locally grown

[kandrathe]

Not so much negative as overly focused.

This takes me to a topic I have thought about quite a bit, but haven't wrapped my brain around totally. That is, how many people are *really* necessary?

We need people to;

1. grow, and package our food<>
   
2. collect and process raw materials for homes, clothing, packaging<>
   
3. transport food, materials, products around<>
   
4. design, build and maintain our infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.)<>
   
5. leaders, administration, and other organizational specialists<>
   
6. educate people to perform the above<>
   
7. health care for people who need it<>
   
8. protect/defend peoples rights and liberties<>
   
9. and probably some others I didn't think of...<>
   [st]But, you see what I'm getting at here. Going to Maslow's Pyramid of Need again, there are certain requirements within society that meet everyones lowest needs to remain fed, clothed, sheltered and cared for as needed.
   
   My gut tells me that the percentage of the population that is *really* needed in our efficient society is probably quite small. Which means that probably a majority of us are engaged in additions to culture or sciences being either productive (inventor, applied science), or b) unproductive (clown, entertainer). Or, maybe there are also c) unproductive other *frivolous* occupations (e.g. insurance salesman, toy inspector ). I happen to be doing a big project for a property/casualtyfe insurance company who employs over 200,000 people. But, I'm asking that question, "Do people really need this insurance?" Maybe, when they are exposing themselves to risks they cannot afford.
   
   The movie Wall-E takes one view of what happens when everything becomes automated, but if you think of it another way... What if almost everyone were highly trained, "self actualized" and contributing to either culture or science? That is, peoples occupations only ever added to culture or pushed at the boundaries of knowledge.
   
   So, then, playing with the science fiction Utopian fantasy a little more... The ultimate socialist fantasy would be where population growth was zero, education and health care was free, food, clothing, and shelter and all other necessities were virtually free or free. Think of a life long all expenses paid vacation to the tropics.
   
   However, we capitalists know that what is missing is the cruel motivation of the wolf howling at the door, or the drive to lift oneself up from a tiny urban house on the busy road to a nicer one with a shady backyard, or the dream of retiring from the hula hoop factory with enough savings to live out our remaining days in medium comfort and little worry.
   
   Then also, from a societal point of view, the only jobs that the government should really care about keeping from "unemployment" are the really necessary ones. All the others have no impact on our well being at all, only on the amount of culture, science, or frivolous nonsense tossed about. However, since these majority of unnecessary people still need to "do their dance" to get paid to be able to afford the necessities we artificially over value what they do, at least in paying their unemployment and such.
   
   I think this is maybe the problem I'm wrestling with. What happens to our world when almost everyone realizes that it really doesn't matter if they are employed or not. When only a few jobs are necessary, then many, many jobs become optional where people engage in them to pay the bills. Then, back to the environment, it is an issue that all this optional unneeded effort is also used to consume resources to produce mega tons unneeded things.