The Importance of Ownership

1. In 1870, seventy-five percent of the US population was employed in agriculture.
2. As of 2008, approximately two and a half percent of the population was directly employed in agriculture. The US was a net exporter of agricultural products.
3. In 1945, it took up to fourteen labor-hours to produce one hundred bushels of corn on two acres of land.
4. By 1987, it took just under three labor-hours to produce that same one hundred bushels of corn on just over one acre.
5. In 2002, that same one hundred bushels of corn were produced on less than one acre.

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html

What's different this time is the speed of change. With the rapid deployment of new technologies, new jobs are not being created nearly as fast as they are being eliminated. With the large number of people who need to work, including many who need to work into their golden years, that spells disaster for a whole lot of people unless they become united in a system of ownership.

Unemployment has always been designed into the U.S. economic system. It is a day-to-day reality. Below is a glimpse of a seventy year period as reported by our government.