One of my main concerns is that large scale production is almost always more productive than small scale production. For example, a large corporation can build a million cars at an affordable cost per car while it is prohibitively expensive to build them individually as one-offs. This is true from agriculture to retail to manufacturing.

Individuals can’t produce value on their own. They have to join an organization. If organizations aren’t hiring, there isn’t much an individual can do.

If a person can’t find a job because they are truly useless and can add no value, perhaps it is just tough luck for them as you say. However, in most cases people could be productive. They just need an opportunity. I think it is an economic failure when job opportunities can’t be found.

Is it fair to say that money is just a tool to make trades easier? If so, I’d say that the way to get a hamburger is to create something of value that you can give to someone with a hamburger. The easiest and best way in our society to do that is to get a job so you have money.

I think I would re-phrase the problem you’re getting at to be not that there aren’t enough jobs for everyone, but that it can be challenging for people to find ways to create enough value and translate that value into trade-able commodities.

On the one hand, if someone can’t create anything of value to others, I would say it’s tough luck for them. On the other hand, our society does impose constraints on what people can do and does require specialization, so it may be reasonable to help those affected by these constraints.

Eric