Are We Our Own Worst Enemy?

Today we have bad unemployment in the USA, Australia and almost everywhere in the western world. Why? The answers from the unemployed and/or struggling are:

• Bad politicians;
• Bad economy;
• Greedy corporations; and/or
• Cheap offshore labour stealing our jobs.

Have you noticed that no group or person ever takes responsibility for the situation? The government is never going to say they goofed, the economy cant talk for itself, corporations will never admit to greed and cheap labour in Asia is never going to rock the boat.

Does anyone actually look at themselves not just as an individual but as a workforce? Its a touchy subject, isn't it? Nobody dares attract the wrath of the public, voters, unions or peers by suggesting something as simple as “we have become lazy”. Oh boy, isn't that like opening hell’s gates? 

Well, I am officially climbing up upon my soap box and proclaiming “we have become lazy and we need to pull our heads out of our own asses!”

I know, your first reaction is that I am wrong, everyone else is lazy but not you, how dare I say something like this, who am I to think this........ I can feel those imaginary rotten tomatoes that are being thrown at me, but I can explain so please allow me to. 

First lets examine the first reasons people give for their unemployment or lack of success....

Bad Politicians

OK, I will give this one to you partially, but as this whole article suggests you/we have a big part in this. If you are living in a democratic society then the game of politics is not about being the best fiscal manager, economist or job creator – it is all about getting voted in and then reinstated. The state of the job market may be a factor towards your happiness at the time of voting but it is only just one factor. A politician cant woo a voter by telling them to work harder, be more productive and stop buying the dirt cheap stuff out of China. In fact, that is a sure fire recipe for electoral disaster. Today’s voter wants to hear:

• More benefits,
• Shorter working week,
• More government handouts,
• Green policies, and
• Handouts and support for minorities.

To boil it down people now vote for an easier life where the government pays for as much as possible and we all have a clear conscious on social issues. The whole population has gone Socialist and Green. I like green (in fact I am somewhat passionate about it), but tempered with common sense, but socialism really only works if you have a communist dictator. Socialism is eating away at Democracy, not because we are becoming communists but because the desire for all the socialist benefits is eating away at out ability to sustain our way of life.

Right wing governments (Republicans in the USA, the Liberal/National Coalition in Australia) are becoming more left wing and socialist to attract voters, not because they want to but because they simply wont get into power if they don't. Can you blame anyone other than the voter for this? The voter now has the power to dictate policy and he/she uses it recklessly.

Bad Economy

Correct, today (2011) we have a terrible economy throughout most of the world with the exception of China, Germany and half of Australia’s two speed economy. Overall we can blame that on the other excuses I have listed herein. But I have a comeback on each of those excuses so you may need to consider that the blame once again lies back with ourselves.

Greedy Corporations

Unions and politicians LOVE this term. Even right leaning politicians love to dabble with it. It invokes the passion in the workforce and tells them “It is not you that is causing the layoff, it is those damned greedy corporations”,  “you deserve even more because you are just as good as those greedy corporations”, and “you should work less because those corporations are greedy”.

Never does anyone publish “Workers were lazy, had to be laid off”, or “Chinese work twice as hard for one 10th of the pay and they never strike”. You never read “Business owner loses everything because workforce could not compete” or “Incompetent staff causes corporation to fail”. These things happen all the time but nobody will report them as “Greedy Corporations” will sell more news and get votes.

Cheap offshore labour stealing our jobs

Yes and no. While the Asian base of offshore labour LOVES to take your business, money and jobs we seem to LOVE giving it all to them!

Today I was berated by an architect who called for a price. He wanted his job in a hurry, immaculate quality and assistance with design through the process as he has a particularly demanding client. I quoted my normal rate and he was offended that I was so expensive and expressed “it is no wonder everyone sends their work to China”. This doesn't get me uptight anymore as I know that you can either have price, speed or quality but never all three together. I have plenty of work and have not raised my prices, in fact I was cutting him a deal, but he has the idea of a cheap rendering from China at a quarter of the price that I would be. I am certain that this guy is going to be disappointed and a quick look at his website reveals a dismal display of sub-quality work.

What it comes down to is that people will forgo quality, service and supporting people in their own region if they can find a cheap price. But it wasn't always like that, in fact western countries were do just fine before the trend of outsourcing and offshore production became so popular. Why do we now rely on offshore labour so much now? Because we got addicted to it and it made us lazy. So do you blame Asia or do we take responsibility? If they were seeking to employ millions of westerners and send all their money in our direction would we refuse it?

Why is China’s economy doing well? Because people are working their proverbial behinds off for little money and the western world is sending most of their money there. How could it do badly?

Why is Germany’s economy doing well? Because the discipline and ethic of the German population has not been eroded like most countries so their Gross Domestic Product well exceeds its European neighbours.

Why is half of Australia’s economy going well? Because Australia is digging its sovereign wealth out of the ground and selling it to China as fast as it can be loaded onto ships. The other half of the economy, that is not involved in mining, is suffering partially due to the success of the other half and mostly due to the issues within this article.

So who is going to take responsibility for all of this? My answer is that it simply doesn't matter. Blame, responsibility and fault have become the excuse for inaction. Until the everyday person forgets about blame and excuses and starts to do something about it then the western world will continue to stagnate. So what needs to be said, yet nobody wants to admit to is:

• We need to stop wasting time and start working. Stop just turning up for work but make sure something incredible is achieved every day. Most people should keep Facebook, Twitter and their mobile phones at home, not at work.
• Stop sending your money overseas to buy junk. If it is junk then don't buy it today - save up and get a quality product from someone that supports your own economy.
• Stop voting for people that are promising benefits that your tax dollars simply cant pay for. Thats right, the governments money comes from you, so stop using your votes to recklessly throw it to the wind because you are already in debt and its growing.
• Stop relying on finance to survive, start making real money and live within your means. I will probably write a whole new article on this alone.

I know that not much of what I have typed is going to be popular with many people. I only realised recently that I also had my head buried in the sand and had to become productive again - and what a change it made!


Once quick parting thought is that people really need to examine this chart to get an idea of what we are doing to our own work ethic lately.