The scourge the state must vanquish

This new article on the sociological effects of unemployment is long, but well worth a read, considering the present economic situation of our country and the challenge which that situation presents to our government. Though the Bush recession itself has been over for more than half a year and economic growth in the last quarter of 2009 reached a spectacular 5.7% annual rate, unemployment remains high (though job losses have at least slowed). Left to itself, employment might not return to its pre-recession level for another three or four years.

We can't afford that. We've known for a long time that layoffs kill. High unemployment means increased levels of alcoholism, drug use, domestic violence, and suicide. As the article makes clear, there is a host of subtler effects as well, especially in the case of people who stay jobless for two years or more, and some of these effects are already manifesting themselves in our society. And it is not only the jobless themselves who suffer. High unemployment weakens the bargaining position of all workers, depressing income and benefits and creating a climate of fear.

The government must act. Leaving employment to recover at its own pace would be the failed old laissez-faire non-interventionist Republican model which the people decisively rejected with their votes in 2006 and 2008. The awesome wealth-generating power of the American economy has already come roaring back. The leadership must ensure, as in FDR's day, that the American worker can participate and receive the benefits.