This problem of “work inequality” isn’t addressed by President Obama, and, in fact, is exacerbated by his programs. Increased dependency on the government may have its political advantages — as The Rainmakers sang in their 1980s hit, Government Cheese, “They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please” — but it’s incompatible with the notion of social equality that underlies American democracy. Beggars, even if they’re doing pretty well, are dependents, and a dependent class can never really be equal members of the polity.

In science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle’s future history from the 1970s, 21st century America became divided into two classes: “Citizens,” dependent on government, mostly residing in “welfare islands” where drugs and sex provided a substitute for purpose, and “Taxpayers,” who actually had jobs and enjoyed certain additional legal privileges. That future seemed farfetched, then. It seems less so now, as President Obama talks about “Promise Zones” for the poor.

So why is President Obama less interested in the shortage of jobs and more focused on mere “income inequality?” I think there are two reasons. First, while expanding the dependency class might be bad for America (and for the dependents), it’s good for the political party that passes out the pork. And second — and this is more troubling — I think that Obama has no idea how to address the underlying jobs problem. Let’s hope our next president has some better ideas.