But the jobs
So what’s the thinking here, that job-existence overrules all other considerations? That if people have jobs setting fire to California forests they must continue to have those jobs because otherwise it’s ayleetizm?
Of course if The Market closes down jobs that’s a whole other story, nobody cares about those workers, but if it’s a matter of shifting to less destructive forms of energy, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS RUN WILD.
Throughout history jobs have been created and jobs have gone away as times change, technology changes, etc. Many people who worked installing asbestos insulation took jobs in asbestos removal, for instance. Technology has destroyed a large number of jobs, and people have to adjust. It isn’t great that it happens, especially to older people who may have built up a long career and see it go away (I do think they should make sure to protect the pensions), but I have changed careers so many times I could get dizzy from contemplating it.
If we continue burning fossil fuels without stopping, a lot of jobs will go away because global warming will kill them off…and take a lot of us with it. That’s just reality. Sometimes you have to weigh the benefits against the costs, and try to minimize the costs as much as possible.
Things conservatives say you shouldn’t lose your job for:
1. Being in an industry that causes environmental problems
2. Being a racist, sexist, and/or insurrectionist idiot online
3. Competition from foreign imports during a Democratic administration
4. Not wanting to provide women with birth control.
Things conservatives say you can lose your job for:
1. Having any non-conservative views your employer doesn’t like
2. Trying to organize a union
3. Your employer’s desire to offshore or outsource your job
4. Bain Capital deciding to acquire and “restructure” your employer
5. Using birth control or having an abortion
6. Cheering for the wrong sports team… actually pretty much everything not included in the first list.
Conservatives (at least of a certain stripe) love to talk about the “creative destruction” of capitalism, yet when it’s one of their pet industries being destroyed, look out.
The message should be: protect people, not jobs. Yes, some people will lose their jobs as a result of these policies, but that argues for helping those people make it through, not for abandoning the policies. Provide them with health care, unemployment insurance, aid in job placement, retraining, pension protection, etc.
Of course, that way lies [Jaws theme plays]… socialism*.
*For people who don’t know what socialism is.
[…] a comment by Screechy Monkey on But the […]
It is either deliberate obfuscation or ignorance to suggest that to move from a manufacturing job in the oil industry to a manufacturing job producing solar panels requires that workers would need to “learn to code”. (Also solar panel manufacturing in the US is not a new thing: the photovoltaic modules in the system I installed at my home >10 years ago were built in Tennessee.)
Theo,
I’m not sure whether you’re being sarcastic or who it’s aimed at if you are, but in case not, “learn to code” is a reference to this: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/learn-to-code