they might be on government welfare.

According to the above Nigeria has approximately 33% unemployment.

ChatGPT question: How do unemployed people of Nigeria live?

Answer: How do unemployed people of Nigeria live?

From the above answer we see that, if they have to, people can survive living a self-sufficient life out in the country.

16 Sept 2024