A “job” is the result of inspiration, creativity and production, plus available time.
“But Lyle, a job is the result of need” you say. “The person hiring needs another employee, and the employee needs a job.”
If I’m hiring, it means I have a business, or it means I’m starting a business. If I have a business, it means I created somehting and I’m already producing, and if I’m creating a business it means I’m in the process of creating something. Before I can create something I must be inspired, and I must have the available time.
Before I have the available time, I must have produced, otherwise my time would be taken up merely subsisting– I must have subsisted by producing, and then some, else I have no time to create something new.
See where this is going? A job is the result of productivity, else there is no place for a job.
So when we’re talking about “creating jobs” what do we really mean? Do we really even know what we mean?
Politicians always talk about “creating jobs” and it is perfectly clear to me that they haven’t a clue what they’re saying. Not a single one of them.
If I’m getting inspired to do something, and then find this law, this licensing requirement, this tax, this higher tax for being in business, this government “program” and on and on and on– this whole nightmarish quagmire of red tape and barriers, what do you think is going to happen to my inspiration?
All hell; maybe it wasn’t such a great idea anyway, it would cost a lot and take a lot of time anyway, with a lot of risk, and it would put stress on my family, but with all this red tape crap, these endless rules and endless lists and endless catagories I have to wade through to pick one that applies to me and my new business, the ever-present potential liability, and sometimes the outright harrasment, it just isn’t worth it. (shrug)
You want to “create jobs”? (you don’t, I know, but you like saying you do) There is one way and one way only– Start a business. You don’t have the inspiration, or the creativity, or the guts for risk-taking to start your own business? That doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. OK, then get all this extra bullshit out of the way so someone else can. Get the holier-than-thou Central Planners, those who are so mind bogglingly stupid that they think they can, and have the right to, plan our lives better than all of us combined, and get them the hell out of the way. Then keep them out, because we need to believe that our new-found liberty will endure.
That is all it takes. Just that one, simple, cheaper-than-anything-else thing.
At that point, hope has been restored. the imagination is free, capital flows in like a tsunami, business pop up like popcorn, inspiration has been liberated, the looming storm cloud has been lifted (I was going to say “black cloud”, but then I’d be accused of racism [and if you’re one of the would-be accusers, I feel sorry for you]) and Bob’s your uncle.
The jobs come as a side benefit to inspiration, creativity and productivity, so you don’t even have to think about them. They’re a natural outgrowth of liberty.
So it’s a choice between two model views. In one, the government’s job is to reign us in, control us, redirect us, and tax us for public works projects. In the other, the government’s job is to protect liberty by protecting the property rights of every individual.
Just imagine that you’re starting your very own business, with your very own ideas, using your very own resources. In which model would you want to do it? Don’t even bother answering. We all know.
I think of it in much simpler terms, but I think it’s pretty much the same idea:
A business exists to make as much money as possible for its owner (or the stockholders, as the case may be).
In any event, the business hires people to be productive (add value somehow) so the company can make more money. Employees who don’t add enough value to make up for what they take out (salary, benefits, etc.) and then some get axed.
Put another way, the employee’s job is to enhance the company’s bottom line by performing some task or set of tasks. This is why it has to be easy to hire, easy to fire, and easy to negotiate wages for the labor market to function properly–the business owner needs to get rid of or cut pay for underperforming workers, and they need the feedback to tell them to get with the program. This works the other way, too–employees who are good workers are worth more, and have to be paid what they are worth or there is nothing to stop them from taking their skills elsewhere.
Politicians can “create jobs” only indirectly: by getting the |-|311 out of the way and letting the marketplace work. Minimum wage laws create unemployment because jobs that aren’t worth that amount either don’t get done, or otherwise-more-valuable workers have to take some of their time to do them. Thus the business doesn’t get as much value out of them as it could (even though overall the employees they do have are worth having). Add in unemployment “insurance” and the economic incentives get even more screwed up…at this point there is no incentive for a low-skilled worker to even get a job, except intermittently because their benefits are about to dry up.
*looks for the “like” button*
Oh, there it is!
*pushes*
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If I’m getting inspired to do something, and then find this law, this licensing requirement, this tax, this higher tax for being in business, this government “program” and on and on and on– this whole nightmarish quagmire of red tape and barriers, what do you think is going to happen to my inspiration?
Yeah, I’ve thought about it a couple times. And ever time, I look into what all is involved, and think to myself “ah, fuck it.”
“Running the marathon today? Make sure to stop by the weights table for your ball and chain before you head for the starting line.”