Show The Energetic Minority One of the intriguing facets of f the employment statistics was recently highlighted in a Department of f Labor study showing that in May 1 1963 about 39 million persons held two or more jobs an Increase in crease of from the year ago estimate ny flY COINCIDeNCE t fh h i s study was released shortly altel at atter al tel ter the monthly survey which put the number of unemployed as of mid 1963 at 38 million It would be easy to compare these two figures and conclude that moonlighting as the of hOlding more than one job jab is popularly called contributes to unemployment UNION spokesmen and others oth ers have sometimes argued that the practice should be restricted reo re or discouraged But this raises two ques lues First the question of Individual in freedom should the theata ata state te or anyone else intervene inter inter- vene to tell a person how many jobs jobs' he may hold SECOND the lues question lion of fact would a restriction on moonlighting actually increase the number of employed persons per per- sons The advocates of a limitation limita limita- tion on multiple job holding apparently give an n affirmative answer to both these ques- ques This seems to be based on the conception that there is just a certain amount of work to be done HENCE according to this view job opportunities are limited and equity demands that they should be rationed ration d among the nations nation's workforce work force Actually there is no end to human wants The fact that so many individuals are wil wil- Ping ling to bear the strain of f working work work- ing at a second job for extra income proves this SINCE TilE TIIE goods and servIces servo ices needed to supply these wants require labor in their production there is no fixed amount of work to be done The extra income of the moonlighters moon moon- lighters creates the extra demand demand de- de mand to to match the the additional output they produce I Unemployment when it occurs oc oc- curs is due to artificial interferences inter inter- with the mechanism for balancing supply and der de- dermand demand mand in the labor market It ItIs Itis is not due to an inherent limitation limi limi- tation on the amount of work to be done IN A FREE society it Is up to every individual to make the choice between work and leisure for himself It is just justas as outrageous to forbid an individual in in- to work as long as ashe ashe he wants as it would be bc to compel him to take another job when he is satisfied with the income he has earned from the first It is hoped that those hold ing I a second Job are not to be subjected to disparagement and hastily conceived legisla legisla- Live tive proposals similar to those recently aimed at overtime work HISTORY recognizes with more than normal nor mal ambition and energy have been a driving force in the de de- development of our country |