In the article, “No Job? Get Lost!” author Andrew Higgins writes about
how Norway’s northernmost territory, Svalbard, has a rule that says that unemployment
isn’t allowed. In this territory,
everyone must have a job – or they face being run out of town. The homeless are
banned, and even retirees can’t live there, unless they have some kind of job
to support themselves.
One of the
reasons for this rule is because of the geography and climate of Svalbard. An island, located 800 miles from the North Pole,
is covered in darkness nearly six months of the year and there is snow until
late summer. By making sure everyone has
a job, and not allowing the homeless to live in the town, the government basically
says it is saving lives. In the article,
the government says, “banning homelessness and unemployment – a problem
plaguing much of Europe – is meant to ensure that none of Svalbard’s nearly
3,000 residents freezes to death.”
Higgins says
the law has also made the area virtually crime-free. Svalbard has a police force with just six
police officers and one jail cell in the entire territory, and no one has been
locked up in the capital, Longyearbyen, since last year, and that was just for two days. “It’s a very quiet and law abiding society,”
says Governor Odd Olsen Ingero. Everyone leaves their keys in their cars and
snowmobiles, and doors are unlocked.
In
conclusion, maybe a rule that everyone should have a job could help this
country. With no crime, and no one
freezing to death, the small island of Svalbard is doing something right! When I get older I hope to live in a place
just like this!
