Business Is Risky
A pundit goes nutbags on national TV, bellowing, "It's being poor which is risky!"
The video of her outburst is auto-playing (without clicking on it), so I'll link to it rather than embedding it. (I hate when I go to a site and loud audio starts playing, so I won't do it to you.) Here's the link.
Nick Sorrentino at Against Crony Capitalism writes:
Hate to tell you, but many entrepreneurs start off poor. Many never make it out of poverty and end in bankruptcy. The business owner is subject to the whims of the market, and now the whims of the regulators, which can be worse.The business owner makes payroll. He holds inventory. She leverages her home. The business owner puts his or her name, and stomach on the line.
He gives two examples from his family. Here's one:
I have an uncle and aunt who built a successful furniture business out of a back shed using my uncle's dad's old tools. They started in Lynchburg Virginia with not very much but eventually built a factory in Norfolk becoming one of the very few furniture companies left in the Commonwealth. They employ at least 50 people and have become a leader in high quality furniture. They have seen plenty of rough times but have persevered. This should be celebrated, not derided. Neither my uncle or aunt went to college it must be noted....Tell these guys what they achieved wasn't a risky endeavor. They are the American dream. They not only created wealth for themselves, they created wealth for their employees and the other businesses which do business with them. This is America.
But the attitude expressed below is the same which was expressed in President Obama's now infamous "You didn't build that" speech. (And spare me the misquote nonsense, that is just spin, he meant what he said.)
There is a deep resentment of success, and frankly the work ethic which long drove this country. There is a resentment of "bourgeois" sensibilities. With is tendency toward property rights, and individual freedom.
For the record:
Even if Obama was talking about the roads and bridges, WE DID BUILD THAT.
If we, and the money from our taxes, didn't build them, then what supernatural creature brought them into existence? The politician wasn't born with a bridge in his pocket that he'll share with us if we elect him. When he's involved in the paving a of a road, he has to get ALL the money from the business owners and taxpayers. Every red cent of it.
Government brings us nothing, builds nothing... It can only take from some to give to others.
Crid [Cridcomment at Gmail] at September 4, 2012 6:59 AM
Crid, for once, I totally agree with you. All the blathering about what Obama *really* meant is irrelevant. It's a classic case of "oops, I said what I really think".
Ltw at September 4, 2012 7:45 AM
Yes, the Kinsley definition: A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth (at least as he sees it).
But it was just so inane... No matter how you look at it, no matter how generous you are with his intentions as a speaker, as a politician or as a man... The core of his comment was that government in and of itself calls good things into being.
Crid [Cridcomment at Gmail] at September 4, 2012 7:50 AM
For most of my life, I opted for the steady pay of working for someone else. I did try to sell real estate for a year and a half, where I took all the risks in hopes of making more money, but it was not for me.
I have only admiration for those who did take the risk and built a good (or great) business. Not only did they provide employment for lots of others, but they created products that benefit us all.
Steamer at September 4, 2012 8:22 AM
Ugh, this lady is always such a hysterical nitwit.
I'm aghast that they actually gave her a national show on a major network. She's sloppy, inaccurate, overbearingly partisan and incapable of forming a coherent, well-defended argument.
She doesn't have what it takes to host a Public Access show, much less a primetime slot. Between her, Matthews and Maddow the powers at MSNBC must dispense hosting gigs from a gumball machine.
Tolly at September 4, 2012 9:10 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/09/04/business_is_ris.html#comment-3320969">comment from TollyI haven't seen her show, but I've known and respected Lenore since we were both columnists at the New York Daily News in the 90s.
She was on my radio show -- http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2012/06/04/advice-goddess-radio-amy-alkon -- and I thought she was pretty smart (as I usually find her), and the last thing I find her is "hysterical" (or a "nitwit"). Care to support why you said that?
Amy Alkon
at September 4, 2012 9:23 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/09/04/business_is_ris.html#comment-3320971">comment from Amy AlkonWhat about suggesting overprotection is nuts?
And FYI, her book is well-supported by stats on who's really abused and by whom and how often children really are abducted, etc.
Amy Alkon
at September 4, 2012 9:24 AM
er, Amy, sure you are replying to the correct thread? else, I'se contotallyfused.
SwissArmyD at September 4, 2012 9:34 AM
@Ltw: "Crid, for once, I totally agree with you."
Second. I find myself wondering if the President really believes what he said. I understand that the politicians will toss a certain amount of populism around, particularly in an election year. They're kind of supposed to. But this is exceptional -- does he (or do his supporters) really not understand how wealth is created? How the private and public sectors intersect while remaining separate and distinct? How the government depends on the private sector, and only the private sector, to accomplish anything?
But it occured to me that none of this matters. Wealth is something that bad, greedy, insufficiently grateful people have. That's all we need to know.
Old RPM Daddy at September 4, 2012 11:13 AM
My "owner" started his IT company with 3 people in the 1970s. He was always having to pledge his property for bonding and letters of credit. (He never got loans, just financed operations from revenue.) He employs 200+ people currently.
I knew from the start that I was too risk-averse for that.
carol at September 4, 2012 12:45 PM
@Amy - The pundit I'm referring to is Melissa Harris-Perry. Judging from that clip alone, she's not the sanest voice on the dial.
Not sure whom you're referring to in your reply.
Granted I don't listen to her show all that much, but I also don't need to continually listen to screeching, migraine-inducing noise to realize it's pointless and unrewarding.
Tolly at September 4, 2012 1:38 PM
Well the one from this weekend about Are we better offr now than four years ago:
Yeah, OBL is dead, but GM is not alive, it's a zombie with less than 20% of the market and the price of the stock hovering in the low $20's. For the U.S. to break even on the investment the stock would have to be about $51 per share.
Jim P. at September 4, 2012 1:51 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/09/04/business_is_ris.html#comment-3321148">comment from TollyJudging from that clip alone, she's not the sanest voice on the dial.
Her views are shared by many, which is why I posted this.
She's named on the clip, so I didn't worry about referring to her simply as a whack job in the post.
Amy Alkon
at September 4, 2012 2:10 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/09/04/business_is_ris.html#comment-3321151">comment from Jim P.General Motors is dead. It's Government Motors that lives on.
Amy Alkon
at September 4, 2012 2:11 PM
Amy, now you have me very confused (not hard to do) but I can't figure out why you think Tolly was talkinjg about Lenore Skenazy when he is talking about Mellisa Harris-Perry.
Dave B at September 5, 2012 9:40 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/09/04/business_is_ris.html#comment-3321878">comment from Dave BSorry for my confusion -- I was replying from within my software while on deadline and probably mis-saw the post it was on.
I have had to double up on deadlines for about four weeks (my part-time assistant is taking a vacation for a few weeks) and I've been waking up at 5am every day and working as if chased by coyotes to get done with columns in advance before she leaves.
Amy Alkon
at September 5, 2012 9:45 AM
"But this is exceptional -- does he (or do his supporters) really not understand how wealth is created?"
I think the answer is that they don't care, any more than the bank robber cares who the bank's customers are. They just want.
Cousin Dave at September 5, 2012 10:28 AM
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