Here’s a solution to the coal industry: Retirement.
That’s right. Let’s just retire the industry, pay coal miners (NOT coal companies and their wealthy owners) a decent, government backed early retirement pension…since I’m sure their own employers probably won’t want to pay, since their businesses are being retired. I mean, how many actual coal miners are left? A couple hundred? Thousands? Retired. problem solved. They may not have jobs, but give them a pension they can live on, and they’ll probably be glad they don’t have to breathe coal dust for a living anymore. “I’m retired” is SO much better for one’s self-worth than “I’m unemployed”.
Then we invest a bit into those communities…like the coal companies that have been exploiting those folks all these years NEVER have. Give their kids great schools. Create an educated base of employees through vocational training programs so that new technology companies have a high quality employee base to hire from in the area, thus attracting new, clean industries to replace the planet scarring good-old-boys-club coal industry. The mine doesn’t have to be the only source of jobs in town…the coal companies want it that way, and have probably gone to great lengths to keep it that way. What company wouldn’t want a “company town” scenario? Think about it.
Change is a good thing, if you manage it so that everyone wins. There doesn’t always have to be a loser…THAT is the lie of polarity peddled by our corrupt two party political system. Smart money says that fighting against change is the surest way to fail. Accept. Plan. Manage for change. Change for the better. Better for ALL.
There don’t have to be losers, just so that politicians and their financiers can win again and again. We can decide that The People…ALL the people…should win, not just the wealthiest people. Or we can decide to let them keep taking, until there’s nothing left for anyone else.
~jg
