I thought I'd published this yesterday, but technology being what it is, and my tech skills being what they are, I'm having to redo the post this morning. I guess I'm not ready to fly solo on the tech quite yet. Next time I'll let Jonathon walk me through it.
America is the great experiment. We were the first country in history to break away from our parent stem, and declare ourselves independent. The war for independence was fought for unfair taxes, and real injustices against our parent country, England, but it was fought more, I think, because we simply wanted to be free. We were a new nation, a new people. We came here to this strange place, so different from Europe, and we made of ourselves a new people, with new customs, new attitudes. I'm not talking about the people in charge; the Washingtons, the Jefferesons, the Adams. I'm talking about the everyday people. The people that always do most of the living and working and dieing, when all those names that the history books remember, decide it's time to fight.
The very things that drove most of our ancestors away from their original countries was that, for the most part, they did not fit in where they were. They wanted to find a place that they could call home. A place where their dreams were not crushed, or spat upon. America is that place. Even after over two hundred years, we are still the land of opportunity.
Yeah, that's right. We are the land of opportunity. I still believe that. I still believe that here it is possible to start with nothing, and find your dreams. Lately, I've been hearing a lot of people say that they don't believe that anymore. That there isn't enough. Not enough money, not enough medical care, not enough love, not enough jobs, not enough. There seems to be a sense of unease lately. We don't feel safe. This doesn't bother me the way it seems to bother others, because I never felt safe. I had my own personal world shattered at such a young age, that I grew up with few illusions. So, I understand the fragility of the things around us. Most people pretend that nothing bad can happen, or actually believe that nothing bad can happen, so when it happens, they are crushed.
But are we brave and proud of our country, and our people, because nothing bad happens? Are we only proud Americans when there is no storm to weather? Is that it? Does everything have to be perfect for us not to be afraid? I hope not. Because perfection is an illusion, a lie for children. This country is not longer in it's infancy. We are working into our third century. That is the age that many countries choose to become imperialistic, expanist, take over your neighbors, build an empire. In a different time and place, America might have done that, but this is not a contrary for empire building. This is a century for finding new ways to build a legacy.
What do you do if there are not new shores to find, not new worlds to explore? First, of course, that's not true. There is space, and God, knows, I want us to go out into that wondrous void. I want to see in my lifetime that men, and women, will walk on Mars, and beyond. The oceans beneath us, are almost as unexplored, and some say more a mystery, than the night skies. There are new places to go, things to see. The difference now is that it takes scientists and training. You can't just find a seat on a boat and go. That leaves a lot of us out of this next great exploration.
What can the rest of us do to build a legacy? About fifty years ago American industry began to ship our manufacturing jobs overseas. Now, there is almost no way to make a decent living in the manufacturing sector. Now, American business is shipping our tech jobs overseas. Within ten years, that will be gone, too. Many of the businesses doing this are doing it for bigger profit margins, because somewhere in the last fifty years business began to think that they owed more to their investors, and their CEOs, than to their workers. Once upon a time you showed loyalty to your company because they showed loyalty to you, that seems a thing of the past. Now, having said that, some of the tech jobs are going overseas because by the time they get a local American worker trained up, the worker is already looking for something better, that pays more. For a fraction of the cost, they can ship it overseas and the people are happy to get the money. But if this is true of some smaller companies, then why am I hearing so many people with tech degrees out of work? They are eager to work, and most of them would not quite the job once they had it, not easily, or lightly. So maybe we need to have the companies that would hire local people if they could, being matched up with the tech people who would stay with the job.
We are getting people offering to work for us just for medical insurance. I find that very sad. We are one of the greatest nations in the world, but more and more of our people do not have health insurance. What's with that?
It is our responsibility as bosses to take care of our employees. That are not just light bulbs to be replaced when one burns out. If you pay them what they're worth, enough that they can live and live well, not just scrape buy. And if they don't have insurance through a spouse, you insure them. Now some small businesses can't afford, I understand that, but we've got to do something. We've got to take care of eachother. I'm sorry that this is full of such doom and gloom, but I don't mean it that way. I wish I had a magic solution to these problems, but I don't. But I do have an idea.
I am offically a CEO of a company. Small, true, but growing. I would like all the CEOs, or anyone else that is a postion of power over others, out there to make a promise in the next twelve months. Promise that you will take care of your workers. Your staff. Your people. We have to take care of eachother. Everytime a person looses a job, it means they can't spend money in the ecomomy. The economy can't recover if people don't have money to spend, or if people are having to decide between food and medicine. If you are in a positon where you can make this not be happening, do it. Make that difference in just one life, and see the good that spreads from it. View your employees as an asset, and a valuable commodity. Treat every person that works or comes in contact with your business as a plus sign on your books. And remember when reading through that profit report, that these are not just figures, or words, but they represent people, their families, the local ecomony. Talk to the people that are on the line of your factory, your office pool. Talk to them. Find out what their lives are like. Find out what's it really like to live in today's America. Even if you have only one person that you can make a difference for, make that difference. For every dollar you spend to make the standard of living better for your people, it isn't lost. It is a very definite profit. The relief in a man's face when he knows that he has enough money now to pay his bills, and then some. The look in a woman's eyes when she knows that now, she can pay for daycare, and still make enough to eat. For the next twelve months, try and see how much you can do for your employees, your staff. I think you'll find that if give loyalty and respect to the people that can't demand it from you, that you'll get loyalty and respect in return. And never forget that happier, healthier people, work better, have fewer sick days, and can make the entire atomospher of a work place shine.
I leave you with this thought. When you look in the mirror tomorrow morning, not think about the first meeting of the day, or do I look good in this suit, have I gained weight? Look in the mirror and wonder, am I good person? That should be a question that we ask ourselves often, because if the answer is no, then what else is there? No one talks much about honor, anymore. But I do. Are you an honorable man? If you aren't sure, then the answer is probably, no. Honor, goodness, helping others. Trot them out for the next twelve months, until the next fourth of July, just try them in the work place. If in twelve months you think it's all a bunch of balderdash, well, then fine. But I think you'll find, as I do, that doing what is right, pays off in ways that you never dreampt of, and being able to say, I am a good person, I am an honorable person, is a very good thing indeed.
Let's take care of each other in the next twelve months, because, United we stand, divided we fall, is not simply rhetoric.
-----
Posted by
LKH on 07/05 at 08:17 AM
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
