February 23, 2004, Its the Economy, Stupid
Jim Capozzola of Rittenhouse Review takes exception to an article by Virginia Postrel in which she contends that the jobless situation is better than is widely perceived by the stupid public because while most of us think "in the box" (my quotes) about stupid things like factories and hospitals and other large things that employ lots of people, which are either shutting down or shifting their functions to Bangalore and Beijing, we should be offsetting this by including "successful" new sources of economic activity-- and Jim's favorite example (and mine) is... manicurists. (Apparently, a spate of manicure shops seem to have sprouted up in Dallas, I guess...)
As I noted in an e-mail to Jim, Ms. Postrel forgot other 21st century success stories, the sorts of exciting new businesses that are springing up all over America's most vibrant economic sector: the ghetto. Surely, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has its head up its ass in failing to count workers in such vibrant fields as off-the-books day care, construction and food service, flat tire repair, bottle and can recycling, handyman, and of course, the most lucrative cash source in this vibrant sector, the friendly, neighborhood corner drug dealer.
In George W. Bush's America, if you're rich, you deserve a tax break, because you deserve EVERYTHING you have, even if it was handed to you by your Daddy or even if you stole it. And of course, if you're poor, well-- you deserve that too.
Neo-Victorianism with a pretty face, perhaps, but neo-Victorianism nonetheless. Have we not prisons and workhouses?
Comments
I was stunned by Postrel's essay. She mentions manicurists, but my thoughts turned to that highly lucrative profession ... shoe shining!
Also, we've been hearing more and more from conservatives that employment is being undercounted because many people are working at home. Trouble is, very few are the "computer consultant telecommuting". It's more like folks doing piecework - like knitting potholders.
In fact, when you look at 3rd world countries - those without a substantial manufacturing or service economy - you find lots of people working at home. And this is something conservatives hail as a positive step?
Posted by Quiddity at February 23, 2004 12:16 PM
Obviously you haven't seen all the nail places that crop up, at least one per block, in just about every neighborhood in every NYC outer borough. Of course, half of them are now being supplanted by mobile phone outlets...
Posted by Elayne Riggs at February 23, 2004 06:50 PM
Oh puhleeze guys, what popped into my mind was that oldest of professions....
Posted by Diana at February 23, 2004 10:19 PM
Now that you brought it up, Diana.
Do you have any recommendations?
I just got out of the joint.
Posted by Waggles at February 24, 2004 01:26 PM
Have you considered a serious response to Postrel? Her point is that the official statistics miss hundreds of thousands of self-employed people. I have no idea if that's true or not but it seems important if it is. If someone is making $20-50000 pa as a self-employed manicurist, how exactly is that worse than making $20-50000 pa sewing garments in a factory?
Posted by DBL at February 24, 2004 01:41 PM
responding to the next-to-last paragraph: the attitude that if you're rich it's because you deserve it (God loves you) and if you're poor it's because you are a bad person--it's the old Puritan ethic. We've never managed to shake it and it underlies our entire economic life with its assumptions that the wealthy are good and the poor are bad because God's punishing them. They must be lacking in their work habits or personal attributes and that's why they're poor. If only they would learn to work hard and save their money....sound familiar?
Posted by Sarah at February 24, 2004 02:11 PM
You know, my people responded to the opportunities of the Great Depression of the 1930s by selling apples and pencils. We're quite famous, ya' know? Every newsreel of that period shows us out plying our trade. Take poverty and misfortune sitting down? No, siree! We went out and started our own businesses. We were Republican poster children!
Sad thing is, Ms. Postrel doesn't see the irony about which she writes.
Posted by r. Houston Bridges at February 25, 2004 01:06 AM
I think the real point behind this, and the dustup a couple of weeks ago over the home employment surveys, is that the Bush administration is trying to take credit for growing the underground economy. From their viewpoint, this has the benefit of being unverifiable.
Posted by LowLife at February 25, 2004 08:30 AM
DBL do you know any manicurists that are making as much as 20,000 a year. It is like Avon lady work.
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