Perhaps there has never been a time before in American history when business has been so beset with such an array of difficulties — each profound and threatening in its own way.
We have a body politic that has, for the most part, never made a payroll. They then differ how they emote to business according to their party line. They take from business, castigate its purpose and either talk a line of B.S. about the opposite of their true point of view or say nothing at all.
This always has been the case but now, with so many other factors confounding the life of business, the political milieu is really disastrous.
Business also now is plagued by the effects of COVID-19. Employees are removed from scarcity by a political handout the likes of which our nation has never seen.
This apparent nicety has been thick enough to keep folks fed and below revolutionary thought, but it has also created a financial platform rich enough to cause recipients to question the idea and value of returning to work.
Recently it was reported on television that the combined weekly benefit average is around $950 per week. Yes, try being a business owner attempting to reopen a business and recalling employees who are receiving that kind of money — through no fault of their own — by doing nothing.
The virus, by itself, is a super stumbling block to our economy not just because it kills on a regular basis but also because it is constantly touted as a monster that can and will come back on its own motion.
All we have to do is have a small percentage of our population refuse to obey the rules of safety and the numbers again threaten our whole society — business first.
Business is about planning and executing. This virus makes planning virtually impossible. This cripples business in a very serious way.
First, it makes many business people feel odd for even trying and, second, many businesses cannot financially afford to be wrong in their tactical or strategic planning.
The money that Congress doled out, late and reluctantly, did not get to everyone who needed it. It also went to some that did not need it — some of whom were not cash-strapped at all.
Scarcity and/or the threat of it is a major part of what constitutes business. Plagues happen and businesses do pass away if they cannot tighten up and hold on. It is a brutal, natural aspect of living.
In this instance, it also is true that if the whole of American business collapsed to a certain point, it would not be able to come back fast enough or well enough to dissuade real revolution. The cookie jar would be empty. America would be anarchy. Things would have to be nationalized. People would be forced to work to feed the guy next door — who might or might not be working himself, and certainly not as hard as you are working.
We will eventually get a vaccine and the monster will be neutered. Congress will see American business rebuild itself. People will have to saunter back to work. Nobody will have really learned much. This time will be considered a close call. That’s all.
We will be some trillions further in debt. But, waiting in the wings there is another huge issue that could either help or hurt our survival by either bolstering our economy or confounding it. This issue is our upcoming presidential election.
It is fraught with super serious consequences that could either introduce new socioeconomic problems or not. Each of us can make up our minds about where we were during the past 50 years, where we were recently, where we are and, most importantly, where we might be if the wrong person is elected.
If we are not smart enough to appreciate the blessing of regulated capitalism, we will surely be the victims of a different ism in which our freedoms will be curtailed and our individual pursuit of happiness will be a thing unknown. We are at that crossroad.