What Happens To Our Economy As Millions Of People Lose The Habits Of Hard Work?

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

If we’re going to dig our way out of what lies ahead, we need people who can work hard and start/operate new businesses.

Simply put, job growth is not keeping pace with population growth–specifically, the growth of the labor force which is generally defined as the population between the ages of 18 and 64.

So what happens to the economy as millions of people never acquire the habits of hard work or lose them due to chronic joblessness?

Yesterday I presented data on not in the labor force, which is defined as “persons aged 16 years and older in the civilian noninstitutional population who are neither employed nor unemployed.”

The federal government reckons about 95 million people are not in the labor force. But this doesn’t necessarily tell us whether these people could take a job or not.

To get some sense of what this means, let’s look at the U.S. population in basic terms. The U.S. Census reckons there are about 322 million residents of the U.S.

About 74 million are under the age of 18, and about 42 million are retired (i.e. receiving Social Security benefits) and almost 11 million receive Social Security disability benefits.

About 2.4 million people are in prison.

Roughly 1.4 million are in active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.

That totals about 130 million people who aren’t in the civilian labor force, with some caveats: workers can draw Social Security benefits and still earn a wages, for example.

That leaves about 192 million people as a base labor force. Out of this total, we need to subtract mentally disabled people who are not institutionalized or drawing Social Security disability benefits (unfortunately, many are homeless or in prison.)

We also need to subtract those who are earning money in the cash economy but not reporting their income–i.e. those who are employed but not showing up as employed in the data.

Then there are people who are raising children, home-schooling their children, etc. as fulltime work.

Others are providing care to elderly parents or relatives without compensation.

It is difficult to estimate the people who are performing work but not counted as employed because they’re not being paid. According to the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), about 146 million people have some kind of paid job in the U.S. This could be anything from a $100 million hedge fund manager to someone with $100/year in self-employed eBay-sales income.

Roughly 24 million are part time jobs, and 122 million are full-time jobs. (The numbers vary depending on which agency assembles the data.)

Our focus should be on the millions who are not working at unpaid positions at home or at paid positions. Those who fall out of the work force (or never join it in the first place) may lose (or never develop) the habits of hard work and cooperating with others that are necessary to be productive.

As correspondent Kevin K. recently noted, the earlier one acquires the habits of hard work, the more likely it is that those habits will last a lifetime:

“Just like kids that start smoking when they are young tend to keep smoking until they die, people that start working hard when they are young tend to work hard until they die. On the flip side, kids today that don’t do any work when they are young and are told what to do every minute of their days are not wired to work hard or think outside the box, which is an essential part of making the kind of decisions necessary to run a business.

 

I’ve noticed that the people that work the hardest grew up working hard because they HAD to. The kids that got up early EVERY DAY to feed and water the livestock so it would not die (my cousins in Oregon) are different than the kids who fed and got water for their dog knowing that Mom would feed the dog if they forgot. The guy up late because he needed to turn off the water to 20 units and change the angle stops before he can change a leaking faucet in an apartment where people are moving in the next day is a different person that the guy who spends a year deciding on the new faucet for the wet bar in his “man cave”.

 

Most people know that kids who spend years taking golf, tennis or swimming lessons are not only better than most people at those sports but are FAR more likely to continue to participate in those sports as adults.

 

What most people don’t know is that kids who spend years learning how to cook, maintaining their own cars and performing volunteer work are not only better than most people at those activities, but are FAR more likely to continue to participate in those activities as adults.”

We encourage studying hard and playing hard, but how many programs in our educational system give young people an opportunity to learn how to work hard, especially for themselves as entrepreneurs/ self-employed? All too often it’s assumed that studying hard and playing hard teach people to work hard. That is not necessarily the case, as work requires another set of attributes and habits. Some of these overlap with study and athletics, but not all.

Personally, I would make hands-on entrepreneurship a required course from intermediate school on, taught solely by people who have started and operated enterprises. Rather than a teaching credential, the qualification would be limited to the instructor has launched and operated enterprises in the real world.

If we’re going to dig our way out of what lies ahead, we need people who can work hard and start/operate new businesses. The two go together. Entrepreneurship is not for slackers or those who give up as soon as the going gets difficult. It takes good work habits to persevere and keep learning from others and from one’s own mistakes.

25
Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of
BUCKHED
BUCKHED

Dig our way out…..What about those shovel ready jobs Obozo promised ?

Heck you could keep people employed for generations shoveling the horse shit from the gooberment.

Montefrio

Most people who can work hard are not necessarily those who can become entrepreneurs; I’d guess that few are. I did some years as a volunteer in a business incubator and quickly learned that while many of our clients were hardworking and had the best will in the world to make a go of their business ideas, few of them were capable of doing so owing to their lack of skills and ability to learn the necessary parts of small business management that didn’t directly relate to their principal skill set: finance, marketing, simple back office management come to mind.

I differ with CHS: rather than a mandatory (!) course in entrepreneurship, a better bet imho would be an abandonment of subjective “studies” and a return to obligatory vocational training aimed at restoring the industrial base of the nation.

Dutchman

200 years ago, many people lived with subsistence farming. They may not have been the sharpest tool in the drawer, but they managed to support themselves.

Today there is no place for these people. We no longer need gas station attendants, bank tellers, TV repair men, or check out clerks (self-service check out). AAMOF it’s easier to use the automated service, than it is to interface with many of these folks.

As far as entrepreneurs/ self-employed well there are now a myriad of rules and regulations. As a self employed software developer I need to have $5 million liability insurance, extra car insurance, extra homeowners insurance if I want clients to come to my ‘home’ office. Then there are the client expectations: do you have 24 hr support? WTF

You going to let some guy mow your lawn? He cuts his foot, a rock hits a neighbor child. The list goes on and on.

We have done this to ourselves. There are too many people that serve no useful function.

bb

I hate knowing I am paying taxes to support these people. I think a lot of people are just lazy. I have had a job since I was 18 and I am now 53 .Even after I got lay off in 2009 it didn’t take but about two months to have another job .Then I said fuck it ,I bought a truck and started working for FedEx.

I have always been successful in finding work .Failed at about everything else but I am a good worker.

Montefrio

This one’s for you, Beeb: Hope there’s a Miss Bonnie out there for you. Just listen to that octave shift!

bb

Thanks Montefrio , maybe in the future .

starfcker
starfcker

Llpoh made an excellent comment the other day regarding small business failure. I don’t think you can train entrepreneurs. There was always sort of a unspoken understanding (and respect) towards business owners, among each other, from local government, banks, from the community at large. You were the engines of prosperity. Obama’s “you didn’t build that,” was actually a business school canard

starfcker
starfcker

The damage done to small business was OK, morally, since it had only been created by conditions allowed by the state. If it had to suffer and adapt during the ramp up of globalization, so be it, the rewards would be so great, the short term pain was of no concern. Still waiting on that. Time is up.

Montefrio

Well, I’m on a Wynona kick, and this one says a lot for me, particularly since I’m a grandpa myself:

robert h siddell jr
robert h siddell jr

The article yesterday by Admin: “One True Measure Of Stagnation: Not In The Labor Force” sobered me up. There are 322 million Americans of which 143 million are American workers; 110 million Americans are on Welfare, 57 million Americans are Not In The Labor Force (NILF), and 8 million are officially Unemployed (the nonworking total is 175 million; that left 4 million plus or minus). If the economy could continue to add about 200,000 jobs per month and the population was stable, we could achieve employment for the 8 million Unemployed in just 40 more years. Assuming half those on Welfare actually wanted a job, we’d need only 275 more stable years of job growth; and if half of the NILF wanted a job, then 285 more years (total of 600 more good years). Lord have mercy on the good people of the cities if they have not heeded His warning to come out of Babylon. However after the fall, there will be plenty of need for farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, mechanics, doctors and midwives, muleskinners, cart wrights, lumbermen, coopers, well diggers, preachers etc.

Realestatepup
Realestatepup

So speaking from the perspective of a person who runs their own business, I agree that “hard work” is lost to a lot of people.
My significant other works very hard at his job (machinist) and when younger always had 2 or even 3 jobs at a time. I myself worked 2 jobs for a time. Many people I know did and some still do.
The adage in my business, real estate, is 10% of the agents sell 90% of the homes. I agree with this. There are thousands of agents just in my area alone, but I consistently only deal with about a handful on a regular basis. I enjoy working with the majority of them, they have been around as long as I have or longer (10+ years). I don’t have to hold their hand, check up on their side of the transaction, or worry it will close. They support themselves just fine with real estate alone.
Then there are the others that I simply cannot understand how they get any clients or continue in this business. They simply cannot grasp the concept of answering phone calls, paperwork, texts, or emails. They fail consistently to meet timelines for inspections and mortgage dates. They lack knowledge of local laws and regulations. They give either no or really bad advice to their clients. If I am on the listing side (offering for sale) which I most often am, and most of these are foreclosures, I am simply AMAZED at the inability to read and follow written directions.
I don’t blame the buyers, they are not the licensed person. I blame the agents who are starved for deals and so just try and push any old thing through, and the end result is liability to them and loss of the house and even the deposit money, of their buyer.
This holds true for more and more businesses in other areas. I am stunned and amazed at poor service at restaurants, bars, and clubs. Where is the management? Who is paying attention? So yes, the server will feel it in the wallet with a reduced or no tip, but will I go back there? Nope. And will I tell everyone I know about my bad experience? Yes.
When I managed a restaurant, I was on the floor from 4pm to close. I walked the floor, stopped at tables, asked questions. Helped servers. Helped the kitchen. Helped the dishwashers. Helped the bartender. Answered the phone. If a server was doing poorly, I worked with that person to improve their performance. If they couldn’t, or wouldn’t show improvement, they were gone. Not everyone is cut out for the job.
Now customer service is either regulated to overseas people who barely speak English, or low-paid people who simply do not give a crap about whatever issue you have a problem with, have no problem-solving skills, and will get paid their 8 bucks an hour whether you are satisfied or not.
When the majority of the work force just doesn’t care about anything, or anyone else other than themselves, what they will get out of “it”, then we are destined to stay like this until there’s a giant flush.
My clients often say “you’re the first agent who ever told us…..” which amazes me. If my job is to make sure my client purchases a house, it doesn’t mean I just force them into any old thing, or hold back, or hide stuff. I think long term, ask them questions about their lifestyle, what they want for their future. A house that looks good right now may in fact be an albatross around their neck in 5 years.
It’s simple…give a crap

robert h siddell jr
robert h siddell jr

oops again, forgot to divide months by 12 to get years: 40 Months/12=3.3 years, 275/12=22.9, 285/12=23.75, and 600/12=50 years. But still though with a stable population and steady job growth, we could be OK in just two more generations. That would be only about 12 four year Presidential Election Cycles of sound government.

NickelthroweR
NickelthroweR

Greetings,

Given that there just are not 94 million jobs waiting to be scooped up by the jobless, it means that their only hope of ever doing anything useful depends upon the entrepreneur. It depends on either themselves or someone nearby starting up and creating a successful operation. With regards to the world class education doled out by the state, is it reasonable to believe that this is even possible?

Education: Our children are taught day after day that there are no consequences to failure. Social Promotion and “Everyone gets a trophy” has made each and every one of our little angels special (like a snowflake). The majority of our children now graduate with reading skills below that of a 5th grader.

Nanny State: I’m surprised that it has not been mandated that all children under the age of 18 wear a helmet just to walk around. After all, you wouldn’t want our little snowflakes to bump their heads, right? These special little treasures are not allowed by the nanny state to work or to play but, instead, must exist on some generic bland pedestal until they are old enough to become drone pilots or the next reality tv star.

Parents: I’m not even sure what the role of the parent is anymore since the state has, more or less, taken over. The parent has little left with which to work with.

Poverty: Wanna know why I can’t operate a Steam Locomotive? Because I do not have anyone around me that knows how and, worse still, no one conveniently left one around for me to study. All poverty does is create more poverty. Without constant exposure to success and successful people, the poor are doomed as we learn from imitation.

It is in this environment that we turn to the entrepreneurial spirit to resurrect us and save us from becoming Brazil or something even worse. I’m not holding my breath.

Stucky

Our economy is doing just fine.

comment image

TPC
TPC

“We have done this to ourselves. There are too many people that serve no useful function.”

Agreed, but I’ll be damned if I have a reasonable idea of how to fix things.

A lot of our problems can be addressed, but how do we break the cycle?

Some sort of population control would be a start I’d imagine. It breaks my fiscal conservative heart, but its a lot cheaper to supply universal condoms/birth control than it is to support a mother of 5 with 4 baby daddies.

Dutchman

@NickleThroweR: “It is in this environment that we turn to the entrepreneurial spirit to resurrect us and save us from becoming Brazil or something even worse. I’m not holding my breath.”

Entrepreneurial spirit? WTF is left to do? Big Box stores, chain stores, category killer stores, franchise fast food up the ying-yang, hardly and independently owned restaurant.

No more corner stores, no more corner pharmacies, no more independent gas stations, hardly a paint store in Minneapolis, same for lumber yards. Insurance sales men replaced with call centers, no more private practice doctors.

I guess you’re an entrepreneur if you can figure out some shit to import from China.

The entire model is dead! I like Charles Hugh Smith, but he’s barking up the wrong tree.

yahsure
yahsure

My daughter say’s that a lot of kid’s at her school figure they are Fucked. And don’t see much of a future. All the talk about Global warming and the fact that the kid’s know about how all the jobs were shipped off in search of cheap labor. Contributes to the feeling of helplessness. Even young kids have figured out that our government isn’t worth a shit and cares little about their future.
Where i live kid’s like the Constitution and believe in God for the most part.So i do see some positive things.

James the Wanderer

Ten legions of entrepreneurs are helpless, until you cut / revoke / void entirely ten decades of useless regulations and legislation. How can you start a new business when old businesses are trying to shut you down pre-emptively (see companion thread on TPP).

The idea that goons can demand a permit for a kid’s emonade stand should be defeated – with a shotgun, if necessary. It wouldn’t take more than a few of those – backed up with jury nullification at trial, if needed – before a whole lot of intrusion would just fall away.

IndenturedServant

“What Happens To Our Economy As Millions Of People Lose The Habits Of Hard Work?”

It should dovetail nicely with the lack of jobs. No problem.

Oh, it should also eliminate most of the competition for those who are willing to work hard.

NickelthroweR
NickelthroweR

@Dutchman

You are probably correct in that the entire model is dead. But if Mr. Smith is wrong then what kind of future must we prepare ourselves for? How much longer can the 100 million or so that work in the private sector continue to support the other 230 million and the world wide empire needed to provide everyone with their cheap gadgets, energy and food?

It has been my understanding of history that in times of strife, the center falls away. What kind of society are we going to have when only the worst elements of it remain?

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

Cards are heavily stacked against you if your goal is to start a business. Mega business controls the politicians and thus throw legislative roadblocks in your way that are hard to overcome. Regulations, taxes, permits, zoning, insurance, royalties, are hurdles to a sole proprietor that just wants to work his craft, or provide her service. This TPP b.s. will surely result in claims against American businesses by foreign governments or companies on a vast array of issues. Because of all this it seems to me there is a thriving black market in the U.S.

Dutchman

@Nickle: ” But if Mr. Smith is wrong then what kind of future must we prepare ourselves for? ”

In the near future ( next 10 – 15 years) – more and more socialism and money printing. TPTB will kick the can down the road for as long as possible. After that – who knows.

I’m 66, so I’ve decided that I don’t give a fuck.

Phil from Oz
Phil from Oz

Nickelthrower – an important addition to your comment ( What kind of society are we going to have when only the worst elements of it remain? ), would be “in the most heavily-armed population on the Planet”.

One wonders if such thoughts have already crossed the minds of the “Ruling Elite”, what with their bulk purchasing of various types of ammunition. There was the UK Observer article playing down the significance of this – “Big Military, so we “expect” big Ammo Purchases” –

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/02/obama-administration-ammunition-buying

Then, there are articles such as these – “Organisations” which would not seem to really need all that firepower –

Feds keep on stockpiling ammo

https://www.rt.com/usa/dhs-ammo-investigation-napolitano-645/

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/02/11/homeland-security-purchase-141000-rounds-sniper-ammo

Apart from the cost / performance characteristics of the ammo choices, there is the added detail that hollow-point rounds are “supposed” to be prohibited in conflict situations ( however – see below, and after seeing below, review the short “exploding Melon” videoclip in the first reference).

http://www.lawofficer.com/articles/print/volume-8/issue-5/hollow-points/short-history-hollow-points.html

Pirate Jo
Pirate Jo

“How much longer can the 100 million or so that work in the private sector continue to support the other 230 million …”

Well, they aren’t. They pay high taxes, but those taxes are not enough to support the other 230 million. The money gets printed – it’s not so much ‘tax and spend’ as ‘print and spend.’ I’m starting to wonder why we bother paying taxes at all! Why not just print ALL the money we need?

Pirate Jo
Pirate Jo

yahsure, how old are the kids at your daughter’s school?

Discover more from The Burning Platform

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading