On the Right

New York, April 23—It becomes necessary to open all statements on the general subject of unemployment by professing one’s disapproval/dislike/hatred of same, and this I do with good conscience, even while resenting the psychological intimidation. At that, it is a step more relaxed than a discussion of the atom bomb, which requires a recreation of the horrors of Hiroshima before you get into the subject. So let us say, to keep the record straight, that if one human being who desires employment cannot find it, then that datum is to be deplored.

But having said this, one needs perspective. Suppose that tomorrow, ten million Americans who traditionally did not work—let us say they had been retired, or were raising large families, or were younger than the normal age at which work is undertaken—put themselves on the job market. What then would happen to the unemployment figures?

New York, April 23—It becomes necessary to open all statements on the general subject of unemployment by professing one’s disapproval/dislike/hatred of same, and this I do with good conscience, even while resenting the psychological intimidation. At that, it is a step more relaxed than a discussion of the atom bomb, which requires a recreation of the horrors of Hiroshima before you get into the subject. So let us say, to keep the record straight, that if one human being who desires employment cannot find it, then that datum is to be deplored.

But having said this, one needs perspective. Suppose that tomorrow, ten million Americans who traditionally did not work—let us say they had been retired, or were raising large families, or were younger than the normal age at which work is undertaken—put themselves on the job market. What then would happen to the unemployment figures?