Economic globalization and technological change are irrevocably reshaping the nature of work: we are in the throes of a post-industrial revolution or what some call a post-Fordist revolution as the assembly line gives way to the workerless production pod. Thats good -- so far. It frees people from the machine but not from the economy. While some new types of jobs are emerging, developed societies like Canada must no longer perpetuate the myth that secure, adequately-waged employment is available for all. The effect of this myth is to manufacture consent for deserting and stigmatizing those most in need, and to postpone dangerously the effective societal action needed to steer global change in positive directions for Canada. And the opportunities for a more human society based on technological innovation will remain unrealized.
Far from being able to come to grips with the transformation of their choices and chances, many Canadians are frozen in the onrushing headlights by anxiety about jobs, the economy and their inability to control the impact of change on their lives. The prospect of being jobless, or so underemployed that they cannot establish families or provide for them, drives this sense of anxiety.
Perhaps the current reluctance of Canadian politicians to speak publicly about a future of work that may hold fewer adequate employment opportunities for increasing numbers of people stems from the fact that they currently have no innovative policies to deal with such radical developments.
So what's really going on? Most of us are unable to find any answers in the back of the book. How can we cope with the new rules of the new global game? Is it the only game in the world, now, or can Canadians take back more control of their work, their lives and their communities? Justice dictates that we not continue to penalize people who cannot find secure, living-wage jobs, but rather that we examine a range of other mechanisms for allocating work and distributing income.
A variety of work-time reduction measures seem desirable to some. But these can be viewed as only one component in a strategy to adapt to growing structural un- and under- employment. And no strategy is likely to be successful in equitably addressing the new problems of income distribution without the introduction of some form of adequate and secure Basic Income to meet basic needs and to serve as the foundation, the base, on which Canadians can build their livelihoods.