A Full Employment Program Would Be Beneficial for the United States

He probably has the advantage because I don't know Kung Fu. === IMPLEMENTATION AND FUNCTIONS === A Federal Full Employment Program would be instituted and enforced by the United States government for the purpose of ensuring all able and willing civilians easy access to a job paid at minimum wage. There are various ways this can be done. I will focus on one of them, which I shall demonstrate would be more beneficial than detrimental if instituted and enforced than if things in America were to stay as they are. The way I am presenting is for any willing and able unemployed civilians to be offered a job in the public sector. There are other ways, such as requiring employers to hire any worker that asks for a job but I shall only be focusing on the one. There may be exceptions to the program such as excluding criminals, the mentally unstable, those who don't live the United States, children, etc. There is already a law in the United States that requires the Federal Reserve to pursue the lowest unemployment it can as one of it's top priorities. However, this law is completely meaningless and is never enforced. === ARGUMENTS === 1. Reduction/Elimination of Poverty Poverty is a major problem in the world, even in the United States. Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 13 to 17% of Americans living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some point within a 10-year time span. [1,2] The minimum wage was set up to help fight this fact but it doesn't go far enough and some would even argue that it raises unemployment which would worsen poverty. The unemployed do not receive the minimum wage. If a full employment program was instituted it would ensure that everyone is receiving the minimum wage. If the minimum wage is high enough to get someone out of poverty then a full employment program would completely eliminate poverty. 2. Boost to the economy With money in everyone's pockets there will be an increased amount of spending in the market-place thus giving a much needed boost to the economy. The condition of an economy is often measured by the rate of unemployment. A program which ensures full employment is essentially a program which ensures a better economy. 3. Creation of competition between employers for workers which improve the condition of workers With the unemployed flocking to the public sector, the private businesses will need to compete, not just with the public sector but between themselves, so they may have employees. Wages will rise, contracts will be made more fair and working conditions will improve to draw in workers seeking a more satisfying job. 4. Increased Standard of Living With much less poverty; with a better economy; with better working conditions; with higher wages; with people able to afford things they could not before such as a higher education which would result in even higher paying jobs; with all these things the living conditions in the Unites States shall be dramatically increased. 5. So what's the catch? Higher income taxation. Yep, that's about it. As long as the new wages these people are receiving aren't being completely taxed back away from them then there is much more benefit in having the program. It's a great thing that we have a progressive income tax. [3] === SOURCES === 1. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. Zweig, Michael (2004) What's Class Got to do With It, American Society in the Twenty-first Century. ILR Press 3. . http://upload.wikimedia.org...