{"id":1033,"date":"2011-09-20T17:56:25","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T21:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/intentchopra\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2011-09-20T17:56:25","modified_gmt":"2011-09-20T21:56:25","slug":"why-people-need-good-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html","title":{"rendered":"Why People Need Good Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Politicians on the right and left agree on one thing: it\u2019s all about jobs. President Obama\u2019s September 8th<\/sup>\u00a0speech to Congress hinged on job creation, as did the GOP\u2019s presidential debate the day before.<\/p>\n

Political leaders can\u2019t complete a sentence without mentioning jobs. But Washington seems to be talking about jobs as though they\u2019ll magically spring up as a result of the right policy implementation or tax cut or tax hike.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s dangerously misguided, says\u00a0Jim Clifton<\/a>, chairman of\u00a0Gallup<\/a>\u00a0and author of an excellent and timely new book,\u00a0The Coming Jobs War<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Gallup Press, October 4th). His book\u2019s title, and use of war imagery, is more martial than I prefer. But Clifton\u2019s heart is in the right place. And he knows what he\u2019s talking about: Gallup has created many jobs over the years, and a talented business executive like Clifton knows first-hand that jobs aren\u2019t a consequence of complex policies orchestrated by distant leaders. Jobs are a renewable resource \u2013 and one that may have more impact than leaders realize.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumans used to desire love, money, food, shelter, safety, and\/or peace and freedom more than anything else. The last 30 years have changed us. Now people want to have a good job and a good job for their children,\u201d writes Clifton, basing his work on 75 years of Gallup research. \u201cThis cha<\/a>nges everything for world leaders. Everything they do \u2014 from waging war to building societies \u2014 will need to be done within the new context of the human need for a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

His prescription for job creation isn\u2019t simple, but it is deeply considered. First, he says, recognize that \u201cthe coming world war is an all-out global war for good jobs,\u201d and that leaders, political, social, religious, and academic, must turn all their energy to creating the conditions that foster jobs. Most of those jobs will arise in cities, he says, which means city leaders are in control of a jobs \u201csuper collider,\u201d based around universities.<\/p>\n

Clifton is concerned, however, that cities are hobbled by several problems, including destructively high healthcare costs (which can best be solved, he says, by individual lifestyle choices), low energy workplaces (which destroy engagement and reduce productivity and profitability), and schools that don\u2019t prepare kids to be tomorrow\u2019s entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

That last point may be among the most controversial. Clifton says there\u2019s an oversupply of innovators and a deficit of entrepreneurs \u2013 the people who create viable businesses (and jobs) out of ideas. Until kids are taught they should want to be entrepreneurs, job creation is almost a matter of luck. Put another way: Great businesspeople matter more than great ideas.<\/p>\n

And according to Clifton, we\u2019re running out of time to depend on luck. He is concerned that America is being out-job-resourced by China and several other growing economies. \u201cAlthough the United States has a much higher GDP, it now has tiny GDP growth \u2014 about 2% a year,\u201d he writes. \u201cChina has a much lower GDP, but its GDP is increasing at nearly 10% annually. That means unless there is a miracle, China will meet and exceed the GDP of the United States in less than 30 years . . . At that point, China will have the new world-leading GDP. China will have the new world-leading economy. China will be the new leader of the world, free or otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether or not that worries you probably depends on where you live and work. But what should worry everyone, employed or not, is that Gallup research also shows that extended periods of joblessness are financially, physically, emotionally, and socially devastating. Clifton writes that it doesn\u2019t take long for the unemployed to withdraw from their own lives, ending their participation in their communities and even families, and that they often don\u2019t return, even when their jobs do.<\/p>\n

Politicians aren\u2019t talking about jobs in those terms, nor about the long-term, psychologically devastating effects that linger from high levels of unemployment. They may not be aware of it \u2013 Gallup\u2019s science on it is that fresh. That\u2019s what makes\u00a0The Coming Jobs War<\/a><\/em>especially relevant, I think.\u00a0<\/em>Clifton\u2019s book spells out the actual cost of unemployment, to people and societies. It also lays out a design for a long-term, sustainable job creation machine built from the entrepreneur up.\u00a0 It\u2019s a compelling read and a smart strategy from a proven entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

But more than that,\u00a0The Coming Jobs War<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is a breath of fresh air. When leaders talk as though jobs are created by magical policies, no one can feel secure about the jobs situation. When leaders talk about how good jobs are really created, as readers of this book will be doing very soon, we can start feeling that the recovery is finally underway.<\/p>\n

\"Deepak <\/a>
\ndeepakchopra.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow Deepak on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politicians on the right and left agree on one thing: it\u2019s all about jobs. President Obama\u2019s September 8th\u00a0speech to Congress hinged on job creation, as did the GOP\u2019s presidential debate the day before. Political leaders can\u2019t complete a sentence without mentioning jobs. But Washington seems to be talking about jobs as though they\u2019ll magically spring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[372,373,374,375],"class_list":["post-1033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-jim-clifton","tag-job-creation","tag-obama-job-creation","tag-the-coming-jobs-war"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy People Need Good Jobs - Deepak Chopra and Intent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why People Need Good Jobs - Deepak Chopra and Intent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Politicians on the right and left agree on one thing: it\u2019s all about jobs. President Obama\u2019s September 8th\u00a0speech to Congress hinged on job creation, as did the GOP\u2019s presidential debate the day before. Political leaders can\u2019t complete a sentence without mentioning jobs. But Washington seems to be talking about jobs as though they\u2019ll magically spring…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Deepak Chopra and Intent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-20T21:56:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.intent.com\/sites\/intent.com\/files\/badges\/dc.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why People Need Good Jobs - Deepak Chopra and Intent","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why People Need Good Jobs - Deepak Chopra and Intent","og_description":"Politicians on the right and left agree on one thing: it\u2019s all about jobs. President Obama\u2019s September 8th\u00a0speech to Congress hinged on job creation, as did the GOP\u2019s presidential debate the day before. Political leaders can\u2019t complete a sentence without mentioning jobs. But Washington seems to be talking about jobs as though they\u2019ll magically spring…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html","og_site_name":"Deepak Chopra and Intent","article_published_time":"2011-09-20T21:56:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.intent.com\/sites\/intent.com\/files\/badges\/dc.gif"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html","name":"Why People Need Good Jobs - Deepak Chopra and Intent","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.intent.com\/sites\/intent.com\/files\/badges\/dc.gif","datePublished":"2011-09-20T21:56:25+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-20T21:56:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/#\/schema\/person\/40a7773935ae623bbb543302f1b3520a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.intent.com\/sites\/intent.com\/files\/badges\/dc.gif","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.intent.com\/sites\/intent.com\/files\/badges\/dc.gif"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/2011\/09\/why-people-need-good-jobs.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why People Need Good Jobs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/","name":"Deepak Chopra and Intent","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/#\/schema\/person\/40a7773935ae623bbb543302f1b3520a","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e37\/e379d06bb2d8f3928b8fb1008e150364x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e37\/e379d06bb2d8f3928b8fb1008e150364x96.jpg","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/author\/gbrown"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1036,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions\/1036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/intentchopra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}