Scary to me and this is how I see it (My Pessimistic Self)
Scary to me and this is how I see it (My Pessimistic Self).
The US is in the process of undergoing some very serious and very dangerous changes to the way we do business every day. One of the most alarming is the way that we will endure through rough financial times. Throughout the history of the US we have been a nation of entrepreneurs, survivalist and ingenious handymen. When times were tough we made due with the things that we had. From the time of the pioneers though out modern era the ability to adapt and make our own way has defined the American spirit. The early days of the United States fostered the concept of the handyman. The ability to fix a broken wagon wheel or to hunt and kill the food you needed, to cheek a cabin to keep the weather out, were important to surviving a tough winter and making a life that was your own. Through out our history and into the modern age these skills have changed from fixing wagon wheels to replacing the brakes on your car but they have not become less important to survival in the world. There were a lot of terms that were born of these necessities “jury-rigged” meant temporarily fixed with materials that were on hand. Making things happen with the materials on hand has always been testament to the ingenuity of Americans, we have always been survivors. During the great depression and WWII we were tested as a society. We were able to endure as a people by jury rigging and making do with the materials at hand. All of the resources of our great nation were very focused on war production, rationing and the lack of new materials made it difficult to replace what was not being produced or when new was not affordable.. We did these things to survive in a financial crisis and to do our part in an effort to win the war, not everyone could fight but everyone could contribute to the effort.
There is a marked difference between the reasons for frugality then and the frugality that is about to be forced on us. The economy is changing as this is being written, the method of capitalism is changing for the US. Most of us can see that Washington no longer has the interest of the average citizen in mind; the interests of Washington have gone to the extremes. Those that have little are well represented, as are those that have much. The average, that do not fall into an extreme category, have very little representation in Washington. If you do not have a special interest group or lobbying firm representing your interests then you are inconsequential to the politicians and not considered as a constituent.
We saw that in the financial bail out plan that was enacted just a short time ago. The vast majority of the average were ignored, our voices were unheard so the legislative change to capitalism was initiated. The change was the federal government taking a firm hold and stake in the banking industry. Typically this is a bad thing. When the Government takes an operating interest in something the efficiency and productivity of that business decreases dramatically. It is an effect of the entitlement society brought about by the broken public assistance system.
We are headed into a serious recession with very serious consequences to the American people at stake. The unemployment number show that we are losing jobs at a substantial rate and that in turn will slow the pace of the economy even further. There is documented proof of how trickle down economics works, this will be evident in how business is done in the future. The new president is already talking about how we need to tax the top 1% more so that they are paying their share. The problem is that the new administration is having a difficult time defining the threshold of the top 1%. It started as anyone making more than 250K/ Year, then has slowly slid to making 125K a year. In today’s two income household that has bitten very seriously into the average middle class.
Very soon in the near future we are going to see changes that are necessary to keep people working. There will be craftsmen that will need work. I am talking about carpenters, Mechanics, Plumbers, tile setters, and the like. These are the very heart of the blue collar work force that produce and make things every day. There is a certain amount of quality of service you get from a journeyman mechanic that you do not expect from a shade tree mechanic, or a hobbyist. There is a level of quality from a master carpenter that you are not typically able to attain your self. Given the opportunity to have this type of professionals available to you would definitely make it more convenient. There is always a price to pay for these types of services. The price sometimes makes it more attractive to try ourselves to accomplish the needed tasks. Some of us that have some mechanical ability can fix our own cars at a substantial savings of money. This is very convenient and frugal for the individual that is doing it but takes money away from the very blue collar professionals that we just said do fine work. Very soon those blue collar workers will start a cry for more business. There are ways of generating more business, the least of the methods are holding a sale and discounting products or services. The difficulty here is dropping the price low enough to make the service more attainable and competitive with the do it yourselfer. The sale typically does not last long enough for it to make a huge impact on the long term cost of the service or the availability. Long term changes in the business model affect the lifestyle of the individual that is doing the work. There are a few options that are available to change the situation. Lower the price of the service or raise the price for the handyman.
We have already quickly explored the option of lowering the service price, so let us explore the other option and the methods available to make that happen. Starting with an example of how the price for car parts is set and the changes that could be made to encourage people to use a tradesman rather than do it your self. A typical brake job on a disk brake auto can cost more than $100 per axle if you take it to a tradesman. If you are doing it yourself, it is the cost of parts and your time. I can do a brake job like this for $20-$30 per axle. The cost of the brake pads is not expensive and if you have a few general tools it is easy to do. Even if the price for the parts were to double then we are still looking at a substantial savings over what it would cost me to have it done. If the cost of the parts were to triple the cost of the parts to the point where it costs 3 times as much for and individual to buy them , I would no longer have a savings by doing it myself not having that benefit I would not waste my time and have them done at the tradesman garage. The taxed amount would be the difference between whole sale (cost to the tradesman) retail cost(cost to me) for the parts.
A simple hypothetical study done on brake jobs across the nation would show that work done by a tradesman is 40% safer than doing it yourself. This hypothetical study could be one catalyst to adopting the tax legislation on the car parts. Unionization of the tradesmen would also have the same effect. A large lobbying group in Washington would call for quality and safety of automobile repair. Who could argue with that, we are just trying to keep the general public safe from the dangerous unscrupulous back yard mechanic. This method of thinking is already taking place today in Washington. There is also a possibility that it would be legislated that only a professional tradesman would be allowed to purchase parts to fix a car because that is the only safe way to get your car fixed.
This method of thinking is already taking place today in Washington. I believe that these concepts are coming, incrementally to be sure but they are coming. The tradesmen must be kept working, or there will be more unemployment and burden on the already over taxed public systems. This is the way that the new administration looks at the economy and the method of keeping people working and the role of government in our everyday lives. More regulation and interference in the market place to ensure that everything is fair, everyone has a fair share. I say again that this is a dangerous path we are headed down and I see no good to the American people coming from it.
The US is in the process of undergoing some very serious and very dangerous changes to the way we do business every day. One of the most alarming is the way that we will endure through rough financial times. Throughout the history of the US we have been a nation of entrepreneurs, survivalist and ingenious handymen. When times were tough we made due with the things that we had. From the time of the pioneers though out modern era the ability to adapt and make our own way has defined the American spirit. The early days of the United States fostered the concept of the handyman. The ability to fix a broken wagon wheel or to hunt and kill the food you needed, to cheek a cabin to keep the weather out, were important to surviving a tough winter and making a life that was your own. Through out our history and into the modern age these skills have changed from fixing wagon wheels to replacing the brakes on your car but they have not become less important to survival in the world. There were a lot of terms that were born of these necessities “jury-rigged” meant temporarily fixed with materials that were on hand. Making things happen with the materials on hand has always been testament to the ingenuity of Americans, we have always been survivors. During the great depression and WWII we were tested as a society. We were able to endure as a people by jury rigging and making do with the materials at hand. All of the resources of our great nation were very focused on war production, rationing and the lack of new materials made it difficult to replace what was not being produced or when new was not affordable.. We did these things to survive in a financial crisis and to do our part in an effort to win the war, not everyone could fight but everyone could contribute to the effort.
There is a marked difference between the reasons for frugality then and the frugality that is about to be forced on us. The economy is changing as this is being written, the method of capitalism is changing for the US. Most of us can see that Washington no longer has the interest of the average citizen in mind; the interests of Washington have gone to the extremes. Those that have little are well represented, as are those that have much. The average, that do not fall into an extreme category, have very little representation in Washington. If you do not have a special interest group or lobbying firm representing your interests then you are inconsequential to the politicians and not considered as a constituent.
We saw that in the financial bail out plan that was enacted just a short time ago. The vast majority of the average were ignored, our voices were unheard so the legislative change to capitalism was initiated. The change was the federal government taking a firm hold and stake in the banking industry. Typically this is a bad thing. When the Government takes an operating interest in something the efficiency and productivity of that business decreases dramatically. It is an effect of the entitlement society brought about by the broken public assistance system.
We are headed into a serious recession with very serious consequences to the American people at stake. The unemployment number show that we are losing jobs at a substantial rate and that in turn will slow the pace of the economy even further. There is documented proof of how trickle down economics works, this will be evident in how business is done in the future. The new president is already talking about how we need to tax the top 1% more so that they are paying their share. The problem is that the new administration is having a difficult time defining the threshold of the top 1%. It started as anyone making more than 250K/ Year, then has slowly slid to making 125K a year. In today’s two income household that has bitten very seriously into the average middle class.
Very soon in the near future we are going to see changes that are necessary to keep people working. There will be craftsmen that will need work. I am talking about carpenters, Mechanics, Plumbers, tile setters, and the like. These are the very heart of the blue collar work force that produce and make things every day. There is a certain amount of quality of service you get from a journeyman mechanic that you do not expect from a shade tree mechanic, or a hobbyist. There is a level of quality from a master carpenter that you are not typically able to attain your self. Given the opportunity to have this type of professionals available to you would definitely make it more convenient. There is always a price to pay for these types of services. The price sometimes makes it more attractive to try ourselves to accomplish the needed tasks. Some of us that have some mechanical ability can fix our own cars at a substantial savings of money. This is very convenient and frugal for the individual that is doing it but takes money away from the very blue collar professionals that we just said do fine work. Very soon those blue collar workers will start a cry for more business. There are ways of generating more business, the least of the methods are holding a sale and discounting products or services. The difficulty here is dropping the price low enough to make the service more attainable and competitive with the do it yourselfer. The sale typically does not last long enough for it to make a huge impact on the long term cost of the service or the availability. Long term changes in the business model affect the lifestyle of the individual that is doing the work. There are a few options that are available to change the situation. Lower the price of the service or raise the price for the handyman.
We have already quickly explored the option of lowering the service price, so let us explore the other option and the methods available to make that happen. Starting with an example of how the price for car parts is set and the changes that could be made to encourage people to use a tradesman rather than do it your self. A typical brake job on a disk brake auto can cost more than $100 per axle if you take it to a tradesman. If you are doing it yourself, it is the cost of parts and your time. I can do a brake job like this for $20-$30 per axle. The cost of the brake pads is not expensive and if you have a few general tools it is easy to do. Even if the price for the parts were to double then we are still looking at a substantial savings over what it would cost me to have it done. If the cost of the parts were to triple the cost of the parts to the point where it costs 3 times as much for and individual to buy them , I would no longer have a savings by doing it myself not having that benefit I would not waste my time and have them done at the tradesman garage. The taxed amount would be the difference between whole sale (cost to the tradesman) retail cost(cost to me) for the parts.
A simple hypothetical study done on brake jobs across the nation would show that work done by a tradesman is 40% safer than doing it yourself. This hypothetical study could be one catalyst to adopting the tax legislation on the car parts. Unionization of the tradesmen would also have the same effect. A large lobbying group in Washington would call for quality and safety of automobile repair. Who could argue with that, we are just trying to keep the general public safe from the dangerous unscrupulous back yard mechanic. This method of thinking is already taking place today in Washington. There is also a possibility that it would be legislated that only a professional tradesman would be allowed to purchase parts to fix a car because that is the only safe way to get your car fixed.
This method of thinking is already taking place today in Washington. I believe that these concepts are coming, incrementally to be sure but they are coming. The tradesmen must be kept working, or there will be more unemployment and burden on the already over taxed public systems. This is the way that the new administration looks at the economy and the method of keeping people working and the role of government in our everyday lives. More regulation and interference in the market place to ensure that everything is fair, everyone has a fair share. I say again that this is a dangerous path we are headed down and I see no good to the American people coming from it.
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