Whatis a

BIGJob???

A BIGJobis a job that brings money

into an area (town, state, country).

The name stands forBasic Income Generating Job

A person doing a BIGJobgrows, digs, makes, or does something that can be sold

to people outside the local area.

That money can be usedto buy things that people cannot

(or do not want to)grow, dig, or make for themselves

in your community.Maybe it’s too cold,

or you don’t have the tools,or you don’t know how,

or you are too old, or . . . .

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name some jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

restaurant owner

professional artist

park clearner

Q. How manyof these areBIGJobs?

A. All of them

OKI’ll name some more jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

restaurant owner

professional artist

park clearner

Q. How manyof these areBIGJobs?

A. None of them

OKI’ll name some more jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

restaurant owner

professional artist

park clearner

Q. How manyof these areBIGJobs?

A. None of them

Wait a Minute!

How can this be?

Let’s go over the list again.This time, let’s see how a job can be

a BIGJob and also not a BIGJob

college professor

YESstudents come to Boston

from all over the worldto study with professors

at Harvard UniversityNO

students come mainlyfrom the local area

to study with professorsat a community college

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name a number of jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player YESpeople come

from Connecticutto watch the playersof the NY Yankees.NO

most of the fansat a Little League gameare parents and friends.

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name a number of jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

YESif you make furniture

to sell in Walmart.

NOif you help you neighbor

install a shelf in the garage.

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name a number of jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

YESif you run a dam in Arizonaand sell power to California.

NOif you run a community

electric generator.

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name a number of jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

restaurant owner

YESif you run a world famous

restaurant in Paris.

NOif you run a burger place

in your home town.

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name a number of jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

restaurant owner

professional artist

YESif you sell paintings

in galleriesall over the country.

NOif you paint murals

for your town office.

Clear? Let’s see.I’ll name a number of jobs, and you tell me

if each one is a BIGJob or not.

college professor

baseball player

furniture maker

powerplant operator

restaurant owner

professional artist

park clearner

YESif you clean the lodge

in YellowstoneNational Park.

NOif you cut the grass

in your town golf course.

BIG POINTWhat makes a job into a BIGJobis not necessarily the job itself,

but where the money comes fromto pay the worker.

If someonegrows, digs, makes, or doessomething that can be sold

to people outside the local area,that is a BIGJob.

So why is thisimportant?

Because every placeneeds at least one BIGJob

to get the money people needto buy the things they can’t

grow, dig, or make for themselves.

Here’s a strange fact:in a typical place,

only a tiny fraction of the peopleactually do the BIGJobs.

Everyone else doeswhat we might call OtherJobs.

These are the jobsthat do things for other people

within the local area.

What are some OtherJobs?

Store clerk, cable installer,firefighter, teacher, trash collector,

mayor, building inspector, car repairer, nurse, . . .

This is why it is important:If the BIGJobs in a place are not successful,

all the people doing OtherJobswill have a hard time making a living,because no one is bringing money

into the local community.

This has happenedin many places.

Politicians often saythey know what to doto solve this problem.

But if peopledo not understand

about BIGJobs,these problems

are hard to solve!

Think about it.