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SUPPLEMENT: Jobs or Income Now

By VVAW

From chow lines to unemployment lines--that's a big part of the history of the Vietnam vet. Years after the war and long after most vets were separated from the military, the enemy of unemployment still stalks the ranks, of veterans.

In the most recent available statistics, Vietnam-era vets (those who spent at least some part of their military service between August 5, 1964 and May 7, 1975) between the ages of 20 and 24 have an unemployment rate of 16%; non-vets in the same age group have the criminal rate of "only" 9.4% unemployment. For the younger minority vets, the rate is well over 30%.

Of course the government has a solution--in fact, it has a number of solutions. A full unemployment bill, they say: we'll set our goals at only 4% unemployed, although experts say that figure isn't realistic. We'll set up programs to put everyone to work--at sweatshop jobs at the minimum wage. Or if nothing else, we can always just drive people out of the unemployment market so they're no longer a bothersome statistic.

But look at the bright side, says one economist with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; "Today unemployment is far less a hardship because of a larger proportion of families with two or more workers." Great--they most think that husband and wife both work simply for the joy of working, no in order to make enough to get by. Unemployment would mean just starving slowly instead of all at once.

Millions of Americans are without jobs; not even the government statisticians can say how many people have stopped looking so have been dropped from the figures. But for this large army of unemployed, men and women, veterans and non-veterans, the demand is the same. Resist all attacks coming down on unemployment insurance and demand: JOBS OR INCOME FOR ALL--RIGHT NOW!