DEPENDENCY A NEW HOT TOPIC

Mitt Romney is in the news for some candid comments made on a video.  He is not alone in his thinking and it is good that a touchy topic is out in the open.  This post is reflecting on the insinuation that too many Americans are becoming too dependent.  They supposedly expect all their needs to be met by government and do not take responsibility for their situation.

Stephen R Covey had an interesting thought about dependency.  We are all totally dependent when we are first born--we will literally die if we are not provided with food and shelter.  As we grow we gradually achieve greater amounts of independence.  But in truth even before "civilization" we have always lived in an interdependent world--increasingly so to-day.

While on Stephen R Covey, his first habit of highly successful people is to be pro active.  That is, not to wait for other people to do things, but to initiate action yourself.  It is not healthy to always be waiting for someone else to do something.  I agree with that and try to be more pro active.

Unfortunately many of us, a lot of the time are counting on someone else to make our situation better. It takes all sorts of people to make this world work.  Some to give orders and others to fulfill them. Some to make their suggestions to make things a little better.  Some to question the order.

One illustration of inter-dependence is driving.  Very few of us really understand the workings of a motorized vehicle, but we have discovered driving is a practical way to get from one point to another point and can be enjoyable all by itself.  When large numbers of us decide to get from our own specific point to another specific point  there is a danger of colliding and certainly of getting in each others' ways.  We have developed a system of rules and facilities that help us reach our destinations over 99% of the time. When you are driving in heavy traffic you are assuming that other cars will stay in their lanes and maintain speed.  As long as the other vehicles on the road do what is expected there need be no problems.

Of course there are drivers who are a little careless or even reckless.  In some cases they may be penalized by legal authorities (ultimately authorized by us).  And of course "accidents" do happen and we have developed systems of dealing with them involving repairs to bodies, vehicles and other property that gets in the way.

We have developed a life style that involves going to work, working, living in some sort of housing, taking care of our basic needs, raising a family and if we are smart (pro active) saving up for retirement and emergencies.  We also live in a world that is precariously balanced with the need to sell things so everyone can have a job.  We are now more sophisticated and have access to a basic financial tool known as credit.  Just as in traffic, there are people who have little concern for our safety or if we reach our destination and will manipulate the system to their own advantage.  Fairly regularly they miscalculate and everyone suffers.  People cannot pay their bills and that leads to job loss and that leads to more people not paying their bills.

Admittedly that is over simplified.  We also live in a world where those who control the levers can decide to lower their costs by such things as outsourcing or using more sophisticated machines. Robotics are not going to go away (at least not unless our civilization collapses).

We are in cyclical and structural transitions which we should be able to see taking a long view. However many of those with the levers (and truthfully most of us altogether) take a short term view. I think there will be a global jobs "problem," but it could also be seen as an opportunity.  Work has always been for most people a purpose in life. You make something or do something that makes other people better off and are rewarded.  If you are aggressive and/or innovative you can prosper even as others find expected opportunities closed to them.

The government doesn't have to be seen as the boss who decides everything and does us favors if we know our place.  The government which is really us, can be a facilitator making sure everyone has an opportunity to be useful, not just for their individual benefit, but for benefit of everyone.

Mitt Romney has found a way to make a huge amount of money by manipulating money within the rules of the game.  I am sure many people have benefited from his efforts and perhaps he deserves a high standard of living and to have people seek his advice.  Most of the rest of us are not as talented at moving money around, but almost everyone wants to be useful.

Typical of powerful people Mitt didn't feel the need to get all the facts lined up.  He confused how many people who don't pay federal income tax with how many people are getting government handouts, with how many people voted for his opponent.  These things don't correlate as closely as he seemed to assume.  Many of the households not paying income tax are combat military personnel, retired people, and people who work near the minimum wage and many of them actually voted for his party.  Overlooking the fact that he doesn't do any manual labor, hasn't invented anything, actually described himself as unemployed and yet on his millions pays only 13% tax (mainly due to government rules that his colleagues helped set up).

Why are so many people not making enough to pay income taxes?  Rules set up by those in power to maximize their profits have certainly played a role.

The world is undergoing a major structural change, one outcome of which will be that there will be much less need of physical labor.  Jean Chretien, former Canadian Prime Minister once said that "there is dignity in work."  What will we do when there is not so much work to pass around?

Do some people have to live meaningless lives while others burn out in the pursuit of survival and others can stroll through life?  Can we find value in things besides physical labor?  Can life be made more enjoyable for all of us?  Could more people ascend Maslow's hierarchy?

Nobody has all the answers, but a few thoughts to ponder.  If we on average worked less hours could the work not be spread around?  If the ideal goal of a life is to enjoy it can we not each benefit from learning how to do so and can this process not provide opportunities for others to teach?  Can the teachers not also learn?  We are overwhelmed with information which needs to dealt with for optimal benefit.

Can we count on a government to help us make the transition to the future?  Or are we going to see who can survive the David and Goliath struggle that will hurt everyone?  We are dependent on each other and the sooner we understand that the easier it will be to help each other.

I BUILT IT ALL BY MYSELF! NOT

The title of this post reminds me of a youngster (could have been me) who has built something from play toys and is proud of him or her self.  In truth we should encourage him or her to be ambitious and continue to mature their skills.  But we know a lot had to happen before that youngster was able to build that construction and a lot more will happen before they contribute to society.

The mockery of what Obama actually said astounds me.   The ignorance and arrogance of many is amazing, but what really scares me is the willingness of others who know better to exploit a supposed gaffe that was actually truthful.  A distortion is not much different than a lie.  The meaning of something has to include the context or we are not better than smart ass bullies.

Stephen R Covey, a Mormon has my respect for emphasizing that the world is inter-dependent.  We are LUCKY to live in a western civilization that has optimized our inter dependence, at least more than in previous times.  We don't have to do what our parents did, we are relatively free to pursue our own path and fit into society in our own way.

It is the height of arrogance and ignorance to think that anyone achieved anything all by themselves. Obama was not trying to take away credit for the striving and efforts of people who have achieved success.  He was trying to restore a little balance.  Since then the opposition has put up a lineup of people who have done it on their own.  But none them has; they all got some boost from government.

It is far more basic than that.  For someone to succeed they have to sell something to someone who buys.  It might be a product, a service or an idea, but if nobody has the resources or inclination to buy whatever, it was stays on the shelf.  We have to survive a stage of helplessness until we reach a point of fending for ourselves and truly we never really reach that stage, else there would be no need for police or armies.  Somehow we must learn the ways of the world both formally and informally.

Communication and transportation, a legal system, a workable currency, a base of potential customers are the necessary foundation of every business.  Some of us benefit more than others from this foundation or you might say are able to exploit their resources more effectively.

There is a great need for balance.  It takes all sorts of people to make our society work.  Thank goodness there are ambitious people with talent, willing to work hard to get what they want.  They get what they want by satisfying desires of other people.  Thank goodness there are people willing to do the grubby work.  Thank goodness there are people willing to encourage us and teach the ways of the world.  Other people do whatever is left.  Some of us have big egos and resent anyone telling us what to do, but others are willing to fit in wherever they can.  We can all point to people who take, but don't give anything back, some are considered successful and others considered bums.  Teachers are often depicted as ones who couldn't get a real job, but they are key drivers of progress:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/11/what-teachers-make-by-taylor-mali.html

When those who have money are not willing to share, to help others follow their path, to help those who were not as lucky or talented as they were the whole society starts to decline.  We are disgusted with despotic rulers in the current and ancient world and realize we are much more fortunate.   The problem starts with someone leveraging their power at the expense of others.

Do some people deserve special status because they take risks? Maybe, but in fact the government has reduced the risk in many ways.  One thing many of us overlook is the designation "Ltd." which really means the risk is limited to the amount invested whereas before there was no limit. Bankruptcy rules protect not only consumers, but also companies.  Then there is the so called safety net.  What happens when reasonable risks don't work out?

There is a need to respect individual talent, ambition and hard work.  There is also a need to realize that we are inter-dependent.  I recognize that some people think they pay too much in taxes and some of them might be right.  I realize that regulation and bureaucracy can be wasteful and crush initiative. But we have to acknowledge that some people became successful by abusing others and actually kept some deserving people from getting a decent opportunity.  If you think about it there are a few very dangerous people who are trying to take advantage of the rest of us--who is going to protect us?   Most important let us not distort the meaning of the message-- what Obama actually said is very fundamental to making decisions that affect everyone and I think the key to our future.  Reject it or misunderstand it and I think we are headed for anarchy.   And no I do not think that is too strong a description.