Innovation, Full Employment, Workers Rights and all that good stuff

In arguments between the dominant two political parties in the US we often hear debates on employment, benefits, workers rights and such subjects pitted as big business versus workers. How can business thrive, so that people can have jobs and people can have investments for their retirement that have a positive return, while at the same time people can have work that pays, has benefits and isn't oppressive?

Flea Market Browsers at White Cloud, Kansas, near Troy, in the Northeast Corner of the State. It Is Sponsored by the Ma Hush Ka (Iowa Indian Language Meaning White Cloud) Historical Society to Raise Money for the Local Museum Housed in the 100-Year-Old Schoolhouse. Area Indians Participate in the Flea Market in Which Native Crafts as Well as Antiques Are Featured. The Town Is Named after the Last Great Iowa Indian Chief Whose Tribe Was Given Area Land by Treaty 09/1974

At the same time we hear how small business is the backbone of the country, the biggest employer, etc. So why is small business pretty much ignored? Laws and financial help from the government center on either big business or workers. Companies are bailed out when they're too big to fail. The assumption is that this is the only way to save our economy and people's jobs. In reality it's insanely lazy and really only helps big companies, big investors, and big unions.

Money is handed out to banks with the assumption it will magically trickle down to small businesses. But those small businesses are risky. They're owned by people who have often wrecked their credit to make those businesses work, or who started a business when they were broke from lack of work. Banks don't like risk. Handing a mega bank a truckload of money and thinking it's going to somehow make it to local dry cleaners and pool cleaning companies is beyond naive.  If you operate a small business you're pretty much on your own.

What could the government do to benefit small businesses? Probably the best thing to do would be to stop what they are doing. Get out of the way. Stop propping up big businesses. Stop charging the American people to hand money out to big banks thinking it will benefit anyone other than banks, big business and share holders of big business. Stop thinking unions are the representatives of all people who work.

Once they stop what they're doing, maybe they can help small businesses. Why would you want to do that? Small businesses are nimble, they innovate, they employ locally. What could be done to help?

Health insurance - break down barriers to allowing small companies to get affordable insurance. If a national scheme works, fine. Otherwise, just allow insurance companies to operate across state lines, allow groups to organize themselves, etc.

Access to capital - a slow down of a couple of months or a need to invest in equipment can be a death sentence for small businesses. Make money flow easier. Work more with SCORE to help small businesses get guaranteed loans. Establish micro lending operations like have been done to help businesses grow in the third world.

Mindset - it may seem to run contrary to common logic, but the reality is many businesses in America are too big to succeed. They are slow to change and innovate. They don't have a good handle on the profit and quality of the individual components of their products. They struggle endlessly with their relationship with employees.

With a small company a larger percentage of employees are owners. They'll work as hard as they need to and as hard as they are willing to succeed. If you're an owner you don't worry about your treatment by management - your treatment is a result of your success or failure.

When people don't have opportunity, they make their own opportunities. They start businesses. I started my business when I didn't have work. Undocumented workers start lawn mowing, childcare, house cleaning and piece work manufacturing operations that they can do from home when they can't find work.

What if instead of trying to stop these things from happening by artificially supporting huge companies, treating unions as the representatives of all the employed, worshiping employment statistics, and legislating against businesses we instead helped people work and own their companies.