this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2023
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Really?
Teachers and nurses are four times more productive than two generations ago?!
So they can have four times as many students and patients?
That's a recipe for neglect of kids and patients, and burn-out of teachers and nurses.
GDP has risen, yes. And the wealth should be more equally distributed, also yes.
But let's not lose track of common sense.
Total productivity has expanded fourfold in proportion to the size of the workforce.
The measure includes all workers in all sectors.
If you think such an advance is possible only by teachers and nurses having four times the case load, then it is you who is not applying common sense.
Indeed, farm workers in the US are ten times as productive as during the Second World War.
You are also being disingenuous to antagonize the claim of productivity rising, while yet acknowledging the rise in GDP.
GDP is simply the common measure of worker productivity, when adjusted per capita, and at times by purchasing power.
You are focusing on GDP instead of reality.
Reality is that we really need more people working jobs that are scarce. US GDP is double than that of the EU, but American living standards were better when we were at GDP parity.
So, as the Economist recently pointed out, Americans aren't getting much for their high GDP.
Americans of course are realizing all of the value corresponding to the high GDP. There is no one else to take it. American workers, however, are realizing vastly less. Most of the value generated by the labor of workers in the US, and of workers in every nation, is claimed as profit by the very tiny section of society that owns most of the business, and who are not providing labor that generated the wealth.
Perhaps it is the distinction between workers' wages and owners' profit, as the division of the entirety of wealth generated within society, that you are describing as "reality".
Based on your response, it appears you misunderstood my comments, as may be expected if you form your analysis from the Economist. The Economist supports the interests of business owners, which are mutually antagonistic with the interests of workers.
If workers realized a greater share of the value generated by their labor, then they would have more control over the conditions of their labor, and more freedom in their lives, as well as simply more enjoyment from higher wages. As such, in higher numbers they would seek to fill positions that are meaningful and substantive in terms of social value, including teaching and nursing, and more of such positions would be available.
Again, the shortcoming in your analysis is due to your believing the scarcity narrative, that because business owners insist on taking far too much, workers should be condemned to fight for scraps.