Today I am reflecting upon the status of the work ethic in our society. This spurred from an incident that occurred yesterday at my home. We were in our living room when there came a ring of the doorbell. When I answered it there were two men, one in his 40's and the other probably in his early 20's. The older man was apparently training the younger guy so he did all the talking. He held a cardboard box of what looked like cleaning solutions and began into a high speed, aggressive presentation of his pitch. I didn't let him go but a few seconds and stopped him, telling him that I was not interested, that I do not buy from door-to-door salesmen, and that I would not allow him in my house to demonstrate his magic elixir. Well, this seemed to set him off and he got more aggressive, questioning why I wouldn't support someone trying to earn a living rather than living on the dole. I suggested that he get a real job rather than try to foist upon the public some snake oil that they didn't need or want. This set him off and I told him to go away, which he did.
The thing that strikes me in reflecting back on the incident is how our definition of work has changed. As I was growing up I was taught that you work hard to provide for yourself and family. You did this in honest work and people that made their living by ripping off others were reviled by society. The honest used car salesmen had to live down their nefarious brethren in the business. Somewhere it changed but nowadays that work ethic has changed. Many in society believe that however they come by money is okay, regardless of the ethics of the way they get it. Honesty and integrity seem to be only incidental anymore. For example, we all encounter people in the larger cities begging for money with there signs at major intersections. Most profess to be homeless, hungry, or traveling somewhere. When did this behavior become acceptable in our society and not a shameful display of lack of self respect? Many of these people are not homeless but this is how they make their living. Goodhearted people feeling sorry for them get ripped off. These bums see nothing wrong with it because they feel the means justifies the ends.
With the downturn in the economy expect to see more of these folks around, telling you they would work a regular job but there are none. I refuse to support this type of behavior and encourage you to do the same.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Who is Driving the Bus?
Since Labor Day we have been beat over the head with how bad the economy is. I attribute most of this to the presidential election and the party out of power talking it down to win the election. Nothing new about this, regardless of party. However, with the willing assistance of the media, the Democrats have outdone themselves this time. But before you think this is just another "bash the Messiah" piece let me explain how our economy went wrong well before the election.
Historically our country and the world for that matter has gone through recessionary periods, inflationary periods, and amazing growth periods many times. Every time we have a recession people get laid off, businesses close, and the survivors adapt and become more efficient. Many times our economy has been revived by a war or conflict that mobilizes the manufacturing base to support the war effort. This was the case with WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Couple that with consumer spending increases that were amazing and you have the last 60 years of the our history. However, our economy has become almost exclusively driven by consumer spending and less reliant on our manufacturing base and demand for our products abroad. And consumer spending is heavily influenced by consumer confidence. If confidence in our economy is low then consumers will pull back on their spending, fearing the loss of their job and the ability to repay the funds they borrow to buy cars, various consumer goods, etc.
The current situation was exacerbated by our reliance on debt to facilitate consumer spending. As we were encouraged to spend more and more credit was provided with no reasonable expectation that the borrower could repay it. The real estate boom is the glaring example but credit card debt is just as bad. So as banks began to fail the normal reactions of those banks capable of surviving was to pull back on the risky loans. The housing market ground to a quick halt and so did consumer spending. Businesses reduced their workforces in light of reduced demand and consumer confidence goes into the toilet.
Here comes the government to the rescue! Their solution is to throw more money at it, increasing our national debt exponentially to reduce the pain, protect the financial system, and bail out selective industries "too big to fail". The problem is that these idiots are the ones that encouraged the irresponsible behavior that got us into this mess. Tax policy incentives entice us to borrow money this year to reduce tax liability as a means of economic stimulation. The federal government leaned very heavily on mortgage lenders to make loans that were not supported by the income to repay them, especially loans to minorities. This all started back with Jimmy Carter and was supported by both parties since. So now they are trying to keep these families from "losing their homes" by making the rest of us pay for them. Insanity seems to be ruling the situation.
In my opinion we need less government involvement, not more. Businesses that have not adapted should be allowed to fail. Period. Jobs will be lost, assets will be sold to new owners, and consumer demand will be met. Government propping these losers up has kept them from facing the music and it is about time they did. You keep making products that are inferior to your competition then you should go out of business.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. In a little over a month Barack the Magnificent will take office and you will see a new tone in the media. Nobody will call him stupid or lacking intellectual curiosity. Camelot will return and he will lead us from the wilderness of economic despair. Consumer confidence will return and more massive government spending programs will drag us from the recession. Or so it would appear. But the auto industry will have billions of our money that they will likely never repay and will still not learn the lessons they should.
So enjoy the ride! You really don't have much choice.
Historically our country and the world for that matter has gone through recessionary periods, inflationary periods, and amazing growth periods many times. Every time we have a recession people get laid off, businesses close, and the survivors adapt and become more efficient. Many times our economy has been revived by a war or conflict that mobilizes the manufacturing base to support the war effort. This was the case with WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Couple that with consumer spending increases that were amazing and you have the last 60 years of the our history. However, our economy has become almost exclusively driven by consumer spending and less reliant on our manufacturing base and demand for our products abroad. And consumer spending is heavily influenced by consumer confidence. If confidence in our economy is low then consumers will pull back on their spending, fearing the loss of their job and the ability to repay the funds they borrow to buy cars, various consumer goods, etc.
The current situation was exacerbated by our reliance on debt to facilitate consumer spending. As we were encouraged to spend more and more credit was provided with no reasonable expectation that the borrower could repay it. The real estate boom is the glaring example but credit card debt is just as bad. So as banks began to fail the normal reactions of those banks capable of surviving was to pull back on the risky loans. The housing market ground to a quick halt and so did consumer spending. Businesses reduced their workforces in light of reduced demand and consumer confidence goes into the toilet.
Here comes the government to the rescue! Their solution is to throw more money at it, increasing our national debt exponentially to reduce the pain, protect the financial system, and bail out selective industries "too big to fail". The problem is that these idiots are the ones that encouraged the irresponsible behavior that got us into this mess. Tax policy incentives entice us to borrow money this year to reduce tax liability as a means of economic stimulation. The federal government leaned very heavily on mortgage lenders to make loans that were not supported by the income to repay them, especially loans to minorities. This all started back with Jimmy Carter and was supported by both parties since. So now they are trying to keep these families from "losing their homes" by making the rest of us pay for them. Insanity seems to be ruling the situation.
In my opinion we need less government involvement, not more. Businesses that have not adapted should be allowed to fail. Period. Jobs will be lost, assets will be sold to new owners, and consumer demand will be met. Government propping these losers up has kept them from facing the music and it is about time they did. You keep making products that are inferior to your competition then you should go out of business.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. In a little over a month Barack the Magnificent will take office and you will see a new tone in the media. Nobody will call him stupid or lacking intellectual curiosity. Camelot will return and he will lead us from the wilderness of economic despair. Consumer confidence will return and more massive government spending programs will drag us from the recession. Or so it would appear. But the auto industry will have billions of our money that they will likely never repay and will still not learn the lessons they should.
So enjoy the ride! You really don't have much choice.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Political Labels
Liberal or Conservative? Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Communist, Socialist? Labeling or pigeonholing people by their affiliations, opinions, or political heroes has been going on forever. It seems that we all want to put individuals into some nice little box and define them by it, usually as a means of disparaging them. This makes it easy to put all of the perceived negative characteristics of say, being a liberal, upon someone and dismiss them totally. Nice try.
The term that really pisses me off is moderate. I think most people that identify themselves as such are just trying to avoid conflict that results from affiliating with any group with an opinion. If they really have an opinion they are afraid to express it for fear of having to defend it. It's an easy out that I have no respect for.
As a general rule I have identified myself as a Conservative Republican since Ronald Reagan captured the imagination of the country. Unfortunately I have been disappointed since George H.W. Bush promised that conservatism but never delivered. Sure they all invoke his name and promise less government and the usual mantra but the reality is hard to dispute. None of them had the stones to really stand up to Congress and have been willing accomplices to the financial mess we are currently in.
So I hereby denounce my affiliations to all political parties and the labels they carry with them. The only caveat I will consider if you can find one that covers all of the following perspectives:
I am fiscally conservative but believe we all have a responsibility to the less fortunate in our society.
I am pro-life but do not think Roe v. Wade needs to be overturned. Abortion is a personal decision and most women, when given accurate information on both sides of the issue, will chose life for their babies. It should not be legislated on either side but also should not be funded by government.
I am a devout Christian but do not think my religion, or anyone's for that matter, should be sponsored or promoted by government. This religious freedom we enjoy in our country also extends to those citizens who wish to be free from religion. If you want your kids to have a good religious education then send them to a parochial school or get off your lazy butt and teach them yourself. And that goes for Muslims, Hindus, Jews, or Mormons. I don't care!
The government has, in my opinion, a very limited constitutional scope, which it has exceeded. National defense is the primary objective. Entitlement programs are not but they increase dramatically every year. Government has become the first option with politicians buying votes by promising more and more. Anytime someone has the audacity to mention shutting down a federal program the wailing begins. It should be obvious to anyone with a brain that something has to give or we will achieve that Third Word Country status we looked down our noses at for generations. We aren't that far away!
Personal responsibility is a foreign concept to all political groups, save the true Libertarians. And I am not talking about that idiot Bob Barr, either. Our grandparents new what it was because they had to take responsibility for what they did. They had pride and knew that nobody was going to bail them out. It was never the taxpayer's responsibility to pay for their mistakes as it seems to be today. Businesses failed and other businesses took their place if the market demanded what they offered. End of story!
So there you go.
The term that really pisses me off is moderate. I think most people that identify themselves as such are just trying to avoid conflict that results from affiliating with any group with an opinion. If they really have an opinion they are afraid to express it for fear of having to defend it. It's an easy out that I have no respect for.
As a general rule I have identified myself as a Conservative Republican since Ronald Reagan captured the imagination of the country. Unfortunately I have been disappointed since George H.W. Bush promised that conservatism but never delivered. Sure they all invoke his name and promise less government and the usual mantra but the reality is hard to dispute. None of them had the stones to really stand up to Congress and have been willing accomplices to the financial mess we are currently in.
So I hereby denounce my affiliations to all political parties and the labels they carry with them. The only caveat I will consider if you can find one that covers all of the following perspectives:
I am fiscally conservative but believe we all have a responsibility to the less fortunate in our society.
I am pro-life but do not think Roe v. Wade needs to be overturned. Abortion is a personal decision and most women, when given accurate information on both sides of the issue, will chose life for their babies. It should not be legislated on either side but also should not be funded by government.
I am a devout Christian but do not think my religion, or anyone's for that matter, should be sponsored or promoted by government. This religious freedom we enjoy in our country also extends to those citizens who wish to be free from religion. If you want your kids to have a good religious education then send them to a parochial school or get off your lazy butt and teach them yourself. And that goes for Muslims, Hindus, Jews, or Mormons. I don't care!
The government has, in my opinion, a very limited constitutional scope, which it has exceeded. National defense is the primary objective. Entitlement programs are not but they increase dramatically every year. Government has become the first option with politicians buying votes by promising more and more. Anytime someone has the audacity to mention shutting down a federal program the wailing begins. It should be obvious to anyone with a brain that something has to give or we will achieve that Third Word Country status we looked down our noses at for generations. We aren't that far away!
Personal responsibility is a foreign concept to all political groups, save the true Libertarians. And I am not talking about that idiot Bob Barr, either. Our grandparents new what it was because they had to take responsibility for what they did. They had pride and knew that nobody was going to bail them out. It was never the taxpayer's responsibility to pay for their mistakes as it seems to be today. Businesses failed and other businesses took their place if the market demanded what they offered. End of story!
So there you go.
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