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Here is someone who has it right. This couple risked it all to begin their own business. They employ others and hope in doing so, their lives also become richer.
My husband and I took a big risk eight years ago. We took all our money and invested in ourselves. We started our own business, and we put 10- to 15-hour days in, seven days a week, in order to make it a success...for eight years...nonstop...with no vacations...or even weekends off. Believe me: plenty of my friends thought this was foolish on our part. We missed out on many opportunities for fun. Why?
Because that is what successful Americans do. They work and work, to create something no one else has created before them. We also employ decent, hardworking people, who pay their taxes and contribute to society. These good people and members of society also function side by side with us as piggy banks for those who choose not to work.
These people live in a free country that protects commerce with laws, police and a judicial system that adjudicates disputes. There are public roads, canals and an air system that allows them to safely send and receive materials. There is a public education system that educated them and their employees. There is a public/private power and energy system that is highly reliable. There is a communication network. There is a regulation system that set standards that protect them and their workers, etc., etc.
Yet, these people feel they did it all by themselves (and didn't even state what they actually do) and probably sit around and complain about taxes, that supported all the systems that helped make them a success.
Bill Gates Sr. used to say this: Suppose you were given the choice of being born in America or in Ethiopia. What proportion of your eventual fortune would you be willing to give to be born in America? Given the great good fortune of getting to live and run a business in this country that has all the advantages an advanced country with a decent system provides, how can you think it’s all you? And then, how can you feel you don’t have any obligation to pay it back?
Here is someone who has it right. This couple risked it all to begin their own business. They employ others and hope in doing so, their lives also become richer.
The title of this thread hooked me in, as I had a pretty good idea where this would lead, and I'm a sucker for these stories because I always want to know How They Did It.
This tidbit from the article gives me a clue about their difficulty finding people "willing to work":
Quote:
Our jobs require simple selling skills that can be honed anywhere and do not require even a high school diploma.
A lot of people are uncomfortable with selling. They are self-conscious, or unsure of themselves and their selling skills. (Some just have negative attitudes toward selling generally, or might be uncomfortable with the product or service being sold.) I don't consider myself good at selling and I pretty much avoid it as much as I can; I did telemarketing and it was very much a chore for me.
Yes, there is vast money to be made by those who excel at it, but that's not most people.
Here is someone who has it right. This couple risked it all to begin their own business. They employ others and hope in doing so, their lives also become richer.
The American Dream is now a myth; America is no longer the land of opportunity
The Price of Inequality by Joseph Stigliz discusses America's future in the next 10-20 years due to income inequality resultingin a two class society. The haves and the have nots. The text below the video gives more detail. (Suggest reading reader comments on Amazon)
..............Stiglitz believes this "nightmare we're slowly marching toward" can be avoided, citing Brazil's experience since the early 1990s as an example of a country that has reduced income inequality. Among other things, he recommends improving education and nutrition for those at the bottom of society, and eliminating "corporate welfare" and other policies which "create wealth but not economic growth."
For example, he cites the provision in Medicare Part D which forbids the federal government from negotiating prices with the drug companies. Over 10 years, that rule will generate approximately $500 billion for the industry, he estimates, but no tangible benefit for taxpayers or the economy as a whole.
You have to define your own "American Dream". To most these days it's "buying stuff".
"The one with the most toys wins" mentality is just driving more into deeper debt.
It's not that simple. For example. I agree that the rule in Medicare that makes it illegal to negotiate drug prices is asinine. The solution though is to allow companies to compete across state lines.
Now this would require some actions that those who would support the above might not like. Such as passing a law after Obamacare fails that would make it illegal to turn someone down for a pre-existing condition.
If company A is charging $30 for a month supply of drug Z while my current company is charging $45 then I have be allowed to change without a hassle or penalty for it to work.
I don't think the American dream was always a myth but we threw open the doors and told the whole world that all it needs to do is show up and they've got their American dream of lots of food stamps, Medicaid, government housing, no one is allowed to fail here in this country.
In the past the American dream was there but not everyone could do it. Many immigrants returned home within a short time because they just didn't fit or couldn't hack it. Now we don't want to allow that, we want to guarantee the American dream for the entire world and that's not possible. The American dream at some point turned into merely a materialistic dream.
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The American Dream is now a myth; America is no longer the land of opportunity
