The softer ranks of the Left think of jobs as privately funded social programs, so they're perpetually surprised that their policies make unemployment worse. In truth, jobs are an exchange of value that cannot be duplicated by any government subsidy program.

(The hardcore Left knows all this and desires both high unemployment and high perpetual welfare spending - those are its true policy goals.)

The soft Left sees paychecks as a form of entitlement that can be subsidized or replaced by government handouts.

The Left's stimulus and welfare programs revolve around throwing money at people and then watching in stunned amazement as it fails to recreate the prosperity that flows from gainful employment. They don't understand why their fake jobs don't have the value of real jobs.

Real jobs are a complex exchange of value that can't be duplicated by crude government programs managed by a parasitic political class whose leaders rarely have any experience at running a real business, or even working for one. Value increases at every point in this process.

You aren't just "getting paid" by employers, and the government can't just take over as the party that pays you without a tremendous loss of value. Your paycheck reflects that your labor is more valuable to your employer than the money he gave you. It generates profit for him.

Here's the part that might really bake your noodle:

Your labor - the hours you worked and got paid for - are more valuable to your employer than they are to YOU.

That's the magic of capitalism. It makes your time more valuable. The value of your capital - your labor - increases dramatically when you find a willing customer to buy it. And the buyer isn't just pointlessly hoarding your labor, as statist welfare programs tend to do.

The client who buys your labor, your employer, must find ways to increase the value of that capital even further so he can turn a profit. If he fails to do that, he'll go out of business. His product is bought by either another capital-seeking business or a consumer.

At every step in this process, there is a tremendous increase in value for ALL parties involved. You have to admit that even a low-paying entry-level job makes your time much more valuable than just hanging around. You AND your employer both gain value in the transaction.

Voluntary transactions of this nature - capitalism - are the best way to find maximum value for all parties. It's not easy to figure out the best possible arrangement for millions of people to generate the greatest mutual value from buying, selling, and investing.

The grand illusion of socialism - the Marxist horror that killed and impoverished millions around the world over the past century - is the absurd lie that a small band of central planners can do a better job of finding maximum value than millions of people acting voluntarily.

The other horrible lie of Marxism is convincing people that the voluntary exchange of capital for profit is THEFT - your employer is "stealing" the excess value of your labor.