People need to feel needed. We have perverted that by substituting wealth for gratitude and acknowledgement, but the driving motivation of feeling important to society hasn't changed, only the way we measure it did.

I have been a long time advocate of a full employment policy and a federal job guarantee for anyone who wants one. Such a policy and job program would set the floor for private sector employers in both wages and benefits while providing labor for the great many things now going undone because they don't facilitate profits.

A job guarantee would have to be funded with federal money creation to inject money where it is needed countercyclical to the business cycle, but would best be managed at the state and local level. Abandoned factories could be renovated for food production. Homes could be fitted with solar panels. Parks could be built or cleaned up and many other quality of life improvements could be accomplished while also providing a sense of accomplishment to workers that has been long missing in our lives.