LIFESTYLES UNDER A NATIONAL
QUARTER SYSTEM
It
has been stated that human beings have three basic needs—security,
identity and stimulation—and that all other needs can be
categorized under those three labels. As things are today, we are
becoming ever less secure, and our sense of identity is being
computerized into oblivion. [Actually, I need to give some thought
to the computer comment, as the Arab Spring shows how identity can be
enhanced by social media, while super intelligent computers threaten
to make humans superfluous.] We are, however, getting plenty of
stimulation, although [often] of the wrong variety. This system
should greatly enhance the opportunities for [employment] security,
while at the same time increasing the individual's sense of identity
and providing positive forms of stimulation through self-motivated
forms of activity.
This
system is adaptable to an infinite variety of lifestyles, from that
of the very young to that of the elderly but active. Perhaps you
will find your dream for the future in one of the lifestyles that
follows.
A
YOUNG SUBURBAN FAMILY
Richard
and Nancy Winslow are young middle class suburbanites with two
children aged 3 and 6. Richard works 3 quarters a year as an
accountant ($59,000) and Nancy works 2 quarters as a teacher ($35,500). Nancy has an
arrangement with 2 other mothers who work part time to take care of
each other's children during part of their quarters at home. [They
also share a housekeeper/nanny for when they are away from home.]
Both
take the First Quarter off along with their school-age child. In
February they take several ski trips together as it is one of their
favorite activities. In March they take two weeks vacation in a warm
southern area. In April they fix up around the house and get their
large garden plowed and do most of the planting.
They
both work the Second Quarter. Since they already have done most of
the major projects around the house, they have time to spend with the
garden on weekends and evenings.
Nancy
takes the Third Quarter off. In August she does a lot of work around
the house sewing [clothes for the family], decorating, etc. In
September and October she freezes and preserves a great deal of food
from their garden [, pick your own farms] and local roadside stands.
Since Nancy is able to carry more of the load at home than under the
old system when she worked the full school year, Richard can take
evening courses in advanced accounting [and Information Technology
paid for by his employer].
They
both work the Fourth Quarter. Richard takes several days leave to go
hunting. If he has bad luck they get ¼ of a steer for their
freezer. They also go skiing some weekends at nearby slopes.
Although
$94,500 is not a large income, food savings and the work they do
themselves on their less-than-new house allows them the luxury of ski
trips and other travel and recreation.
AN
INNER CITY FAMILY
Leroy
and Paulette Johnson live in the heart of a large urban center with
their children aged 2, 4 and 7 and Paulette's 17 year old brother who
has not been getting along well with his step-father.
This
year Leroy is working ½ time ($24,000) at a large industrial plant.
Other years he has worked 3 or 4 quarters, but when the union
informed the workers that the current recession might result in
layoffs and reduction in force, and knowing he was not very high on
the seniority roster, he volunteered to work only two quarters. He
has decided to receive full pay during his two working quarters and
use the money he plans to save to make the basement of his row house,
bought under a long-term urban redevelopment loan plan, into an
apartment rental unit. [A small union loan will help pay for some of
the building materials and appliances.] He also plans to supplement
his income by doing some home improvement work for others ($14,500)
using the skills he learned in a union-sponsored home handicrafts
[and renovation] course.
Paulette
will work 3 quarters this year ($26,500) in her job as a nurses aide.
Normally she has worked only 2 quarters, but the extra income will
help make up for her husband's reduced income. [The fact that her
husband knew months in advance when he would be off made it possible
for her to arrange work for an extra quarter.]
Since
he was 16, her brother Charles has been attending high school 2
quarters and working in a supermarket 2 quarters ($12,000) under a
special work-study program designed to prevent dropouts [and
delinquency].
Paulette's
mother takes care of their youngest child, the 4 year old attends a
partially subsidized day care center. All the children stay with her
mother when school is out until she or Leroy can pick them up after
work.
Their
year will be as follows: First Quarter, all 3 work; Second Quarter,
the couple works, the brother is in school; Third Quarter, Leroy,
Paulette and the children are at home, brother Charles works; Fourth
Quarter, Paulette works, Leroy is home, Charles in school.
During
the third Quarter (August – October), Paulette will spend some time
working with her husband on the house. Then her brother will take
his week of annual leave, drive her and the children down to the
country, and have fun hunting and fishing with his cousins. He will
return to work leaving her and the children with the relatives. A
few weeks later, Leroy will come down for her, spend a few days
visiting, and then bring the family back home. Meanwhile, Paulette
will have been busy [along with her relatives] preserving good
country food to [bring back and] enjoy through the winter.
The
total family income for 3 adults and 3 children is $77,000, less
$3,000 for Charles' education fund. While this is not a princely
sum, their situation is far better that it would be with Leroy
sitting around unemployed while Paulette bore almost the whole load
with no time for herself, her husband, or the children.
A
GOVERNMENT WORKER APPROACHES RETIREMENT
John
Fredricks, a man in his late fifties has a lower level management job
in a government department. Because not long ago a policy decision
was made to reduce the work force through attrition and forced early
retirement [and buyouts, and not ready to retire], he joined his union's successful fight to
institute the Quarter System in his workplace.
Now
John and several others in his age group work 2 quarters ($44,500)
and take off 2 quarters a year. Lucille Fredricks works full time
since all their children are married or [nearly finished with] college
($53,000).
The
First Quarter John is on leave and works part time preparing Income
Tax forms for several small businesses and a number of individuals
($12,000). In April he spends quite a bit of time reconditioning and
launching his small, used motor sailor.
The
Second Quarter he works. John and another long-time employee
alternate their quarters to cover the one desk. They consult one
another fairly frequently by telephone [and email], and once or twice
a month the person on leave comes into the office to attend a policy
meeting, and look over [or sign] important papers. He goes fishing on
weekends, sometimes with Lucille and sometimes with his friends.
During
the Third Quarter, which he takes off, John spends a fair amount of
time working with a group of community-minded retired and semiretired
businessmen/management people. Their organization helps minority
groups and young people start their own business enterprises,
assisting them with management skills, bookkeeping, loan
applications, etc. His project is to help these small enterprises
get their stock inventoried
[, replenished] and in order for the Christmas rush. Some small businesses he helped get on their feet now hire him for short-term consultation work ($6,000) along that same line.
[, replenished] and in order for the Christmas rush. Some small businesses he helped get on their feet now hire him for short-term consultation work ($6,000) along that same line.
Lucile
has three weeks vacation during this period. Usually they go to
Europe. Sometimes one or more of their [adult] children accompany
them. John also spends a fair amount of time on his boat. He and
one of his sons sometime travel for a week or two on the
Inter-Coastal Waterway.
The
Fourth Quarter he works full time. With the house paid for [except a small amount due on an Equity Line of Credit] and only
one child left in college, they live very nicely on a combined
income of $115,500.
[With
the current political pressure to downsize Federal, state and
municipal governments and their spending, this system would be
very helpful in reducing potential distress and dislocation while
accomplishing those goals.]
AN
URBAN WAGE EARNER ESCAPES THE CITY
Jerry
Kelly, Linda and their 3 children live on a truck garden/farm about
30 miles outside a large urban center. Four years ago he became
interested in moving out of the inner suburbs when his oldest child,
then 13, started running with the wrong crowd. His union's “Back
to the Land” project helped him learn about farming, find a small
place and get a loan.
During
the 2 winter quarters he works at his old restaurant job ($32,500).
During the summer quarters he farms his truck garden. His
organically grown produce brings premium prices from a coop
distribution service in town ($30,000 to $35,000 net profit per
year).
[His experience and contacts in
the restaurant business have also been useful in finding customers.]
As he buys more equipment and gains expertise, he plans to lease
additional acres which will raise his income from farming. During
his busiest periods he sometimes hires an apprentice farmer through
the same union program that gave him his start, thus giving others
the same kind of learning experience that helped him get started.
Linda
Kelly has a fine household garden and keeps several dozen chickens.
Between what she grows and preserves herself and a barter arrangement
she has with a neighboring dairy and other local farmers, the Kellys
are virtually self-sufficient in food (value $9,000). The two
younger children are a great help in caring for the garden and the
chickens.
The
oldest boy, now 17, is growing into a strapping young man. Now that
he is making a real contribution by helping his father with the heavy
work and driving the produce to market, he no longer has the time or
energy to get into trouble. He even has some of his old friends out
to visit for a few weeks in the summer, providing them with a
worthwhile experience as well.
The
combined value of what the Kellys earn and produce [for their own
use] is $71,500 to $76,500, enough to live a comfortable, though not
luxurious, life. His seniority gives him considerable job security.
His increasing ability as a farmer holds the promise of adequate
earnings to send his children to [a local college] without excessive
financial sacrifice [especially as they will be able to work part
time to help create income on the farm].
The next/and final installment will show how this system can be integrated by business and labor, and a way to measure the increased productivity unleashed by greater freedom and more time off than we measure by our current Gross Domestic Product calculation.
The next/and final installment will show how this system can be integrated by business and labor, and a way to measure the increased productivity unleashed by greater freedom and more time off than we measure by our current Gross Domestic Product calculation.
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