Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational
Opening a Dry Cleaning shop won't make anyone's clothes dirtier.
Can you cite any example of any good or service -that's actually needed- which isn't already available?
At the individual level... certainly; maybe that happy Dry Cleaner.
|
Ok .. you got me there then. We are obviously doomed and at a complete dead end in the 'countryside' just because no one out there needs a 'service' like dry cleaning. And nothing new in the universe will EVER be invented or marketed again because you may think there isn't anything that isn't already available that anyone could possibly want or need. And no one will ever have an inquisitive mind ever again either I suppose. At this point, we can officially say we have stopped the world and anyone with a dream or ambition to be an entrepreneur can just get right off this bus and go back to the city. There is no hope. /sarc off
My goodness. I guess you don't realize that those with an entrepreneurial spirit (which I guess is NOT cultivated any more - more people have one than know it I think and it used to be encouraged - which is part of my point .. it is not being any more. And apparently it has gone beyond that too .. someone must be actively discouraging it if this is the kind of response you give me!) often are also 'inventors' even if you don't know it. Check the patent registries and watch shows on TV like Shark Tank (and in Canada, the equivalent Dragon's Den) and you will see people are still out there 'inventing' new stuff and trying to manufacture and market them.
But when governments regulated kids' lemonade stands out of existence it seems they killed a lot of America's entrepreneurial spirit and drive. Kids doing things like that at the end of the drive in the summertime used to inspire at least some of them to want to be their own bosses some day - and to invent a better lemonade perhaps. But even that explanation is probably going right over your head.
Even IT people who want to 'invent' a new program or way to do things in the high tech world need a (metaphorically speaking) cheap garage to operate out of - how many free garages are there in downtown Manhattan that are suitable for that kind of work? And how many people these days who don't work directly with customers/clients every day could not 'telecommute' from a small town most of the time? People do seem to want to do that if they can. But they may not be bound either to the career they do it in or maybe they want to start their own concern which uses telecommuters all over the place .. all based in small town America. Many ways to skin a cat you know .. and I am pretty sure that there are a lot of cats yet left to skin too .. some we have not even met yet.
What the heck ARE they teaching in colleges and universities these days? How the heck are they removing the real spark that is innovation from so many heads? Why are the eyes of so many young city dwellers who commute almost more hours a year than they work so dead these days? Why do I read so many posts about people who are stir crazy and hate their bosses, etc. but seem to have absolutely no drive or ambition (other than to just 'get a better job'/move to another 'cubicle'/take another college major, because their current job options are limited, and go into more debt to produce virtually nothing of value) or excitement or imagination about what they could do in life? Have we bred all this out of the many who used to be so enthusiastic about all the possibilities in life in previous generations?
Additionally there are small businesses who compete in the same fields as larger ones but are at a disadvantage if they have to pay big city prices for real estate and workers, etc. but may be able to compete if they had a cheaper place from which to operate. And surprisingly there may also be bigger businesses who will move at least some of their operations to smaller town areas if there is incentive to do so - like cheaper labour, cheaper land prices.
And there are dreamers out there who won't open a business at all (having investigated previously all the hoops they would have to jump through) unless regulations are changed/reduced and perhaps less paperwork they hate doing or can't afford to hire high big city accountants to do for them is required of them. Fix the issues (many of them regulatory and very onerous for startups) and they may just jump right into the fray, if they can also operate in a cost-effective area.
That is how we start revitalizing small town America by replacing the industry or agriculture that used to be there IF those are no longer viable. I don't think we should just write off 3/4s of the country just because 'you can't bring back mining' or whatever it is. These places do NOT have to become ghost towns (or they can be brought back) with enough forward thinking innovative people taking on that revival with vigour.
It can't and won't happen over night .. it is a process .. but if people just discard the possibility, if they just 'assume' that the way things are now is the way things must always be, if they have no will and no vision .. there is NO chance it will happen. If they exhibit the 'no can do' attitude you seem to have, you are correct .. it will not ever happen.
I could go on .. but I am guessing my original meaning was lost on you and whatever I say won't fix that. If all you can do is ask me about dry cleaning, I suspect YOU don't have what it takes.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
