Freeman’s Perspective – by Paul Rosenberg
I see you standing here, asking for help, about once a week. You are always polite, and I respect that. I’d like to do something for you… something that would matter long-term. Giving you a few notes or coins now and then may be fine, but I’d really like to improve your situation more permanently.
In other words, I’d like to give you a job.
I used to hire people, and I especially liked hiring people who had been denied breaks. I did that whenever I could. If you and I could be transported back in time, I’d hire you. And I’d feel good about it, because I think having a job would do you a lot of good.
That fact is, however, that I can’t hire you, and I’d like you to know why.
I used to run my own contracting firm. I enjoyed the work and I liked being able to drive past a building and say, “I made that.” Having employees, however, was torture. I liked having them in some ways, of course – I liked the guys and it made me happy to see them take care of their families with paychecks that I signed. That was very gratifying. But it wasn’t enough, and there are three reasons why:
#1: Making Payroll
My first problem was simply cash flow. I was solely responsible for having enough money in the bank every week, and that could be nerve-wracking, especially when customers weren’t paying their bills on time. It’s not fun to think that a family won’t be able to buy groceries if you can’t collect your invoices.
Still, that part didn’t cause me to give up on employees. It was hard, but so long as my employees were working, we were making money, so there was always something coming in at some point. Somehow, I was able to pull it off.
#2: Being Hated
Over time, some of my employees became jerks. This seemed to grow from envy and from stupid ideas about labor versus management. These guys decided that I was getting rich off of them, and demanded I pay them more – more than they deserved and more than the company could afford.
And the really nasty part was this: It was always the guys I had done the most for who hated me most. And as soon as I sat down with them and explained why I couldn’t pay them more, they started stealing from me.
I fired the thieves, of course, but these experiences really soured me on employees. I had not only given these guys a job, but I had legitimately felt good about helping to feed their families. In return, they hated me, called me names, and stole from me.
By itself, that was almost enough to make me swear off employing people, but not quite.
#3: The IRS
What really drove me over the edge was dealing with the government and the IRS in particular. They were abominable.
I had to file forms with every payroll, and if anything on them was wrong, they penalized me – heavily. And if I paid them a single day late, they penalized me – heavily. And if they said I did something wrong – even if I didn’t – there was no way to change their verdict. Reason and evidence simply didn’t matter.
I eventually talked to a tax lawyer who explained the situation to me. He said:
Forget about fighting, Paul. There is no ‘innocent until proven guilty’ in tax court. You’re automatically guilty, and you have to try to prove yourself innocent… which is very hard and very expensive. Just pay them. I know you hate that, but you have no other choice. Fighting them would ruin you.
It wasn’t just the money that got me about this – it was that they were nasty, arrogant, heartless tyrants. Having the facts on my side didn’t matter. Intelligent arguments didn’t matter. Either I paid what they demanded or they would hurt me worse.
In many ways, it wasn’t much different than the local gang of street thugs demanding protection money.
So, that’s why I can’t hire you: Having employees locked me into a single role in life, that of a despised slave. When I finally realized that, I walked away.
I was lucky that I had the ability to move into specialties and to thrive in difficult niches; other guys probably couldn’t have.
So…
What I really want you to know is this:
I’d like to help you. You deserve a chance at a decent job. I’d like to be the guy who gave it to you, but the system demands that I must live as a slave in order to do so. And I won’t do that.
I very much wish that things were different, and I feel sorry every time I drive by that I can’t hire you. But I would never ask anyone to live as a slave, and I won’t live that way myself.
I wish you well, and if life in these parts should ever pull back from the present reign of oppression, I hope to run into you. And on that day, I hope to either hire you or do business with you.
We would both have much to gain from it.
Paul Rosenberg
FreemansPerspective.com
http://www.freemansperspective.com/letter-to-homeless-man-under-the-bridge/
Sent to us by a reader.
Yes I can relate to both the homeless guy and also the other side too of business owner and it all went down the tubes big time. Yea, there is no reason for the homeless problem in america unless the person is just lazy and wants to be homless. There is no reason for the unemployment problem if all the jobs were kept right here and not sent over seas or taken by some foreign speakin` wetback! . Which is why I am now semi retired now. I got just plain wore out and tired.
Tyranny Abounds
At the rate things are going, the author will likely soon be the homeless man under the bridge.
This is what communists (the so-called ‘jews’, the Fed, IRS) do, which is why they all need to be terminated.
With or without extreme prejudice.
Every last one.
I couldn’t agree more. In my younger day I might’ve agreed strictly on blind faith but as I’ve gotten older some legends have only proven themselves true despite me trying to find otherwise. That is what only affirms my footing in solid ground. We are right and our fight is supported by moral high ground, #1. That makes it even better:)
They leave us no other option, Martist.
Government seems to hang everything on business, how much easier would it be to start up a company and only have to worry about not polluting and only paying taxes on profits that the company makes? But companies have to have a ratio of minorities and perverts working for them or be family operated or they will be sued, so hard on start ups, its why china has an edge, we can send them our ideas and they make it for us cheap and we sell it to the few that can still afford it, its just easier and it is the trend nowadays.
I hire a lot of labor, but always for off-the-books and under-the-table temporary operations, so the tax forms aren’t an issue for me, but being honest about my experiences with hiring people forces me to say something that’s going to be very unpopular:
I hate to say it, but Americans are generally lazy, because their work ethic has been destroyed along with the rest of their morals, and hiring them is usually a frustrating experience. They seem to arrive on a job with an attitude of “how little can I do and still get paid?” rather then applying themselves and giving it their best, and they prefer the play stupid rather than show any initiative, with the belief that the dumber they are, the easier their job will be.
I still refuse to hire Mexicans, but I’ve worked with Mexicans, and know people who do hire them, and from an employer’s standpoint, they’re a much better deal for the money, simply because they show up reliably, sober, and ready to work. It’s not even a matter of them working for less money. It’s a simple matter of who’s doing the job and who’s trying to hide from the boss and make excuses for not working rather than just getting things done.
Naturally, this doesn’t apply to all Americans, because I’ve always worked very hard, and I’ve always had to compete to remain employed, but it does describe the vast majority that I’ve hired. We’ve become spoiled, and the wet-backs are hungry.
Now, I fully understand that we should be a bit spoiled, because we’re the inheritors of a nation rich in resources that belong to us, but putting what should be aside from what is, the Mexicans are giving employers a much better deal for their labor dollar, and unless you get the Mexicans the hell out of here, or start working as hard as they do, you’re never going to work again.
It has been my experience with most employers is that if ya give them a inch they actually do expect a mile out of ya. I know that there are some fair employeres out there but that has been my experience. Atleast you paid under the table Jolly Roger. I like and respect that 😉 Good man Jolly R.
your right about that, Digger. When an employer does find a good worker, he tends to rely on him and expect him to carry the weight of the deadbeats, and that’s wrong too.
A lot of employers are deadbeats who play all kinds of psychological games to get more work out of a guy, and I resent that as an employee. I always just showed up and gave ’em an honest days work, and they were always happy to have me back, but for a lot of guys going to work was their game of seeing how little they could get away with doing.
Sounds like I would/could have worked for you any day when I was younger and in better shape Jolly R. Yes, Jolly,R. we need more employers like you 😉
Anyone who hires a foreign invader at this point in the ballgame is committing an open act of treason by aiding and abetting a foreign invasion.
Maybe you should try hiring from the tent cities where the generation of American nationals who carried this country for the past 40 years are now residing.
It’s not that good American workers aren’t there. It is rather that they are being deliberately separated from the work. Their application does not even make it into the pile and these so called employers, in relying on communist agents to provide them with potential workers, are screwing us all in working within the communist system.
I don’t do any contracting anymore. These days I only hire local kids to do light work around here, but they’re almost useless too.
I can’t find homeless people anywhere near me anyway. I don’t know where they hide them, unless they all freeze to death.
I know exactly how you feel about piss poor workers. overtime sheets have been posted and you sign and you get to stay and paint or clean or whatever. well as we were getting our paint supplies a group of three guys were immediately talking about where the best place to hide was. and they went and did just that. as a result I was the only one actually doing anything and earning the overtime. which totals 32 hours this week. I just don’t get the laziness that it seems everyone has you know
oh also certain people like to come in drunk and or drink on the job. it’s a factory and that is a very unwise place to do such things
I totally agree with JR about the work ethic in this country these days. It sucks. I’ve been seeing/saying the same thing for years.
Undoubtedly due to the indoctrination ‘education’, and television ‘programming’. The younger generation(s) seem to have the misconception that the world owes them a living.
Without them having to put forth any real effort towards that end.
Most people I worked for like to hire just enough people to maintain their corporate profits. And then when some people quit, they don’t hire and make you do twice as much work and not get paid any extra for it. Then when they see you slack or take too many breaks or even going to the bathroom because your mind is about to bust and your bladder is exploding, they start taking those breaks away from you and then play the micro-management game. And while that is being done, they look for ways of up-ing the corporate profits, while they knowingly take advantage of you doing twice as much work for the same amount of money and then add another task onto your plate. That is my experience with most of my jobs. Granted there are a few slackers here and there, but most of the employers just look for ways to grow their profits and treat their workers like slaves, but that’s the way the system is going these days. Fascism/Communism or however you want to call it. That’s the way I see it.