My other (non-paid) job
Is junk mail sorter. It’s not a very rewarding job. In terms of work, it seems like it’s a farming job because there is always something to do. In terms of satisfaction, I’d say it’s like the fight on terrorism: you know you’ve succeeded if nobody has stolen your identity and caused havoc on your credit report.
I have set up my credit report so that access to it is restricted, that is, banks can’t just request it all the time to send me credit card offers. So the only banks allowed to send me mail are the banks that I do business with. But still I am busy because DH cares nothing about junk mail sorting, thus I must take care of his mail as well.
The U.S.’ unemployment rate has been less than 5% for quite some time now. This 5% is a magical number because it used to be considered unachievable. Now, however, it has become something normal. But just think of all the trash that is created such that a low unemployment rate can prevail. Think about all the junk mail that is issued because we toss most of it, so companies address that problem by sending more, so that the probability that you will open a credit card offer will increase. Yes, that increases employment but it also depletes our energy and natural resources.
For example, think of all those little plastic mock credit cards that say “Your name here.” What inputs were used to create them? Oil, labor, machinery, etc. Also consider that they were issued for the trash because they are perfectly worthless. Well, not entirely, since your choice to get a credit card might depend on how stylish or cool you perceive that little piece of plastic. After all, it has nothing to do with whether you need the additional liability of having another credit card. But the point is that maybe we should all let our banks know that it’s not OK to clutter our mailboxes with worthless pieces of plastic.
