Posted on Aug 1, 2016
Why is finding/having a job such a high priority when it is the worst way to make money in our Free Enterprise System?
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http://www.millionaireacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Kiyosaki-Cashflow-Quadrant1.jpg
We are taught from birth: get a good education, get a good job and you will be successful. However, even Social Security's stats do not support this line. So, my question is not necessarily begging an answer but rather a discussion around the fallacy we've all bought into...
We are taught from birth: get a good education, get a good job and you will be successful. However, even Social Security's stats do not support this line. So, my question is not necessarily begging an answer but rather a discussion around the fallacy we've all bought into...
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Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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SSgt (Join to see) - I may be getting a little long in the tooth . . . but the world, society, and the nature of work have substantially changed during my life. In the 1950's one really dd not need much of an education to go to work in the mines, on an assembly line, or even in the military - this was a time when housing, food, healthcare, transportation, education, etc were all very cheap - and of generally high quality - and only one of two parents needed to work to costs for the family. In the 1960's and 1970's things changed a lot . . . women demanded to play more of a role in society . . . the cost of everything skyrocketed . . . perhaps because more sophisticated things like cable TV and computers entered our lives . . . but also because the demand created by dual income marriages put a lot more stress on the prospects of singe income couples . . . also the complexities of the workplace changed so higher education became a basic requirement for white collar jobs . . . and it seemed as though fewer and fewer citizens wanted to get their hands dirty in the fields, on construction sites, in the mines, or on the assembly lines . . . so a lot of foreign workers with little education filled up less complex jobs that could not be exported . . . and increasingly efficient global cargo transport made it possible to export many of the manufacturing jobs that could be exported. At first the quality of the foreign products was inferior . . . but over time foreign quality substantially improved . . . and given increase education and technological capability of foreign enterprise . . . even the most complex of jobs ( building and testing cars, televisions, computers, etc ) were deferred to foreign imports . . . and worse yet we became a culture that simply disposed of complex gadgets and replace them with new. Perhaps the efficiencies of living in a simpler time with less technology were lost . . . and conversely the opportunity to hold a job in a shrinking domestic manufacturing economy disappeared . . . so that where the greatest generation etc seemed to do pretty well for themselves . . . times were different. Also we have become an exclusively youth focused culture . . . and at least for women . . . well it still takes a lot to outcompete a man . . . for 70% of salary. What other changes have you noticed . . . that put us in a worse income generation vs cost place? Warmest Regards, Sandy :)
SSgt (Join to see) Not everyone has the temperament and skills to own their own business, or simply do not want the risk. Obtaining a good education is required if you own your own business, or want to advance working for someone else. There is no fallacy about working hard and getting an education.
http://www.successharbor.com/percentage-businesses-fail-09092015
http://www.successharbor.com/percentage-businesses-fail-09092015
What Percentage of Businesses Fail - The Real Number
What percentage of businesses fail? You are told that most businesses fail. People quote failed business statistics left and right, but the numbers are all over the place. First of all let’s consider a few questions about failing businesses: What time frame are we talking about? Are …
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SSgt (Join to see)
Education is not what it used to be. Walk into any major campus today and ask any professor this question: Did you ever apply what you are teaching in the real world? I don't mean hit the streets and do surveys. I don't mean run labs. I mean spend at least 5 years supporting yourself and your family by DOING what you are teaching.
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Capt Tom Brown
Sgt (Join to see) Owning yr own business also may not be all it's cracked up to be. There are millions of small business owners who work 20 hrs a day and barely make a profit at the end of the year. They may have 1 or 2 part time employees but do most of the work themselves. Read somewhere that 50% of all small businesses fail within the first 2-3 yrs or such. Not good.
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SSgt (Join to see)
Agreed. A small business, specialty business, owner/operator business is very hard to make a substantial income. Granted, my main business to pay the bills is that of an owner/operator in the IT field.
The link I was hoping would embed a picture (in my original question) shows 4 ways of making money. Jobs and small businesses are time bound. By that I mean you have only 24 hours in a day and you are dependent on what you can do in that 24 hours. The other 2 ways are not time dependent but are rather resource dependent.
Our fore-fathers envisioned a Free Enterprise System where the work we did was only limited by what we were willing to do. They knew some would grow without limits. They knew that some would never grow. They knew most would be self-supportive though never reach the ability to influence a large population. All of that is good. Yet, it was not until the turn of the 20th century (1900) that JOBS started taking a larger role in everyday life. If I remember my statistics correctly, in 1900 only ~5% of the work force had a job. The other 95% worked for themselves. By the turn of the 21st century (2000) those stats had reversed. 5% worked for themselves while 95% had jobs (or a small business).
From my perspective, and what my question is trying to drive at, is we are so ingrained that a JOB is the ONLY way to make it in life unless you are willing to work 20 hour days, take huge risks, and possibly fail. Yet, I can point at many ways to build a Big Business with little to no risk, a few extra hours each week on top of you bill paying job, over a several year period of time. When you are done you have a BIG business capable of multiple hundred-thousand dollar a year incomes. All of it based on the principles inherent in a Free Enterprise System! With a job, you CHOOSE to remove yourself from the Free Enterprise System and will *never* have the opportunity to raise yourself out of your current circumstances.
The link I was hoping would embed a picture (in my original question) shows 4 ways of making money. Jobs and small businesses are time bound. By that I mean you have only 24 hours in a day and you are dependent on what you can do in that 24 hours. The other 2 ways are not time dependent but are rather resource dependent.
Our fore-fathers envisioned a Free Enterprise System where the work we did was only limited by what we were willing to do. They knew some would grow without limits. They knew that some would never grow. They knew most would be self-supportive though never reach the ability to influence a large population. All of that is good. Yet, it was not until the turn of the 20th century (1900) that JOBS started taking a larger role in everyday life. If I remember my statistics correctly, in 1900 only ~5% of the work force had a job. The other 95% worked for themselves. By the turn of the 21st century (2000) those stats had reversed. 5% worked for themselves while 95% had jobs (or a small business).
From my perspective, and what my question is trying to drive at, is we are so ingrained that a JOB is the ONLY way to make it in life unless you are willing to work 20 hour days, take huge risks, and possibly fail. Yet, I can point at many ways to build a Big Business with little to no risk, a few extra hours each week on top of you bill paying job, over a several year period of time. When you are done you have a BIG business capable of multiple hundred-thousand dollar a year incomes. All of it based on the principles inherent in a Free Enterprise System! With a job, you CHOOSE to remove yourself from the Free Enterprise System and will *never* have the opportunity to raise yourself out of your current circumstances.
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I don't think it's a fallacy at all. You certainly will not be able to sell that 21st Century socialistic babble to someone from the Greatest Generation, and neither will you be able pitch it to their children or grandchildren. This kind of crap started about two generations ago. "Just slide and the world slides with you." It's just some socio-political hogwash that will probably have a shelf life as long as BETA cassette videos!!!
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SSgt (Join to see)
I'm not sure I am following your statements. Are you saying it is "21st Century socialistic babble" to partake in the Free Enterprise System vs taking no risk and getting a job? Or do I have it backwards?
A little background on me: 2 generations ago, for me personally, saw my grand-parents moving from Kansas to Oregon then eventually to Yakima via covered wagon. My parents were born in 1916 and 1924. Both served during WW-II. My grand-parents were all born in the 1880s. Most of the male members of that generation fought in WW-I, survived the great depression, and actually traveled by horse and wagon until their mid-twenties to mid-thirties. My wife's grand-parents are younger than my parents.
My grand-parents owned their own businesses, were able to retire and left an inheritance to my folks. My parents had jobs and both died pretty much penniless.
I was brought up 100% focused by my parents (the greatest generation) on getting a job. Well, here I am at the ripe young age of 55 and am looking forward to living on SSI when I retire. Not a happy prospect!
A little background on me: 2 generations ago, for me personally, saw my grand-parents moving from Kansas to Oregon then eventually to Yakima via covered wagon. My parents were born in 1916 and 1924. Both served during WW-II. My grand-parents were all born in the 1880s. Most of the male members of that generation fought in WW-I, survived the great depression, and actually traveled by horse and wagon until their mid-twenties to mid-thirties. My wife's grand-parents are younger than my parents.
My grand-parents owned their own businesses, were able to retire and left an inheritance to my folks. My parents had jobs and both died pretty much penniless.
I was brought up 100% focused by my parents (the greatest generation) on getting a job. Well, here I am at the ripe young age of 55 and am looking forward to living on SSI when I retire. Not a happy prospect!
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In my original question I had a link (I had hoped it would embed into the question - still learning how to use RP) that shows 4 ways of making money. Yet all anyone talks about is the least likely way to make money - a job. Sometimes you will get comments on owning a small business. Same problem as a job, different gorilla to dance with.
We are so brain-washed into believing only a small handful can create a big business and "make it big". For the 5% who understand the Free Enterprise System and the principals it is based on - they DO make it big. Yet, the LIE is we have never been taught our own system of economics, have been told that a job is the way to go without ever telling us that when we accept a job we REMOVE ourselves from the Free Enterprise System!
I have personally met hundreds of folks that, while working a job, learned the principles of Free Enterprise, applied it part time (instead of watching TV for instance) over several years and have dropped the job altogether now.
I am NOT bashing jobs. I own a small business. My wife owns a small business. Together we own another business. We both *had* jobs.
I am just so surprised that very little critical thinking by far too many people goes into the one area that determines your ability to survive, succeed, and become significant. Read my question again and see how many people have so far tried to discuss the question. Without meaning to give offense to anyone, so far no one has. Instead it's been a regurgitation of what we've been taught and *WHY* you can't, in essence, do something other than work a job...