Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities: Difference between revisions
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:2) Does the job create wealth for the society as a whole ? Here some jobs are clear-cut wealth builders, like agriculture, construction, and manufacturing, as almost everyone considers themself wealthier when they have food, a house, and a car. Services are trickier. Some make you feel wealthier, like having maid service, and a doctor, while others do not, like having telemarketers hounding you. Which goods and services can be exported for cash to improve the [[balance of trade]] is another, related issue. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 01:14, 18 March 2011 (UTC)
:(Edit Conflict) Well, the most obvious good is to the people themselves ('society' is composed of people), because they can, more often than not, live better on a wage or salary than on what (society-funded)Government welfare/benefits may be available, and beyond material advantages usually enjoy enhanced personal self-respect and satisfaction by supporting themselves through providing even optional services to others (though I would exempt telemarketers from the latter point). I disagree with your "without actually generating a product or service" since - some charitable activities aside - no business pays people to do things not of expected eventual financial value to itself.
:Secondarily, there is a good to the economy as a whole, because every person employed will (beyond various complicated benefits thresholds depending on locality) be able to make a net contribution to the tax base and thus help to fund their society's costs, rather than being a net drain.
:Your deeper query verging towards national level [[Economics|economic theory]] is beyond my scope, but you might find something of interest at [[Productive and unproductive labour]].
:To obviate possible ''ad hominem'' arguments, I should disclose that I myself currently am, following redundancy, entirely dependent on benefits. [[Special:Contributions/90.197.66.165|90.197.66.165]] ([[User talk:90.197.66.165|talk]]) 01:39, 18 March 2011 (UTC)
== Why don't Arab leaders like Gaddafi ? ==
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