How hard is it to just create jobs for the sake of jobs ?
I mean manual jobs, but not necessarily hard physical labour - secretarial, light manufacturing, litter collecting, painting, whatever.
It doesn't have to add to the bottom line overall, but just benefit society a bit.
Why can't cities make work like this for people who are not working, and pay them substantially more for doing that work than for doing nothing ?
And give unemployed people back some pride, and sense of participation in normal society.