"There are to be two very large department stores. Two large pharmacies
will take care of prescriptions, and medicines. Two bakeries, five
cleaning and dyeing establishments, five laundries, two lumber
yards--all large establishments--and only five accountants and five
attorneys will be allowed. Milk and dairy products will be delivered to
homes. Theatres will have sufficient seating capacity so that everyone
can see two shows per week. We shall receive all necessary supplies
free but we will be restricted through our ration books.
"In contrast, consider in the Western city above mentioned of thirty
thousand population. There are one hundred and forty-one attorneys,
twenty-four accountants, twenty cleaning and dyeing establishments,
fifteen laundries, ten lumber yards, nineteen druggists, seven
department stores, eight bakeries, nine men's clothing stores,
fifteen dress shops, twelve shoe shops, and twelve furniture stores.
We no doubt will save a great deal in labor, handling, delivery, and
materials by concentrating our stores to the minimum, at the same time
provide a better service.
"At first we will do away entirely with the non-productive professions,
and occupations as well as considerably reduce the semi-productive
ones. We will create and increase necessary and productive callings so
that every one, including idlers and aged (excepting the infirm) shall
always be employed. Let me explain what I mean by non-productive or
non-essential jobs.
"One of the fundamental causes of our troubles is that nearly
fifty percent of our young and vigorous active workers are doing
non-essential work; not only in unnecessary jobs but in the many
branches of necessary ones. We propose to do away with the unnecessary
jobs and concentrate on the needful ones, thus furthering our well
being and adding to the advantages of the requisite productive ones. I
will list herewith, in consecutive order, some of the non-productive,
non-essential, and dispensible jobs and service to which I have
reference.
"No. I--Non-productive services: We will have no use for a fire
department, fire escapes, fire alarm systems, fire insurance and fire
underwriters of all kinds; thus avoiding the services of firemen, labor
and materials of fire houses, fire trucks, and all supplies and labor
of fire insurance companies, while having complete safety in our waking
and sleeping hours.
"No. II--Since we are not going to own property directly or use money,
we will entirely dispense with innumerable non-productive services
connected with money. In these alone you can conjecture about how many
of those directly and indirectly employed can be shifted to productive
employments to great numbers of professions, crafts and trades running
into the hundreds.
"No. III--We are going to have one language on our islands. There is
a great waste of time, labor, energy, and materials in having so many
different languages on our earth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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