linklings, small business energy edition

Scribbled by Steve on March 12, 2010 - Comments

I’m jumping the gun on something I’ll write about more next week, but I attended a very interesting function this week. It was a launch party for a magazine in which I was a contributing writer, and most of the attendees were entrepreneurs, small business owners or reps of banks and other service companies (payroll, etc.) who served small businesses.  The energy and enthusiasm of people with an entrepreneurial bent versus a similar gathering of corporate types was stunning.

I’ve been to entrepreneurial gatherings before, and attended more corporate events than I can count, but this event reminded me how different the energy is between the two. And I’m not bashing corporate types out of hand; even though I’m not a corporate employee I’m still firmly embedded in corporate life, and consider myself part of corporate culture rather than entrepreneurial culture.  I was impressed by the people I met and made a resolution to start spending more time at networking events for entrepreneurs and less mixing with corporate types, even though that’s where I get my work. Sometimes it’s about inspiration, not trolling for clients.

On to the links:
Census Pre-Notice: Government Waste At Its Finest.:  This letter absolutely appalled me, as well.  This letter, in fact, is the type of thing that makes me sympathize for a few seconds with the ’small government’ crowd.  Whoever the moron is who decided to send out this letter
Implementing PAYGO Rules For Personal Finances:  Don’t buy something until you either make more money or save on something else.  Radical concept.  I don’t approve of the politics behind the recent shenanigans to block the extension of unemployment benefits, but why this is such a radical concept for DC explains a lot about the mess our country’s in.
How to Negotiate Remote Work With An Employer:  This is the holy grail for me.  Sometimes I manage to convince clients to let me do this, but more often than not they are stuck in “facetime” mentality.
How to Waste $55 in Washington D.C. (Hint: Take a Bus Tour):  I have to be honest – all of the monuments and memorials and whatnot in Washington bore me, with two exceptions:  the Vietnam War memorial (which is deeply moving) and the World War II memorial, which – for me, at least – was “off-the-charts” moving.  Seeing that and seeing the eternal flame outside the Kremlin, which honors the dead of what they call “The Great Patriotic War” is overwhelming when you think of the number of Soviet and Allied forces who died defeating the Axis.  Chilling stuff, particularly given that my head is stuffed full of World War II stories from my mother’s father, ranging from the noble to the horrific.  My father’s father refused to speak one bit about it – being a German-American, speaking German at home and being sent to the German front was apparently not something he ever felt like discussing with anyone.

A few other good reads:

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expatriate altruism

Scribbled by Steve on March 11, 2010 - Comments

Without much effort, most of us can think of two or three large-scale tragic events that occurred in the last decade that shook us. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, that killed over 200,000 people, springs to mind, or the recent earthquake in Haiti that may kill many more when the final toll is realized (due to sickness, lack of clean water and so on).  Without much additional effort, man-made disasters like war, ethnic cleansing or terrorism can also be added:  9-11, the Sudan or the invasion of Iraq.  Many people are motivated to help in these instances, by giving – often to incredible extremes – of their time and money.  But in a time of great economic hardship in America – or any other country – should a helping hand be extended across the border, or should citizens look to help their own country first?

Not every disaster has a face. When natural disasters hit, it’s easy to put faces to the tragedy.  Television coverage of the Haitian earthquake veers too close to tragedy porn for my comfort.  The exploitation of suffering by news organizations for the sake of ratings – which attract advertisers – is understandable.  But imagine if that attention was turned to the “less sexy” issues that kill in America:  poverty, cancer or even crime.  The possibility of improvement is significant.

I don’t mean to say that we shouldn’t empathize with the rest of the world, but I think many people still imagine it is 1991 and America has an unquestioned and unquestionable perch atop the world, economically, militarily and even maybe philosophically.  It doesn’t anymore.  America is sick, too.

The debt forgiveness movement focuses on countries with crippling debt, but America is approaching that point, too. We send medical aid to Haiti, but you know what?  I know people who don’t have health insurance right here in America and who can’t afford to see a doctor.  Americans want to think that they are showing their generosity by extending a helping hand to the rest of the world, but it hides that fact that there are urgent, desperate needs here that aren’t being addressed, too.

I know this may come across as jingoistic, and perhaps it is. My liberal political leanings have always been shot through with a nationalistic bent; I have always felt deeply the saying “charity begins at home.”  To demonstrate my mindset, I’ll point to the idea of charitable giving in general.  Most people say that you always have something to offer the less fortunate.  That’s true.  Wallace Wattles, in the Science of Getting Rich, points out that the best thing you can do for the poor of the world is to get rich yourself.  Sounds crazy?  Look at what Bill Gates or Warren Buffett is doing.  The vast accumulation of wealth allows you to make a real difference in a given area (for example, immunizations for Gates).

Am I being selfish? If I choose to give to a local charity in northern Florida instead of contributing to Chilean relief, am I being cruel because their need is more urgent?  If I say that taxpayer’s money that’s being spent on aid to other countries would be better spent on providing health care for Americans, am I being a jerk? I don’t know – I’m torn myself, sometimes, but to pretend that America (or the West in general) are full of limitless generosity to the rest of the world seems disingenuous.  At some point we have to admit that the doctor is sick, too.

photo by respres

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