A Job Guarantee is one of the single most powerful climate policies a government could implement. Why? Because once the question of employment is off the table, we can have an open conversation about scaling down destructive industries.
Let's clear up a few things about the JG:
1. The JG is about public use-value (not private profit), organized around actual community needs, and is paid a living wage.
2. It is the *opposite* of bullshit jobs. There is a tremendous amount of actually important work to do: care work, local food, essential services, energy transition, and ecological regeneration.
3. Creating guaranteed opportunities for meaningful, well-paid work that actually contributes to society would enable people to walk away from extractive industries.
4. I'm a fan of UBI too, don't get me wrong. And the two are not mutually exclusive. But the JG is hugely popular, supported by more than 70% of voters.
In chapter 5 of Less is More I explain how a JG could enable a rapid transition to an ecological, post-capitalist economy.
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