In the midst of all the economic bad news some Americans are starting businesses that are thriving. They are taking a chance and working very hard. For some Americans they are hitting the jackpot. Yes, others may be slipping down the porcelain convenience. It is capitalism where those who satisfy the customers best usually do the best in business.
That needs to be the American motto: you can still do well in America. And you can. There are important factors which include being business smart, working hard and having some luck. Does luck play a part? Yes, especially if you equate luck with smarts and hard work. There is a correlation but as my stats professor drummed into our minds, correlation does not infer causation.
Advice is like lice, better to keep to oneself. But I must offer this advice to those who are unemployed and have been for an extended time. It seems to me I have spoken with a number of Americans in the last couple of years who seem to not know the game. What is the game? To get and keep a job there must be a fair trade between employer and employee. If either in this transaction are abused then something bad will happen to both.
What makes and made capitalism so powerful is that it runs on satisfied customers. If either party in the transaction is not satisfied, it is not capitalism; rather, it is something else. In some forms of government the elite live wonderful lives and get to do what they want but the masses live lives of desperation. In theory, everyone in America can change jobs or move somewhere else. But many people are their own jailers.
I have worked jobs I did not like and was quite happy to leave. But I had those jobs rather than be unemployed. Yet I know several people who have been long-term unemployed who are very talented but would rather do without a job if it is not what they want. Relatives and friends enable this thinking.
My earliest lesson involved a paper route in Colorado Springs where I made the observation as a twelve-year-old that putting the paper on the porch within easy reach of the front door made the customer much happier than if I threw it into a bush. Maybe someone said something to me or I could have thought of it. Regardless, I discovered that upon going to collect for the Gazette Telegraph I received several tips.
It started a lifetime of me thinking of making customers satisfied. At times I have been better at it than at other times but I have always been aware that if my customer and I both profit from a transaction then good things will happen for me. Likewise, any attempt to not satisfy the customer usually leads to disaster.
And this is why government is problematic in a free society. In government, say the IRS, the mantra is do what we say or bad things will happen to you. There is not equal satisfaction. In the marketplace if I do not like the last transaction I may take my business somewhere else. But with government we are captive. In fact, some government leaders refer to us citizens as “giving units.”
We need to whisper quietly to the millions of people who are long-term unemployed that it is time for a second plan. Maybe you will get back to that field someday but sitting out of the job market, even if the government makes it relatively easy to do is disastrous.
Everyone repeats that it is easier to get a job if you have a job. It is. If there is a four year gap, it is hard for me to take a chance on that potential worker.
Dr. Michael Swickard hosts the syndicated radio talk show News New Mexico on six to nine a.m. Monday - Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. Email: michael@swickard.com
