I have been working on trying to grow my hobby based Internet business. It has been successful up to the point where I need to decide how much more time and energy and money I should invest. My real job in energy management is too important to abandon, so I only see this sideline as a fall back point if ever needed. These times are difficult to judge and define personal economic strategy.
The Democratic fueled Obama quick money fix may help the energy conservation business or it may shut it down as the nation realizes our money has little value because we have mortgaged our future to pay it back. The cost for my company to do our energy savings will raise as the value of our money goes in the toilet. That is about what paper money (or money on paper) will be good for, to wipe our sorry butts.
The problem is paying it back. We never do. That’s because the only way to do that is raise taxes. Folks, there is only one person who pays the real tax in a capitalist society like the USA. That is the end consumer. Study the meaning of consumer if you do not understand what I just wrote. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TAX ON BUSINESS. All business expense is PAID BY THE END CONSUMER. Business by its very definition is NOT AN END CONSUMER; it is a provider of goods and services. The goal is to pass all cost (including taxes) to the consumer with enough profit to re-invest and keep going.
The real issue is the profit of a business and what is done with that profit. Voters in the USA are taught through public education and highly marketed political agendas targeted to the lower and middle working classes, that obscene unused profits are rampant in this nation. “Tax those rich bastards and the economy will be saved” is the rally cry.
Oh… if you didn’t know or just want to pretend you don’t know, the USA is not a classless society.
Wealth has no value unless it is invested or somehow being used to do something. My childhood vision of Walt Disney’s Scrooge McDuck comic character, diving into his huge vault of cash and swimming around is a child’s fantasy. Funny, we don’t see that image of wealth any more.
Holding wealth in objects or personal possessions (called art) can make it worthless (sometimes miss stated as priceless) if no one else will buy it. Wealth is not an object; it is buying or selling power. To be wealthy means you have to (at some point) use the power of trading (buying/selling). To remain wealthy, that trading must be for the purpose of maintaining or increasing the wealth. In the USA that is through a result called profit. It is this circulation of wealth and included profits that are our economy.
This flow of wealth (economy) is as touchy a process as we are being miss-taught about global warming. Get it slightly wrong and we are DOOMED to either frying, freezing or flooding. Take your pick.
Bailing out the stupid (or is it the very smart?) who don’t invest well, has become the politically expected “right” of living in the USA and protecting our economy. God Bless America.
Well, I have solved nothing here… just vented a little steam pressure, and thank you Wikipedia.
how many people still believe this way? i am beginning to believe there are not alot of people left who think you should work hard to get where ya want to ,i agree ,at least i think i agree :),every one cant be equal (my opinion ,but you can make it yours if ya want to :))hard work used to be the way to get ahead , now it seems every one is just wanting to have something handed to them,or find a way to “get rich quick” .if we are not the “rich” then we want to “stick it to the rich guy” “make ’em pay” after all they are the rich ones,they have more than me,and can afford it better than i can..tax them…
truth is alot of normal people work hard all of their life and dont get rewarded ,while yet others get more money than they could ever spend (or their great grand kids could spend) and want more ,just to enjoy the “finer things in life”
well the finer things in life are things like having a good job,getting paid well for a “good days work” coming home in one of their 5 cars ,watch digital satellite signal,on a 52 inch digital tv and maybe after dinner look up something to amuse themselves on the internet and get to look at it faster, thanks to dsl …while only pausing a few time to figure out which of their 3 cell phones are ringing!!…all this sounds pretty normal right?
but yet we set back and think “if i only had this ,or if i had that i would have it made”..only in times like these can we have all the stuff listed above ,….and still think…..
“i have it sooo hard”
i have solved nothing either,…as i tend to ramble on a bit my self from time to time :)what better place than ramblindan.org to do it in huh? 🙂
Ace,
Thanks for your input. Always welcome!
No person will get and stay rich selling their labor. Only in my lifetime have our sports figures been so improperly over compensated for labor. Lottery winners don’t count. All other wealth is accumulated through business and investment in business. What is discribed as a rich person is the result of that one action, investment. That is because in the USA the only way to keep wealth is to invest it. Personal taxes would make Scrouge McDuck just another gander! 🙂
I am talking about honest wealth. Most wealth is honest. What makes the headlines are the few who are dishonest and we all remember them. Cheap labor was always an exploit of the common worker, wether picking lettuce or building cars. Autoworkers get paid fairly and a car now cost $25,000 rather than $2,000. But an autoworker is not considered wealthy unless he bought early shares of GM. Today that might not be a good investment! Har!
Dan’l