Free Enterprise Is The Rough Road To Easy Street
"It is a rough road that leads to the path of greatness."
"It is a rough road that leads to the path of greatness."
Not to be a critic, but this post is all over the place. I'm not reading a cohesive message. For those that chose to endeavor in business, your choice of quote is certainly appropriate. But as you have traveled in this topic, you have gone off the road.
I think it is presumptiuous to believe those that have "failed" in business or maybe more appropriate, their endeavor has failed, would be deriders of free enterprise. I would think they more than anyone else would inderstand the "rough road".
And what would these "others" you speak of near the end of this post, have to do with your original topic? Very broad brushing.
Those who cannot keep afloat and perish in the business environment would say no! They, and the other deriders of free enterprise and capitalism, would also scream the other words - unfair! Unjust! Unlevel playing field! Etc.....seems pretty clear to me. If they fail and are screaming AND they aren't trying again, thus they wouldn't view it as a "rough road". More like an unscalable cliff and someone else should build them a ladder...no make that an elevator, climbing is HARD!
Umm, the 'others'? My reading is the ones who actually work, produce, take risks, grow businesses (or fail, but keep trying), pay taxes (to support all the freeloaders/unfair spouters). Thus the 'others' are the risk takers, the free enterprisers, the democracy supporters........
Of course, I could be wrong and Jay can defend his own blog post, but that is my reading of this blog.
Pretty much exactly what we see today.
I deserve to be successful just because "I AM". I shouldn't have to risk anything or even have to consider failure, because I was told by my parents that I am "SPECIAL".
The USA started with a very rough road and we got it smoothed out enough to succeed. Now the USA is trying to eliminate EVERY bump in the road for some and they have no grasp on reality and think it will be EASY to be successful. Their parents validated them, their schools validated them, their professors validated them or their government validated the "I DESERVE IT" mindset with the cradle to grave caretaker concept.
No one loses in little kids supports, no one wins, no one gets a grasp at an early age that they may FAIL and that there may be someone better at _____ than them. That isn't unfair, that is life.
When very broad brushes are used, things can appear to be all the same color when they are not.
Than, Where do see all this happening? You are generalizing. Taking your opinion and extrapolating to describe people you don't know.
I see some of the type of "validation" you speak of in schools and kids sports. It bothers me as well. The everyone gets a trophy baloney. I also agree learning to fail is important. I however would not presume to speak for anyone else or pretend to know what other parents or kids behaviors are. I think it comes down to parenting, teaching children to try their best,. Effort is much more validating than winning or losing.
Charles Buell
Seattle, WA
Sorry, but I have been on the rough road of the capitalist marketplace all day multiplying my talents for pecuniary gain, called profit.
Jim - I think it's exceptionally on message! I am always on message! As a firm proponent of recycling, to save the planet, you might notice that I recycle a few themes in my posts. This post's theme is the same as one just a few weeks ago concerning T. Boone Pickens:
" The deriders of capitalism and free enterprise deride it with such phraseology as "unbridled capitalism," "unrestrained capitalism," "unfair," "fat capitalists getting rich off the backs of the poor," "cronyism," "good old boys club," "obscene profits," "materialistic," "money hungry," "trickle-down economics," "a new tyranny," "dehumanizing," "exclusive," "unequal," "unethical," "fat cats," "monopoly" and "monopolistic..." These and other creative, but misapplied, terms go on and on.
Where do I see it happening? On the news every night.
On the ball fields all the time. You say you dislike the 'everyone gets a medal', however you fail to see this carries over to real life.
These kids become teenagers, who have never failed or never been told they need to work hard to win. They then become college graduates with 2 or 3 worthless degrees and then complain about not getting a job with their degree in 'southwest pottery design and the global implications of those pottery designs'.
Where have I seen the above you ask? Occupy Wall Street and every off shoot of it. They want whatever they want and don't think the rich should make so much money. Yet they are on their iPads, iPhones, Nike tennis shoes, laptops, living in their parents basements complaining about their student loans...........All the while their true complaint is NO ONE will hire them for the 6 figure salary they think they are worth!
Than - I laughed when I saw how Occupy Wall Street was treated with seriousness, like it was going to have an effect on the world. It was a joke, and a study in hypocrisy.
As to degrees, Investor's Business Daily had an article on some of the degrees kids are trying to get jobs with - fermentation sciences (about what you think it's about), the Beatles, cannibis cultivation, puppetry, pop culture, enology (wine making), entertainment engineering, theme park engineering, Canadian studies, ecogastronomy (saving the planet with what we put on our dinner plates), comic arts - the list goes on! Some of the degrees are what one would learn working in a bakery, or theme park, in a winery, or being a Beatles fan (I know, for instance, that George Harrison did not have a middle name) - but how do you translate some of these degrees into something useful enough to work for a corporation? Someone pulls up to IBM and wants employment because of their vast knowledge of pop culture?
And they expect a trophy maybe ... but they didn't keep track of grades. Those grades diminish psyches, dontchaknow.
Yes, I made up that last part - my sarcasm coming through... ; >)
You guys, so tightly wrapped up in your ideals, your perceptions, you have absolutely no clue what I'm saying and therein lies the problem.
All these people you speak of, who are "they"? More importantly, do you know "them"? And you see it on the news (big smirk).
How would anyone know how someone is going to grow up simply because they played a sport where everyone got a trophy? Seriously. How can you know? You are making grand assumptions. (my very good friend coaches middle school basketball. They don't give out trophies to everyone, but he agrees giving away trophies to all participants is ridiculous).
Do some people go to school for seemingly "silly" careers? I would say sure. Are there people with "good" degrees who can't find work? I'm certain there are. To think that a person with a degree in puppetry or enology would go to IBM and apply for a job is ludicrous. My understanding is that the vast majority of people entering college change their major before graduating. These are kids finding their way.
My question is, what percentage of graduates obtained these silly careers? And why is working for a corporation the "better" career? Why not a winery? Is that job or the person who has it any less valuable than the IBM employee? They both would after all be employed, paying taxes, contributing to society, yada, yada, yada.
All this talk about how this group or policy is "the problem" is nothing more than finger pointing, blaming for what you two perceive as the ills of this country. We keeping coming back to the same examples, the occupy wall street people, et al. I believe these people are hardly representative of anyone but themselves.
Here's my idea, instead of generalizing and finger pointing, try making a single, cohesive point, instead of writing, talking on a vast array of different topics. Talking about people as a group is generalizing and ultimately dehumanizing.
I've said it before, belief blinds. Think about it.
BTW, what exactly is greatness?
You mean, like:
Stop me when you have enough generalizations from the 'other' side.
Did you listen to any of the interviews from OWS? "I have 3 degrees in _____ and no one will hire me!"
"I want my student loans forgiven." "I want to be hired at the top of the pay scale."
Why are they getting degrees in silly fields? Because it is easier than a standard degree. The EXACT reason Liberal Arts degrees became so popular. It was an easier path to a college degree.
Generalizing is dehumanizing....what a load of crap.
Going to IBM with a silly degree was hyperbole Jim. I do that from time to time. You are too serious some times.
Talk about ideals - you're worried about mine? You should check out these:
http://www.foundationsmag.com/civility.html
I said that some of those degrees would and could be obtained by getting a job, like at a winery. Certainly nothing wrong with that! But to think one could do better learning some things in college than they could at performing the job and learning it step by step is the ludicrous part!
I just re-read my post and I don't see finger pointing. I see a lot of freedom pointing! And the phrase "rough road to easy street" is brilliant!
I am trying to contribute to a debate and argue against tracks and trends that are not consistent with those that founded this great nation. I got quoted on CNBC by Arthur Brooks one morning! Know him?
I think my posts are very cohesive, but if you can do better do it! I will welcome your effort.
By the way, I have some very deeply held beliefs and I assure you they are not blinding.
Greatness? Ask Seneca! Or Lombardi. I re-read his quote too and it's great. Coming next week.
Than - in college I earned a BA instead of the more popular BS. I ended school with 147 hours. The degree required that I take classes in things I would not normally have studied, like Appreciation of Music. I REALLY enjoyed that class, got a lot out of it and to this day listen to a very eclectic musical selection. Classical rocks! And so does Rock...
And your point about generalizing is something that one only has to listen to the news to get a load of. The cliches fly. I do not listen to the "news" - they are not even close to getting it right for about 7 broadcasts and "new" information. And then it's fit into a cliche!
Jay, I'm too serious!? So I should have taken this post as tongue in cheek? Nice deflection. And I didn't say I was worried about your ideals, I said you are tightly wrapped up in them and that indeed can be blinding.
Keeping an open mind is very difficult. We must make a grand effort to do so constantly. For it is our own ideals that can nudge aside the thoughts of others.
I read these post because I am trying to be open minded, even when I don't agree. I have found some of your Tuesday post enlightening. I wish to know your ideals, but I don't always have to agree. Above all we must respect, and you my friend always do. I thank you for that.
I think, James, he was referring to that specific sentence.
If the left believed what you state James it would be great, but it is more "Everyone can have an opinion....as long as it agrees with me." If you disagree you are racist, homophbic, greedy, a murderer or whatever hyperbole they throw out.
Boycott Chik-fil-a: they believe in God. Boycott Hobby Lobby: they will only pay for 15 out of 17 birth control devices/treatments/pills.
Not only Boycott, but you must conform to OUR beliefs or views and if you don't we will sue, have sit ins, threaten your customers, disrupt your business or demand government regulation. (All these action are protected according to the left, but but the owners are not protected from these actions.)
I am free to choose birth control, but I am not free to choose to NOT provide birth control.
I am free to denounce God, speak of Islam (flatteringly), but I am not free to talk about being a follower of Christ. (No, this isn't complete yet, but simply look at the colleges. Christian groups are being forced to accept anyone, while Muslim groups are being allowed to put up signs stating non-muslims are not allowed in the room! This was a room in a college building. The campus authorities made the Christians take down their crosses, but did nothing to the muslims.)
It is Constitution Day, but 2 college kids were threatened with arrest if they didn't stop giving out free copies of the Constitution on campus. (They were in the 'freedom' zone and following all the rules, yet the lady in charge called the cops when they refused to leave.)
That was a fun little swat on your butt Jim! It really was hyperbole - if some dope shows up at IBM with a degree in The Wonders of Nothingness and demands employment, well, good luck to him! But that was my hyperbole. And no, the post is not tongue in cheek! And certainly I wasn't deflecting. I am pretty straight forward.
You may not believe this, but I am gratified when people react, and comment, and agree or disagree with my posts. That is the idea!
I read a lot, both sides of things, and my opinions are considered. They are also based on my education when I truly did try to learn how to think for myself. Fortunately I went to a very competitive school (where there was no opportunity for silly degrees) that demanded critical thinking. I got shot down by econ profs more than I want to admit. They were challenging however, and that was good. They never discouraged a position, just that we defend it. When we didn't defend it well, it was slammo! Somehow I was elected into Omicron Delta Epsilon and Pi Gamma Mu though. Likely because I never wilted in the corner.
Than - what "they" are trying to do to the NFL, in the name of promoting their agenda, liberals* are making hay from people who have a lower incidence of domestic abuse and such than the general public! Far lower! But no matter, the agenda must go forth! Take advantage! And everyone should resign, by gosh, by golly!
And my daughter really liked working at Chic Fila. She is a hostess/waitress at a high falutin' restaurant now and thinks she's a millionaire.
And I have a free copy of the Constitution on my phone. Really! Free!
* I only use the word 'liberal' in today's vernacular. Truly, I am a real liberal, but that wouldn't fly today.
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