Pantglas2
“And anyone who is unemployed for more than a couple of hours should be dragooned into litter-picking, street-cleaning, or any other menial job that remains unfilled due to the dire wages.”
The above happens in Socialist Spain, Dickens, to anyone unemployed, as part of their benefit entitlement and it most definitely is seen as a service to their local community not something to be sneered at.
They’re expected to turn up on time each morning at the local depot and are issued with PPE and equipment for 3-4 hours. Some of my Spanish neighbours have done it, young and not so, and it’s not something they’re ashamed of ( nor should they be) and we chat as we pass by the same as if they were off to the shops.
I seem to remember something similar in Cuba when we were there 10 years ago.
Perhaps if jobs paid wages that could actually keep body and soul together there might not be so many unemployed, and those jobs (I've also done menial work myself but it's not something I'd choose as a lifetime occupation) would not need to be filled by the unemployed who would be better off seeking something on a more permanent basis.
I didn't suggest anyone should be ashamed of doing such work. The shame lies with either governments or companies who rely on such workers but pay them a pittance. And the rest of us for accepting it.
