By Joe Mancini
Published in September 1997
Producerism, the small-scale local production of goods, can create jobs and thriving neighbourhoods and is environmentally friendly. We have allowed giant corporations and institutions to control production and services at a great cost to communities and the environment. A localized economy takes a commitment to diversity, mutual support, belief in the ability of people to shape their tools, and respect for disorderly order. Local production in workshops and gardens scattered throughout neighbourhoods would create a new level of work. It would revive the culture of hard work and thrift that has been lost by our dependence on big private and public bureaucracies.
Where Are the Opportunities for New Work?
The labour market is undergoing dramatic change. In K-W, the old industrial factories such as Uniroyal, Domtar, Hoffman Meats, Bums, Electroporcelian, Labatts, Seagrams, Van Dresser, Epton, Murphy’s Potato Chips, Waterloo Manufacturing are just some which have closed down.
The companies that do expand hire fewer people using highly automated technology. The service industry, where most of the job growth in the last 20 years has come from, is currently moving in the direction of adopting job displacing automation technology. The results of these trends are obvious by looking through the Canada Employment Centre job boards where 200 jobs are listed, of which 53% are minimum wage or part-time/temporary work, 13% are $8 -$11 labouring jobs and the rest are high skilled jobs. Meanwhile, well over 25,000 people in the Region are looking for work.
The Poverty Trap
The poverty trap is the artificial barrier that makes it impossible for people to work their way out of poverty. At one time low wage jobs in factories were a starting point towards better positions within the factory. Today those factories rarely hire. Other minimum wage jobs that are offered have very little growth potential. A donut store worker will rarely see an increase from the minimum wage. Since 1990, minimum wage has lost 19% of its purchasing power. It is almost impossible to rent a two bedroom apartment and raise a small family on one minimum wage job.
Another trap is that those on social assistance are penalized dollar for dollar after they earn less than a quarter of the amount of their social assistance. Such rules destroy the incentive to work, especially when a minimum wage pay cheque is only marginally better than a monthly welfare cheque. And now you can be disqualified from Employment Insurance or Social Assistance if you quit or are fired from your job. In theory it is supposed to discourage people from leaving jobs while in practice it serves to make people hesitant to take a job that they are not sure of.
Basic Income
A Basic Income provides minimal financial support which gives people the freedom to pursue diverse means of other income through full-time, part-time, home production, or self-employment. The advantages of Basic Income is that it would replace the maze of tax and welfare provisions that create the present poverty trip for people on low incomes.
There are many different schemes that would lead to a Basic Income. A Canadian from the University of Victoria, Rod Dobell has advanced a scheme which he calls a participation income which guarantees a small income for every adult. (See Sally Lerner’s review on p.5)
Another proposal considers phasing in a Basic Income by allowing those on government benefits to earn up to the minimum wage and then eliminate taxes on low wage jobs and increase other supports to the working poor.
A third proposal structures a Basic Income that is conditional on need with a limited means test, but it guarantees a floor of income from which an individual can pursue varied livelihoods.
Worktime Reductions
The economy’s lopsided growth produces lopsided effects. For example a recent Statistics Canada survey confirmed what many suspected, namely that one quarter of the labour force, about 2 million Canadians, are working about 9 hours a week overtime. Meanwhile at least 20% of the labour market is either unemployed or working part-time and would like full-time work. There are a number of policy options for government in shortening worktime. These include direct worktime reductions, expanding the availability of family and personal leave, granting employees the right to refuse overtime beyond the standard 40 hour work week, and offering phased-in retirement benefits for older workers.
Another possible solution is emerging in France where the government has proposed to relieve employers of national-insurance contributions in return for shortening the work week and taking on new employees. This is a low cost idea as those no longer on assistance would be paying taxes.
Redefining Work
Is it possible to delink work from income? A broader understanding of work that includes a basic income would recognize voluntary work, child care, assisting the elderly, supporting the disabled, etc. Is it not odd that some “paid” work, heavily subsidized by taxes, severely destroys the environment? Yet work that is essential to community and social cohesion is given little credit.
Growing numbers of people are increasingly searching for what is now described as Right Livelihood, “the desire that people have to make a living in ways which satisfy themselves and respect ecological necessities”. People crave good work that has meaning, purpose, joy, and a sense of contributing to the greater community – work that fulfills the human spirit.
What Can Cities Do?
Cities can support ways of living that are gentle on the environment through assisting community initiatives for community and market gardens, bicycle paths, bartering systems, affordable housing and making it possible for people to secure workshop space. The development of community tools which ensure that people have access to productive tools to support local producing and trading.
Such initiatives are neither expensive nor require bureaucratic control. Cities only need to support ways for people to change the direction of the economy from a consumerist – work-spend-work model to an economy of sufficiency. This means supporting local initiatives in the production of food, fuel, housing and transport that make it possible to live simply using local resources.
Neighbourhoods are Strengthened
A small Basic Income could accelerate the change from consumerism to producerism. Today all our institutions breed a passivity that tells people how to manage their affairs. The Basic Income should be part of a new direction.
A society of responsibility and competence will come when more opportunities are freed up to make small scale production practical.
When people are not dependent on bureaucracies but are actively engaged in their own productive enterprises, they then have the freedom to nurture community and participate in the daily goings on of neighbourhoods. A flourishing urban life with a vibrant local economy that includes all persons can then emerge.
Producing for Ourselves
Every bike trip saves wear and tear on the car. Living without a car saves tens of thousands of dollars over the years. Converting the family’s waste into compost saves on fertilizers. Growing a substantial amount of food ensures a supply of fresh and cheap produce. Preserving food means that you are paying yourself for your labour rather than giving it away. Learning to eat fresh grown or stored vegetables is healthy and avoids food manufacturing and preservatives. Finding a piece of junk and reconditioning it often results in major savings plus the satisfaction of a job well done. Turning a room of a house into a workshop can double the productive capacity of your living space.
