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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor, June 4 DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Jun. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Replace jobs The June 1 “Job data troubling” editorial was indeed troubling, but not for the reason stated. The assumption is that jobs are necessary as the primary source of income for most people, and they and the wage income they provided are going away. No kidding. The whole purpose of modern industrial technological progress is to eliminate work and the jobs that came with it. Some new jobs are created, but they will never replace the old-style wage job because most of them are in service to further eliminating work and jobs that pay wages. The point is that income has to be unhooked from work when there is no work to be done for any kind of wage. Instead of celebrating evidence that this is indeed what is happening, we bemoan the fact. Of course the problem is that we have not adopted a system to replace wage incomes. Of course we are culturally stuck in thinking that there is something wrong — morally wrong — with getting an income one does not work for. The 1 percent-plus owners of the $4.8 trillion of economic rent yearly do not seem to have this problem about themselves, but many of them and a bunch of us, including some workers the system puts out of work, have that problem. Hence the phenomenon of people voting against their own economic interests. We could provide incomes to replace the loss of working-wage incomes anytime we wanted by going after the estimated 40 percent of GNP that is unearned income, known to economists as “economic rent,” mostly in the hands of a small percentage of people on the planet. But before we do that we have to talk about it. It most likely would come in the form of a citizen dividend that afforded the necessities of life plus education and health care with plenty left over for environmental remediation. But we don’t talk about that much. Correction: not at all. It is good news but in order to be good news we have to talk about it. Jobs and wages are declining as predicted and we have failed to arrange for an alternate flow of income. The increase of wealth production has been siphoned upward to a tiny few while all along it was meant to support everyone through some socially agreed upon mechanism. Did I mention we need to talk about it first before it becomes a reality? Wendell Fitzgerald Ashland Car wash canceled For the past several years, the Ashland Kiwanis Cclub has scheduled a car wash fund raiser in either the spring or fall to help raise funds for our many youth programs. This year’s car wash, which we had planned for late June, has been canceled. In light of the ongoing drought and water conservation measures in Southern Oregon, our Kiwanis Club felt it would not be appropriate to have a car wash when water is scarce and so precious, and can be used for more important purposes. The money from these fundraisers helps to support many youth programs, such as Special Olympics, AHS Key Club, Scouting troops, Pop Warner football, Nature Center School Program scholarships and school and library reading programs. In lieu of this year’s car wash, if you would like to donate money to the Kiwanis Club, please visit our website at  www.ashlandkiwanis.org , and click on “Foundation” on the left side of the screen. We would greatly appreciate your support! To learn more about Kiwanis, call Ron at (541)488-0532. Ron Parker Ashland Kiwanis Club   DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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