Almost anywhere in the world I’ve been, there are three prevailing themes I hear over and over:
- Americans were known to be the most industrious and hard-working people they’d ever seen
- Wherever Americans went, they brought opportunity and change to those places
- American streets are paved with gold, and anyone who goes there will be prosperous and safe
That doesn’t mean we don’t have our detractors; I see that happen constantly. Some resent American influence, even if it means we deliver medical care for a sick child or fill the bellies of a starving family gratis. When America comes, we bring all our kit: industriousness, profit-seeking nature, culture, compassion, and at times…greed and dishonesty. America is the most compassionate country on Earth (measured by dollars of charity and foreign aid), for which we receive too little credit and sometimes even hatred.
The third point is that the opportunity we used to be known for has tarnished a great deal, mainly through horrible government policies and the reality that not everyone who comes here is a good fit or prepared to follow our laws; that’s why the legal way into the country is not easy. A little-known fact is that hundreds of thousands of hopeful but illegal aliens self-deport each year, finding our country not quite as welcoming, easy to maneuver, or lacking the skills to rise above menial work. In many of those cases, the journey here cost them dearly, both in money, abuse by the cartels, and a loss of self-respect.
From Concept to Quality -The Unseen Efforts of Producers:-
What is a producer? It’s not somebody who just clocks in and gets a paycheck. Producers are the innovators, the strong backs that sweat the small stuff and won’t let substandard work pass by them; anybody from Boeing listening? Producers think differently than clock punchers; they value the opportunity to work, appreciate a job, and the opportunity for advancement; they never measure how much they give against the paycheck they receive. Producers are happy people who find opportunities that others never see because they’re too busy thinking of what they’ll do after work or how to shortcut whatever they do. Producers work not only because they have to but also because it brings them joy. America used to be a country of producers, but now, they are virtually an endangered species. We can’t continue to be successful without them. Here’s an idea: let’s incentivize producers and disincentivize behavior leading to undesirable traits! Could bending our destructive trajectory be that simple?
America is not just another country. America, more than any other on this planet, has been a force for good. When we hear our many detractors, our dilemma becomes whether to pack our tent and go home or live the life God intended us to, regardless of the noise. We have been living at a pivotal time that has not just questioned but rejected elements of American exceptionalism that frequently include American greed, defined as our self-interest, as a necessary component to grow the pie that benefits not only America but the world. America First is not our worst problem; losing our Producers is.
I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the continuum, producing things and working hard fell out of fashion in the West. Russian-born Ayn Rand, born in 1905, loved American exceptionalism but hated our tendency to apologize for our successes. I’ve met wealthy individuals who try to make up for perceived deficiencies in our national character by publicly rejecting American greed as if that were a sin. Dozens of billionaires and mega-millionaires, including Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, have pledged to give away their fortunes, seemingly signaling that their money is somehow dirty. The steep rise of anti-capitalist groups and individuals who are so off their rocker that they’ll execute a healthcare executive like Brian Thompson in NYC signals the low regard for life and the anger a growing number of our citizens display. It is particularly worth noting that Thompson’s assumed killer was a member of an elite class and that too many people seem to think Thompson’s killer is some kind of folk hero.
The Changing American Workforce:-
Excluding foreign-born workers today, fewer of us are gainfully employed as a percentage of our population than at any time in our history. Not only that, but we work fewer hours and, in many cases, less vigorously. The Labor Participation rate at 60.5% is the lowest in the last 50 years. The white labor participation rate is 62.1% vs. a high of 67.5% in 1998. We’ve been on a downhill slide ever since. The ability to not work and get by is not something to crow about; it goes against man’s deeply held need to work and produce.
We’ve struggled to understand why our producer class is shrinking even as it is under attack by the anti-capitalists who see little difference between the social imperative to work as little more than a form of economic slavery. I see a direct link between how children are educated, social media memes, and influencers who seem to effortlessly navigate life without a care in the world, all without real work. If this were not bad enough, our government messages and even create programs that disincentivize work through various social welfare schemes. Mainstream politicians have begun to talk louder and louder about a national guaranteed minimum income. All of these multiple factors impact many under 40 who, with the human foilable of self-justification, are being influenced to lie, cheat, steal, and commit economic fraud in unprecedented numbers today.
The word crisis is overused in our country; everything seems to be a crisis. At our core, we need two things to survive: government policies that get out of the way of our producers and more producers. Allan’s rule # 1 is: You Always Get More of What You Subsidize. Let’s stop subsidizing what is the exact opposite of what we need the most…producers.
God bless America.
Allan J. Feifer—Patriot
Author, Businessman, Thinker, and Strategist. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com
