To all my valued employees, by your boss

[Yahoshua]

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country. However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?

It's quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....

Signed, Your boss

[Zachstar]

Crybaby.

My guess is he does not have to deal with a union. Idmagine having to pay all that and then spend hours explaining why you cant give a seemingly "cheap" healthcare plan to your employees to "prevent" a strike.

He is a wuss and I hope he retires and gets the hell out of this great land. Because he has NOTHING to complain about compared to our fathers who worked their asses off for NOTHING in comparison to what we get today.

You know who else complained about .gov changes? The employeers when child labor was outlawed.

I know it is terrible how a prostitute that has children just to live off the tit of the government and seemingly nothing is done. But that is MINOR compared to other issues. MINOR compared to how many in this nation who have no access to jobs that even pay 20 thousand a year. Yet work their ASSES off.

You Mr. Boss think you had it bad? Atleast your sorry ass had a dream. A future. Many don't because god forbid they knock up a girl in high school and actually decide not to run away. They get to tear their backs and hands out for the next few decades pushing carts or moving boxes for barely over 15k a year. They don't get to go to sleep dreaming about getting a company and a nice car because the baby needs dipers or the son needs glasses.

[Onkel Neal]

Atlas Shrugged.

[nikimcbee]

Time to find a new job. It worked for me and I'm making twice as much.:up:

[AVGWarhawk]

You Mr. Boss think you had it bad? Atleast your sorry ass had a dream. A future. Many don't because god forbid they knock up a girl in high school and actually decide not to run away. They get to tear their backs and hands out for the next few decades pushing carts or moving boxes for barely over 15k a year. They don't get to go to sleep dreaming about getting a company and a nice car because the baby needs dipers or the son needs glasses.
That is about the dumbest thing I have read in a long time. God forbid you knock up a girl? WTH, did the boss push the knocker upper rear end into the girl until the deed was done? It is called making your bed and sleeping in it. Sorry the boss had a dream that did not entail knocking up a girl. How is the boss responsible for the guy who knocked up the girl? So the boss is an idiot because he kept it in his pants or put a party hat on? Maybe the boss decided it would be much better to become financially stable before knocking a girl up. I call it being responsible. But hey, that is just me.

[August]

That is about the dumbest thing I have read in a long time. God forbid you knock up a girl? WTH, did the boss push the knocker upper rear end into the girl until the deed was done? It is called making your bed and sleeping in it. Sorry the boss had a dream that did not entail knocking up a girl. How is the boss responsible for the guy who knocked up the girl? So the boss is an idiot because he kept it in his pants or put a party hat on? Maybe the boss decided it would be much better to become financially stable before knocking a girl up. I call it being responsible. But hey, that is just me.

Well said. Personal responsibility seems to be a concept some folks have a hard time understanding.

I get students like that all the time:

"My criminal record isn't going to affect my chances for a good job will it?"

"It's not fair that my facial tattoos and extensive body piercings kept me from being hired."

"I never paid attention in school, can hardly read or write, but I don't see why that should keep me from making $20 per hour as a telecom technician."

[Aramike]

"It's not fair that my facial tattoos and extensive body piercings kept me from being hired.":up:

I love when I hear things like this. Society is SO evil because it has things such as STANDARDS, right?

Sure, dude, you have a right to carve yourself up all you want. You also have the right to bitch about it.

But, I have the right to maintain the image of MY choosing with MY business, and therefore not hire you...

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

That is about the dumbest thing I have read in a long time. God forbid you knock up a girl? WTH, did the boss push the knocker upper rear end into the girl until the deed was done? It is called making your bed and sleeping in it. Sorry the boss had a dream that did not entail knocking up a girl. How is the boss responsible for the guy who knocked up the girl? So the boss is an idiot because he kept it in his pants or put a party hat on? Maybe the boss decided it would be much better to become financially stable before knocking a girl up. I call it being responsible. But hey, that is just me.

If you didn't like that analogy, how about a guy who did what our OP did, got up about halfway and married, but then his company stalled badly. Now with wife and kids having immediate needs, he's forced to take the first job that swims along, no matter how sucky it is, and is stuck the rest of his life.

The point of that analogy, which IMO think some of us are missing, is that not everyone is unproductive by choice. Rather, many people, are unable to climb "for the future" because they need to handle the present first.

[August]

The point of that analogy, which IMO think some of us are missing, is that not everyone is unproductive by choice. Rather, many people, are unable to climb "for the future" because they need to handle the present first.
On the other hand our history is filled with stories how dirt poor immigrants come to this country with little or no money in their pocket and manage to not only raise themselves out of poverty but put several of their kids through college.

Were they just lucky or did they accomplish all that with hard work and motivation?

[AVGWarhawk]

That is about the dumbest thing I have read in a long time. God forbid you knock up a girl? WTH, did the boss push the knocker upper rear end into the girl until the deed was done? It is called making your bed and sleeping in it. Sorry the boss had a dream that did not entail knocking up a girl. How is the boss responsible for the guy who knocked up the girl? So the boss is an idiot because he kept it in his pants or put a party hat on? Maybe the boss decided it would be much better to become financially stable before knocking a girl up. I call it being responsible. But hey, that is just me.

If you didn't like that analogy, how about a guy who did what our OP did, got up about halfway and married, but then his company stalled badly. Now with wife and kids having immediate needs, he's forced to take the first job that swims along, no matter how sucky it is, and is stuck the rest of his life.

The point of that analogy, which IMO think some of us are missing, is that not everyone is unproductive by choice. Rather, many people, are unable to climb "for the future" because they need to handle the present first.

Been there and done that. Twice! I handled the present with a job loss after 11 years. Got another job a month later. Lost that job for downsizing in 3 months. Three mouths to feed, house payment and all that it entails. But, no, the analogy is a high school kid knocking up a high school girl thus crushing any dreams he might have had for 2 second of bliss. Yet, some how the poor decision of the high school kid is portrayed as someone elses mistake and now any fruitful future is gone. He also states that 'atleast the boss had a dream'. What the high school kid had no dream of a future before the baby arrived? Some how, disgruntled because one made the right decisions and can dream at night as he sleeps next to he Mercedes? Again, one makes their own bed and needs to sleep in it.

[AVGWarhawk]

The point of that analogy, which IMO think some of us are missing, is that not everyone is unproductive by choice. Rather, many people, are unable to climb "for the future" because they need to handle the present first.
On the other hand our history is filled with stories how dirt poor immigrants come to this country with little or no money in their pocket and manage to not only raise themselves out of poverty but put several of their kids through college.

Were they just lucky or did they accomplish all that with hard work and motivation?

That is not luck! It is motivation and determination to succeed.

[AVGWarhawk]

"It's not fair that my facial tattoos and extensive body piercings kept me from being hired.":up:

I love when I hear things like this. Society is SO evil because it has things such as STANDARDS, right?

Sure, dude, you have a right to carve yourself up all you want. You also have the right to bitch about it.

But, I have the right to maintain the image of MY choosing with MY business, and therefore not hire you...

:up: Exactly. I guess one day there will be discrimination lawsuits for nose rings and a nipple chain. :88)

[UnderseaLcpl]

Crybaby.

My guess is he does not have to deal with a union. Idmagine having to pay all that and then spend hours explaining why you cant give a seemingly "cheap" healthcare plan to your employees to "prevent" a strike.

He is a wuss and I hope he retires and gets the hell out of this great land. Because he has NOTHING to complain about compared to our fathers who worked their asses off for NOTHING in comparison to what we get today.

You know who else complained about .gov changes? The employeers when child labor was outlawed.

I know it is terrible how a prostitute that has children just to live off the tit of the government and seemingly nothing is done. But that is MINOR compared to other issues. MINOR compared to how many in this nation who have no access to jobs that even pay 20 thousand a year. Yet work their ASSES off.

You Mr. Boss think you had it bad? Atleast your sorry ass had a dream. A future. Many don't because god forbid they knock up a girl in high school and actually decide not to run away. They get to tear their backs and hands out for the next few decades pushing carts or moving boxes for barely over 15k a year. They don't get to go to sleep dreaming about getting a company and a nice car because the baby needs dipers or the son needs glasses.

I hope you're being sarcastic, Zach, because you couldn't have said something more retarded if you had tried. And for once, I won't qualify that by saying that it is my opinion. It's fact.

Firstly, the man described here is not some corporatist. He's obviously an entrepenuer. I have doubts about the verisimilitude of this particular account, but there are a lot of entepeneurs with stories like this. That doesn't make him a whiner. He did the work and he deserves the return the market gives him based upon his talent, initiative, and work.

Secondly, part of the point the article makes is that he provides a greater benefit than any salary he draws "costs" society. That's true of pretty much every business, unless it is a state-run business. No matter how much you may hate your employer, or someone else's employer, they still pay your sorry ass a wage or salary that you ultimately consider acceptable for the work that you do. If they didn't, you'd go somewhere else. Unless, of course, you had little to no talent or skill, and had no choice, but that's your own fault.

Thirdly, there is not one person in this country who does not have access to a job(relatively close to them), and there certainly isn't one who also pays 20k a year. Obiously you are not aware of the concept of "tax brackets". Let me sum it up for you. For most of my life, I was a nearly worthless laborer who worked in unskilled professions. Actually, I still am, to some degree. However, I have always been entitled to a share of everyone else's earnings because I remained in the lower tax brackets (even lower since I'm a vet). I'm "entitled" to a tax refund because I didn't make that much. I have yet to collect on any tax refund or veterans' benefit and I'm proud of it.
Back OT, pretty much every "poverty-stricken" American has no excuse for their situation. Either they were too stupid to make responsible choices or they are too lazy/stupid to file tax returns or spend their money responsibly.

Fourthly, unions are BS and you're right about that. I took a union job because it pays exceptionally well, and I made sure that I got it in an industry that can't die.
I take advantage of that system every day, and there are millions like me who will continue to do it until it is stopped.

IMO, Zach, you need to stop and think for a bit about the economy and how proper practice of economic principles affects a nation. Moreover, you need to consider incentive. Nobody is going to build a factory or invent some new technology if they don't get a worthwhile return. Believe it or not, most of the population does not consist of hyper-intelligent liberals like yourself. Most of them are stupid people who are also hyper-intelligent liberals that know what is best for everyone, but not as well as you do.

If i had to take a guess, I'd guess that you were a student, which is someone who knows everything and understands nothing. Why don't you come to the real world for a little while and compete for resources with fools who think they are entitled to the fruits of others' labors?

<facepalm> I'm done with this. I'm not a teacher.

@August, perhaps you can frame the idea more clearly?

[August]

@August, perhaps you can frame the idea more clearly?

Which idea? You covered a lot of ground there. Including making me look up the definition of "verisimilitude". :D

I think the essential point here is that entrepreneurship is what created this country. It is the lifeblood of our economy and discouraging it is never a good idea.

[FIREWALL]

know it is terrible how a prostitute that has children just to live off the tit of the government


Idiot, there liveing off the hard working taxpayers tit. :roll:

What world do you live in. It sure as hell isn't the real one.

[Blacklight]

I fully agree 100%. Reading crap like this makes me sick.

Quit your whining !!!

[Aramike]

August and UnderseaLcpl, great posts!

Just to add, even though you both really covered it all, I find the very idea that ANYONE in this country is "working their asses off" for $20,000/year. You hear ideas like this all the time, but in my fairly decent amount of world experience I have yet to actually MEET someone doing it.

"Working your ass off" isn't doing 40 hours per week while burning all of your available sick and vacation days and calling in late everytime an inch of snow falls. "Working your ass off" isn't someone flipping burgers or sweeping floors because they neglected to get even a high school diploma or GED (which one can get practically for free in every state in the nation). "Working your ass off" doesn't include changing twenties at a gas station 37 hours/week because a bull ring through your nose precludes higher-paying employers from taking you seriously.

"Working your ass off" is a lifelong committment to productivity and the education to do so. Show me someone who's ACTUALLY "worked their ass off" and hasn't gotten anywhere, and I might feel bad.

I sure as hell haven't met anyone like that...

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

The point of that analogy, which IMO think some of us are missing, is that not everyone is unproductive by choice. Rather, many people, are unable to climb "for the future" because they need to handle the present first.
On the other hand our history is filled with stories how dirt poor immigrants come to this country with little or no money in their pocket and manage to not only raise themselves out of poverty but put several of their kids through college.

Were they just lucky or did they accomplish all that with hard work and motivation?

Yes they did, but many of them didn't make companies, or companies as big as our OP here. And yes they were lucky (or more talented, but the allocation of talent is in itself a form of luck) - others came in, can't find jobs or only jobs as laborers.

Secondly, part of the point the article makes is that he provides a greater benefit than any salary he draws "costs" society. That's true of pretty much every business, unless it is a state-run business. No matter how much you may hate your employer, or someone else's employer, they still pay your sorry ass a wage or salary that you ultimately consider acceptable for the work that you do. If they didn't, you'd go somewhere else. Unless, of course, you had little to no talent or skill, and had no choice, but that's your own fault.;

I read his article. However, it is not him that makes that "greater benefit" to society. It is his company, with its 15 men (14 employees and him) as a unit that provides said greater benefit. However he denigrates them ("mentally checking in at noon"), without those 14 employees, his ability to contribute to society, despite supposedly working 120-hour weeks will not actually be substantially greater than say a white-collar employee.

I do agree he does deserve a bigger cut, and he is getting it. He does have a Mercedes and his house even after all the taxes (and I presume his employees aren't), doesn't he? Society agrees (through the market) that the work his company does is worth a lot. Because of this, he's able to take a cut out of the company earnings for his own luxury and allocates a few (much thinner) slices to his employees. No problem. But society has also decided that part of his success lies on the less fortunate, the less able and / or the less brave, which is why he's charged a tax.

As a rule, the more you make, the more of what you make rides on the work of other people and society as a whole. Take a middle manager with say 5 subordinates. If he's competent, he's worth more than any of his subordinates, and his pay reflects that. Nevertheless, his success and greater pay also rides on 5 people. And society recognizes this by charging them "progressive tax". A boss is that, to a greater extent.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

What our OP doesn't realize is how much his (and any company's) success really relied on the government-run infrastructure (however he denigrates it) as a whole.

I wonder whether he'll agree to a deal where the government indeed agrees he doesn't have to pay US$288,000 in taxes. Anyone that is his employee will henceforth no longer pay taxes either.

HOWEVER, henceforth, all his employees will come in completely uneducated, because nobody paid for State education, so before he starts to use them, he has to start by arranging for vocational training that will start with teaching them the 3 'Rs. He might as well sell his two-wheel drive Mercedes and buy something with All-Wheel Drive because wherever he drives, roads and even trails don't exist (because he didn't pay for them) so he's driving over rough ground the whole way, and he has to arrange for All-Wheel transportation for his employees as well because they are similar dire straits. If he gets scammed or his company gets broken in to, he needn't bother to phone the police because they won't handle his case - he didn't pay for them after all. If his employees fall seriously sick (or maybe they get into an accident because they don't enjoy the service of the government-run Traffic control system), they can't use any of the State medical services so our OP is left with letting him die (and among other things losing the vocational training investment) or paying out of his company's pocket for medical services.

It goes on and on but the point is that we, in "developed countries", don't really appreciate as we groan under taxes how much we had depended on them. A company, the union of many people, and their bosses (the guy who gets the cream of the earnings) depends even more on it, and thus they are taxed more.

[August]

Yes they did, but many of them didn't make companies, or companies as big as our OP here. And yes they were lucky (or more talented, but the allocation of talent is in itself a form of luck) - others came in, can't find jobs or only jobs as laborers.

Well you don't have to start a company to get ahead in this country but you do have to be motivated and that is what we're talking about here.