To look at it from another angle:

If one family of farmers extract food for 1,1 families then for every 1000 farmers you can have 100 non-farmers. These can produce goods from resources or provide services for the whole population. (Priests, kings, warriors etc are counted as services.)

If every family of farmers can extract food for 20 families then for every 100 farmers you can have 1900 non-farmers. If say 1000 take raw materials from nature and add their labor to turn them into goods then you can have a lot of stuff, and the other 900 can provide services.

Now lets say that the 1000 runs into resource constraints. That means there will be less stuff produced and and less people needed in production. Say you just have 500 left and 400 becomes unemployed. Well, then (with societal change and retraining) you have 400 more to provide services. The problem is less stuff, not chronic unemployment.

To shift to the real world, in addition to TBG's suggestions upthread I would add education and care. How many teacher would it take to get something like 5 pupils/teacher? How many doctors and nurses to eliminate waiting periods and lack of care in hospitals and other facilities? Sure, some goods are needed for schools and hospitals too, but we are not lacking that much.

Our chronic unemployment is not today from a lack of worthwhile things to be done, nor will it in the future. It comes from a societal system that sees unemployment as good or at least less bad then something else.

That said, I support shortening "full time", not because it is needed, but because it is good.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!