The leaked documents (see our previous coverage) come from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in eastern England. In global warming circles, the CRU wields outsize influence: it claims the world's largest temperature data set, and its work and mathematical models were incorporated into the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report. That report, in turn, is what the Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged it "relies on most heavily" when concluding that carbon dioxide emissions endanger public health and should be regulated.
Today I saw a post in Market Watch about the U.S. government being responsible for job growth. It brought to mind several realizations I’ve personally had over the past year.
When I applied for and won my current job, some people questioned the rationale behind accepting a position in the software industry. A small company? How many people work there? Are you crazy? What makes you think software will be any more viable than anything else – and what about benefits?
I suppose I took a chance when taking this position, but in doing so, while cutting my previous salary nearly in half, I’m able to work from home five days a week; I’ve taken my child out of pre-school and hired a nanny to come in a few days a week. I no longer sit in rush hour traffic every day (a mental-health savings right there); I save on gasoline and wear and tear on my car.
It has taken some getting used to; I’m a quite social person, so not being around colleagues every day was something I was kind of dreading. However, I can work in my pajamas if I want to so there goes thirty or forty minutes of getting “ready” each work day. I don’t miss being around people that annoy or anger me; I don’t have to deal with them face-to-face – usually a big fat plus. I have to discipline myself nearly every day because the tv is tempting, as well as the books on my bedside table. But I overcame these hurdles and am productively happy.
So what does this have to do with job growth? Well, my employer – maybe one of the smartest men I know – decided a few years ago, when the money was rolling in, not to expand with more employees. Instead, he developed better software, and because of that, there is a sign on the back of the office door and – pardon my French here – it says “Screw the Recession.” To really bring the point home, there’s a small screw taped to it.
We don’t believe in panic, we don’t believe in fear, but we do believe in smart growth. Smart growth is not wasting money and smart growth is not bad profits. Smart growth is hiring only as many people as you need, training those employees you have on teamwork and enthusiasm for what you are selling more than anything else – which you can do if you hire the right people to begin with – and smart growth is focusing on good profits. See The Ultimate Question by Fred Riechheld for more information on that.
I know I’ve said before that I don’t like people who put forth a problem without putting forth a viable solution. So let’s see what we’re dealing with – if you drive by a strip mall on a given day across this country, you’ll see at least five or six stores that have gone out of business. But it’s ok – wait a mile or two and you’ll see the exact same stores in the next strip mall. Was building all these businesses so close together about convenience? Absolutely not! It was about the right to own your own business. That’s wonderful, but at what expense? I’m not an environmentalist freak but I am sick of the needless destruction of our God-given landscape so the next budding entrepreneur can make his or her fortune. And good luck with that – since probably 50% of you have lost your business anyway.
What’s the solution? Well, don’t call yourself an educated man or woman and expect the government to create jobs for you. Since when did that work out well? We don’t trust the government to run anything – why should we trust it to create sustainable job growth?
I have a few ideas on how to do just that. Let's take a look: