Get Off My Ass

Seriously, I've just got to shake my head in disbelief.  I see shit that our government does - local, state and federal - and I'm left numb.  Simply numb.

Here's an example:

These workers and unions just don't get it.

If the expenses of the business go up, the profit of the owner goes down.  You remember the owner - that's the man or woman who put their own personal money on the line to start the business.  If it goes tits-up, he or she will lose the time and money they invested in the company.

It's a risk they're willing to take.

They, and only they, should have the right to determine what they charge for their goods or services, and how much or how little they pay their employees.  If their employees don't think they're being paid enough, they are free to go find a job elsewhere.

Or start their own business with their own money.

But that's not how it works here in Marxist America.  After getting the permission of the government to open their business (via fees, licenses, permits, etc.), they are told what they can and cannot sell, and how much they must pay their employees via the minimum wage.

If the minimum wage isn't enough for the worker to have a "living wage", the government simply passes a law that says they must pay them more.

There is never any discussion that the employee doesn't have the skills commensurate with a $15 per hour salary.  No discussion that the burger-flippers chose to piss away their high school education.  No discussion that they couldn't resist getting pregnant.  No discussion that being educated and skilled ain't cool.

So it gets piled on the business owner.  Well, I'll tell you what, cupcake, this ain't gonna end well.

You see, that business owner went into business to make money, not support your poor decisions in life.  And he or she is going to either make that money, or close the business.

Either way, you're toast.  Higher costs spawn innovation. 

Around the developing world, they dig up potatoes by hand.  Here in the US, that's too expensive, so now machines do it.

By NOT hiring employees, you get the added benefits of not having to deal with so many HR problems.  A very good friend of mine has a successful business.  She has enough customers to hire more employees, but the laws are so damned twisted that she's "done the math" and sees it's not worth the grief.  You do one thing that's not 100% by the books, and you're open to lawsuits.

I'm not talking about unsafe work environments, or things like that.  I'm talking about the employee asking the employer to do a certain job, or to do it in a certain fashion, and it breaking some asinine worker law.

Down the road, the employee becomes disgruntled, and sues.  And wins most of the time, because the law was broken, after all - regardless of how stupid it may be.

So, you remove the employee from the picture, and the problem is solved.

We business owners then innovate.  We'll have our potatoes dug up by machines.  We'll have our burgers flipped by machines.  We'll have our cash dispensed by machines.  We'll have our gas pumps take the buyer's money, and let the buyer pump his own gas.  We'll have our phones answered by a "calling tree". 

We'll have our cars more and more made by machines.  We'll have our homes pre-fabbed in automated factories.  We'll have our packages delivered to our homes by flying drones. 

So instead of the government helping us to employ more people, they've created an environment that makes it too expensive for us to do so.

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I pay THOUSANDS of dollars each year, and get nothing in return.  Why is the government involved in any way, shape or form when I want to open a business?  If I and the owner of the property come to terms about the store I want to open, why must I pay a licensing fee to the city and the state?

I get nothing for that money, and neither does the public.  If I do something wrong or harm someone with my product, does the public have the right to sue the city because they're the ones that "blessed" the opening of my store?

Of course not.

What the public gets is higher prices, to pay for those licensing fees from which neither of us benefit.

And that goes for any kind of business, even the food service business.  A restaurant must submit to various food and cleanliness inspections.  Yet somehow, every single year, we read of stories of bad food being ingested by people that bought from previously inspected processing plants, stores and restaurants!

Who gets sued?  The business that was certified as A-OK by the government.  So what good is the certification to anyone?

If I were King, I'd have one business law:  If you make or sell something, and it doesn't do or act as you've advertised, you can be held liable for damages.  If the business is sued, and the business wins, the accuser is liable for all costs for the business to defend itself.  Have a nice day!

The marketplace will be "The Decider" of what constitutes a "worthy" business, not some government bureaucrat.  These supposed, "consumer and employee protection laws" have gone too far.

The marketplace will be "The Decider" as to what is a fair wage, fair benefits and fair working conditions.

Here in California, starting July 1, the State has decided that I must now give my employees 1 hour of free time off for every 30 hours they work.  In essence, I'm being forced to give them a 3.33% raise.

Does the State consider the benefits my employees currently get?  A relaxed work environment, wholesale prices on precious metals, bonuses, flexible scheduling, food and refreshments?

Of course not.  Instead of a company offering time off as a benefit, it's now mandated.  So the business who used to offer it has now lost one of its enticements to work in their business.

"Hold on there Chief!  Don't you remember the horrible working conditions that existed at the turn of the previous century?  Unions, regulations and safety laws made America great!"

Bullshit.  Innovation, education and personal drive is what made America great.  The people that were having limbs chopped off in meat packing companies were largely uneducated immigrants.  Those business absolutely, positively were evil and took advantage of those people because they had no other choices.

But now, every person - legal or not - gets a free education.  If they choose to piss on that gift, I'm not going to shed a lot of tears over their lot in life.  And they don't need any personal drive, 'cause everything they need to live is provided for them.  That may sound harsh, but I don't care.  I will not be held responsible for their bad decisions.

Since the various layers of government disagree with my perspective, I've been left with only one choice:  I simply won't hire them.  Ever.

I know this story doesn't end well for anyone.  If more businesses act as my friend and I do, eventually there won't be anyone left that can afford to buy what I sell.

I'm good with that, as I'll shortly be picking up my marbles and taking them elsewhere.  Somewhere where the state and local governments aren't up my ass every two seconds, looking for ways to extort more money from my efforts.

Not surprisingly, my friend is doing the same.  Shocking, huh?

Coming along???

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