Reply to A modest proposal: Use humans for street sweeping

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In Spain, the streets sparkle like Disneyland. street sweeper is a solid government job. The ladies and gentlemen in orange come out every night to hose down the roads and drive the little trucks with brushes. Green suits hand sweep the trash all day.

The alleys of Georgetown are a literal rat filled trash heap  by comparison.[/quote]

Sanitation workers can make six figures in certain cities. Keeping the streets clean (and pest- and disease-free) is as important a job as compiling TPS reports. Let's expand the roles to include manual litter pickup, alley patrol, and hosing down sidewalks. [/quote]

I agree but it will never happen in DC. The proper comparison isn’t to those of us producing TPS reports. It’s to the DC residents who have few other good employment options. I think most of those people would probably rather just keep doing what they’re doing than make a few bucks an hour sweeping streets. And if they decide they’re willing to go legit, they could get paid way more to “interrupt violence.” You don’t have to wake up early in the morning to do that. [/quote]

People would do it if they get paid enough to do it. Which would be more than "a few bucks an hour." That's just basic economics. Basic politics is that there's no political will in the US to pay people enough for them to be willing to do - well, lots of stuff, really. And then employers complain that nobody is willing to work (at the wages they're offering).[/quote]

Aren't people on welfare/section 8 housing/homeless shelters getting paid? I think able bodied should be in work, training program, education or treatment. That was the idea behind welfare to work. And yes, pay and provide a pathway to even better pay. And I'm all for quality, universal day care. BUT, you WORK.[/quote]

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