Posted 7:32 PM by Floyd

I am an anarchist. I do not like government. One reason for this dislike is my current relationship with the State of California. Over the last 12 years I have paid the Golden State many thousands of dollars in income taxes. One of the alleged services provided by the many-headed beast in Sacramento is unemployment insurance. Now that I am unemployed, I am getting my money back -- at $330 a week.

If I hadn't been forced to send all that money to the Franchise Tax Board, I could have saved up some cash for a rainy day. That money would be invested in some manner, and after 12 years the growth would be considerable. Also I would have an incentive to get back to work as soon as possible.

Most important, it would be my money, to do as I see fit. Currently the State of California keeps tabs on me to make sure I am really looking for work. This was bearable when all I had to do was fill in some circles on a form and mail it in every two weeks. But with my last check I received a notice that I would have to appear before an Employment Development Department employee, with a list of the companies that I had applied to over the previous fortnight. My scheduled appointment is tomorrow, Tuesday. At 8:15 in the morning.

I am able to be self-insured against unemployment, but I can see how others -- including myself ten years ago -- would not be in that position. Suppose there were no government unemployment, and you were someone without a large savings. In that case, you could purchase an unemployment policy from a private insurance company. This would create an adversarial relationship if you filed a claim, and your insurance company would want to check up on you in the same way that the State of California does. But I'd bet twenty bucks against whatever horrid California quarter is released by the U.S. Mint that the appointment to verify your claim would be made at your convenience -- not the convenience of the insurer.

Governments are great at providing things that no one wants. In addition to filling out a form detailing my job search, I am also required to fill out a form so that California can provide a resume for me and enter it in a government job site called CalJOBS. (Just to emphasize its detachment from the world of private enterprise, the Employment Development Department spells the word "résumé". This might impress your local French teacher, but would fill an email with control character garbage.) The resume form is crude, and is sure to generate a primitive and unimpressive resume. Fortunately I was able to check a box that denied prospective employers in the CalJOBS system the opportunity to view the resume. If only it were that easy to decline the EDD's services altogether.