A question that has nagged me for some time is how the U.S. has kept the unemployment rate at 3.4 to 5.0% for years? How is it possible to keep job growth this well balanced with population growth? Exponential population growth I should add.

I came to the conclusion that it isn’t possible, at least not with honest employment and any long term sustainability.

The American geophysicist M. King Hubbert made observation’s (beginning in 1926) that should all of our citizen be engaged in productive employment, natural resources could not physically match the consumption.

While Hubbert became the best known American geophysicist in the world due to his now proven theory of peak oil, his studies in other sectors of balance and depletion were nothing short of genius.

Hubbert went on to observe that we have a growing educated class, many of who are little more than high paid paper shufflers. His summary was that at some point, regardless of make work paper shufflers, the work week would have to be reduced to match diminishing resources.

I don’t believe that Hubbert could have possibly predicted the ignorance and greed that would be displayed by his fellow man, as is currently being demonstrated by our unthinkable ventures to keep the proverbial show on the road at all costs. In fact, at the cost of eradicating Middle America, who represents the greatest numbers of those involved in productive employment.

As an example of productivity, let’s consider a university educated $150,000 per year wage earner who regularly travels across the country to give a “canned” two hour presentation. With flight, meals, hotel, social hour and two days dedicated to the assignment, the minimum cost incurred is $3,000.

What could a person possibly say in a two hour canned presentation that would be worth $3,000? As U.S. business continues to decline and travel costs continue to climb, we will find out that the answer to that question is “nothing.” At least nothing that couldn’t have been received in written form, video, or presented live by some local talent.

We also need to consider that this $150K wage earner spent only two hours of two days in actual production. How is that possible to balance with the cost? It isn’t, it’s all misguided perception. Having a college degree has in this instance, somehow been parlayed into a free pass from any measured productivity.

You may be thinking that this person has earned the right to be productive less than 13% of the time by working hard at college and getting the coveted degree. Fair enough, let’s consider a different type of worker.

A master manual machinist has necessarily spent years honing his trade. Complex math, physics, engineering, and metallurgy are employed daily in his work. To be a truly good manual machinist takes a sort of genius intelligence that few possess.

Now say that this master machinist pulls up a lawn chair next to his lathe and stretches out for all but two hours of two eight hour shifts. He also orders in breakfast, lunch and dinner on the company that he works for and has a rental car dropped off for his convenience. When asked what he thinks he’s doing, he replies, “I’m cashing in all of my education and experience.”

I’m certainly not anti-education, I’m married to a teacher and I strive to educate myself in some manner each and every day. Yet, something went terribly wrong with both our educational system and our perspective as to which sectors of education are valuable.

I need to continue this thread tomorrow because I think there are important discoveries to be made in this area. How has our employment remained balanced? You may be surprised.