On the eve of new "dark ages?"

The Labor Department released the job-loss numbers for December today. The news is not good. The U.S. economy shed 85,000 jobs last month. After some modestly better numbers the month before, December's figures show what most ordinary folks already know -- things are not improving in the job market in any meaningful manner.

I saw an interesting documentary last night that predicted where human beings might be in 100 years. The scientists and educators on the show talked about global climate change, pandemics, population explosions and dwindling natural resources. Essentially, the experts who were interviewed laid out a scenario that we may be entering the beginning of the end for human beings unless we turn things around in the next decade or two. Extinction may not come from nuclear war. It might come from our common behaviors and failing to connect the dots.

At the end of the two-hour program, the narrator spoke of the growing unemployment problem and how it actually ties into larger global issues outlined during the show. For instance, it has been proven that women with lower or no income tend to have more children. That in turn leads to more poverty and a larger draw on resources. Humans must start thinking more about population control.

When economies collapse there is no investment made in science, conservation, infrastructure, medicine, etc., because there are no tax dollars to pay for it. Everything, including the planet as a whole, tends to deteriorate. Diseases form and spread. Species vital to the ecological balance become extinct. Crucial "greener" technologies are not developed. Education falls by the wayside. Crime and illegal immigration increases as people fight to survive. Systems get overloaded. Many experts believe the next big world war will be sparked by the need for clean water.

We have to be caretakers of our lands and oceans. We can't simply become greedy, starving nomads, taking more and more without thought or concern for the next generation. We need to be productive and not destructive. We need to be innovators of something other than iPods and 3D movies.

Part of being productive individuals involves employment. Whether being paid for researching a method to fight off the next deadly virus or cleaning our streets to keep them safe to navigate, we need to fully understand that employment is vital to everything and that every job has value.

Without tax dollars from me in this year of my unemployment, the state of Virginia is that much less equipped to pay a state college professor's salary or to hire a park ranger. That professor might have been the person who teaches a student who goes on to cure cancer one day. That park ranger might prevent poachers from creating havoc in a sensitive ecosystem that in turn harms humans in ways we can't even imagine.

The connection between unemployment and global disasters isn't an obvious one at first. We tend to think of unemployment as an individual or personal hardship. But as you begin to realize how closely the dominoes are aligned, you can clearly see why solving the unemployment problem is of the utmost importance in maintaining everything including our freedom as a nation.

There will always be terrorism, health care and other important issues to deal with. But Washington and business people need to understand that rising unemployment is far more dangerous and prevalent than young men with exploding underwear on airplanes. According to some experts, prolonged double-digit unemployment will lead to new "dark ages." At that point, air-travel safety won't be an issue.

In my own Sterling, Va., neighborhood, burglaries are on the rise. I don't think it's a coincidence. I recently heard of a man stealing meat from a nearby grocery store in a fairly affluent suburb. Another sign of troubling times. Job loss leads to desperation. Desperation leads to big problems for society and the planet. Joblessness robs us of hope, order, innovation and a maybe a future on Earth. Joblessness destroys the collective good of mankind and our ability to grow as a culture. When everyone is engaged and contributing, we and the planet are better off. Crime goes down. Ideas are born. A sense of awareness and learning are heightened.

Unemployment isn't just a financial hardship. There is more to life than work, but without employment governments fall and spirits die. Because we are at the crossroads with many other global issues, it's more important than ever to fix the economy and get people back to work so that we can address the other problems we face.