"At any given time," an Economist explained, "fully ten to fifteen percent of America's population is unnecessary."
"Unnecessary?"
"I know it sounds terrible, but... Yes. Unnecessary. Expendable."
"Expendable?"
Heavy sigh. "Look," he continued. "I'm not saying it's... Ok, it's callous, to be sure, but... It sounds terrible, I know." Another sigh. "But it's true. It's just the way it is. Those are the facts."
Unnecessary. Expendable. These are words that denote worth, value. To hear them applied to human beings is rather startling. Shocking, actually.
"It's an acceptable figure." the man continued. His eyes widened then he quickly added, "And by that, I mean the numbers. Ten to fifteen percent. I don't mean to imply that it's acceptable from... from... a moral standpoint."
His face flushed red.
"Unnecessary. Expendable. Disposable?"
It took a moment, and three more shades of crimson to color his face before he nodded his head slowly. "It's a sad fact of life, but a fact nonetheless."
I scratched my head not knowing what to say.
"But, they do serve a valuable purpose." he hurriedly added. "They are a good, necessary buffer. For the workforce. For the economy. For economic growth."
More words would not make this a more palatable concept.
"Look. It is the way it is." He set his jaw and stared at me, somewhat defiant.
Unnecessary. Expendable. Disposable.
"And what do we do with these unfortunate ten to fifteen percent?"
"That's not a concern of capitalism." he answered. That's a societal concern... a moral issue. It's not an issue in the study of capitalism. It has nothing to do with capitalism. It's not a factor."
"Not a factor?"
"No."
"I see."
"I mean... It's a factor for those involved in social issues, or... who have humanitarian concerns, or... It's not the concern of true capitalism itself. That's all I'm saying."
Indeed.
