Paul Krugman, the Nobel Laureate economist who writes op-ed’s for the NYT’s, delights in ideological conflict with conservatives.  And there are whole hosts of blog sites that routinely spar back with him, such as this Austrian post.  So I generally disagree with him.  Yet his post earlier this week has a lot of merit to it.  Krugman takes Mr. Trump to task for highlighting the importance of manufacturing jobs, and asks the great question as to why aren’t other jobs lauded?  Why don’t we care about retail, for example?

I’ve asked a similar question, since Amazon continues its creative destruction of Sears, JC Penney and Macy’s.  What’s interesting to me about Mr. Krugman is he only asks this question once the Republican party (in the form of Mr. Trump) is stealing the union/manufacturing job issue that the Democrats have owned for years.  But he certainly is right that all jobs are important.  I hope he’ll join me in castigating politicians who attack entry-level service jobs as somehow unworthy of dignity, since they’re “hamburger-flipping jobs.”  God values all work that serves others*, and all work is beneficial.  We were created in God’s image, and God is a worker (John 5:17).  Likewise, the work of the stewardship of creation was before the fall.  So yes, work is good, and jobs are good.  But if a job is not serving customers well, then those laborers should seek to gain employment in  industries that do serve others well.

* Obviously there are some jobs that are not beneficial to others, e.g., working at marijuana store in Colorado.  I doubt God is too happy with that line of work.

Hat Tip to Al Mohler,  http://www.albertmohler.com/2017/04/18/briefing-04-18-17/