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(5) The strength of being able to go unemployed without worry
I have always thought that an environment that allows people to go unemployed worry-free is crucial to enhancing the competitiveness of businesses. The reasons are as follows.
As I described earlier, one needs to undergo considerable trial and error in order to encounter a job that enables one’s potentials to blossom. This means that a person ― especially while he/she is young ― should be willing to accept unemployment to some extent and proactively go through trial and error, so as to find a job that enables his/her potentials to blossom admirably in the future.
If, however, unemployment means despair, a person will try to hold on to whatever job that he/she was able to land. In the end, this will not be so fruitful for the person, the company, or the society ― just leading to a widespread sense of fatigue.
Therefore, creating an environment that allows people to strategically go unemployed worry-free will lead to a strong society in the mid- to long term.
It is well known that creation of a [welfare] system that provides unemployment benefits steadily for a long period of time generates the problem of demotivating the unemployed. Such a system can be so comfortable for some recipients of the benefits that they become lazy and lose the motivation to find a job. That’s why we should shun such a system based on monetary unemployment benefits.
Rather, it is more desirable to design and arrange a system that prevents people from losing their pride upon unemployment ― a system that enables people to take the opportunity of unemployment to step closer to a job that fits them.
Unemployed people wake up in the morning to find that they have no place to go to work. This notably hurts their feelings. That’s why even the unemployed need a place to go to work every day, so as not to lose their pride.
If you have a field to tend, then at least you have work to do even when you become unemployed. If you can support yourself ― albeit at a minimum level ― by growing crops in the field, then you can receive job training or look for a job with a sense of security; in the end, unemployment will make you stronger. That’s why “farm work” and “soil” ― which is symbolic of “farm work” ― are the bases of the economies of individuals. They are the indispensable elements for saving ― in terms of work ― present-day Japanese, who are plagued with unemployment and lethargy.
“Start with Soil ― Ten-year Plan for Rebuilding the Economies of Individuals” involves teaching a minimum level of “farm work” to all the people of Japan in a ten-year period; the national government will provide the land, funding, human resources, know-how, etc., so that all people can have a minimal patch of crop field.
To table of contents (English)
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(Date published / 公開日： 8/10/2021)
(Date last updated / 最終改訂日: 8/10/2021)
