The New Gold(en) Standard for America

This post is not about the shiny brown metal or international monetary policy, actually it is much more important and crucial to the future of America. It all started with me over 15 years ago, I was a Junior Achievement leader and was in front of 8th graders. Over my career of three years in the schools, I challenged the students to the following: As you are about to jump on the bus tonight you find a $100 bill and pick it up as you enter the bus. Because you don't know exactly what to do you bring it to your Mom and Dad for their coaching. Next week we will discuss their help and what you do with the money. Over the three years, here are the unscientific results. The 1st year 40% of the students would keep the money. Three years later almost 60% said they would keep the money. Though this is dramatic, the increase is less important to me than maybe half the kids, with the concurrence of parents, would keep the money. You can imagine the reasons for keeping the money, from "finders keepers to How would you even find the real owner".
My next statement is what I believe in my heart and may be too bold for you, but here goes. What I have just described in this classroom is a symptom of the real problem in America and why I believe if we don't fix this, America as we know and love it,,, is doomed. Fortunately there is a simple solution which is not a partisan idea or a deeply religious axiom although all in those groups will see the logic. Back to the classroom, and I can remember it like it was yesterday. while we were discussing why it makes sense to keep the money, a pretty girl with blond curls said, "You know if I was the one that lost that bill, I would be crying and wanting to die." The class was silent. I then asked what about you? How would you feel? Maybe that was your savings for a year and after school you were heading to school to buy your first pair of Air Jordan's. Or maybe you were heading to your elderly Grandma's house, this was her food money for the next month. Your father had trusted you to make that delivery and you lost the money.
In that three years, only 2 or 3 children thought about the other person. Many knew they shouldn't keep the money but only a couple could articulate a good reason why. What if, most of Americans rarely think about there decisions as they relate to others. In business it is disaster! I was standing in a McDonald's waiting for my burger when a young man with a Domino's Pizza hat came in next to me. He showed the manager the hamburg he had just received through the drive in. The burger in the box was completely covered with ketchup and mustard. An employee had seen a competitor in the drive in and wanted to make a statement. What was the statement? I don't care a bit about you Mr customer. Remember Enron? Behind closed doors some very smart accountants and attorneys created a way to stay ahead of the law by creating shell companies that would show losses while the operating company looked fine to the investors. Do you think anyone said "How will this affect shareholders and employees longer term?"
I will be talking Gold in a second and most of you know what is coming. First though, I want you to think about the two or three big issues in America that you think might bring our country to its knees. See if the following change in thinking for America might turn those issues around. Later I will give a few more unusual examples. The Golden Rule may be the simplest cross culture rule ever stated and is accepted by most serious religions that know how important morality is to sustaining cultures. It is so simple, that really smart people tend to ignore it as an opium of the masses. What if every American was immediately exposed to the power of the Golden rule again (because most adults know it). What if the President used his bully pulpit to share the GR and how it could almost overnight transform America. What if one day a year we could all talk about how this foundational rule could be applied at school, in the workplace, and at home.
If you are a baby boomer you may remember when President Kennedy (a pretty smart guy) exhorted White Americans to think what it would be like to sit at the back of the bus or be refused service in a restaurant. This is the Golden rule: Think about the other person and treat them like you would want to be treated in the same circumstance. Instead of "Just Do IT" maybe we should think about it first. I can here folks now, oh Bob that's so mamby pamby. If I don't think about # one, people will walk all over me. It is a jungle out there! They are right and it is getting worse. So how could the GR become important to that guy. He should think about the woman he is trying to attract as a mate. How about the job interview he attends. He owns a restaurant and his employees treat customers like he treats them. This rule is Golden for a reason. It pays dividends for the user. Great companies have used the GR as a sole mantra and mission for their employees to treat their customers. I said great successful companies.

What if: -The wall street protesters thought about or were concerned about there fellow americans and the mess they are creating for their city.
-Leaders of public and private schools decided that education was out of reach for most people. We can't afford to build new buildings we must find a way to use technology to reduce costs. I know the government pays but we all know it is not sustainable.
- Ditto on Health Care costs. Insurance and the Federal Government (third parties) do not provide one bit of health care, but add 30 to40% of costs. Do they think of patients or the tax payer?
- Billy, Did you think about the Golden rule? What if I bullied you, would you like it?
- I could see politicians raising little signs with GR when others were attacking them.
- Attorneys ask the question to their clients, If I was their attorney would you want to be treated this way? Sorry forget this idea it could never happen! What could happen is trust between folks based on the Golden Rule. Handshakes could become popular again.

John Adams the second President said that our constitution would only work for a moral people, it was designed for no other. How could the most prominent guide for a civilization be only a few pages? Maybe Under God meant something and the Golden Rule was a simple test of the Judieo-Christian commandment of "Love God then love your neighbor as yourself." Here is my question. We claim to be a country of laws. With thousands of laws and torts and a million Attorneys, how is it working??

Let's tax those darn private jet owners

Today is an important day in politics as Congress passed the debt ceiling increase and we are going to avoid that boogieman called federal debt default. I would just like to defend and define some terms used constantly in this recent debate, because behind the rhetoric are real working people and families. First a little history. Almost 20 years ago the private small aircraft industry was decimated by legal suits and federal regulation. These were mostly small prop driven aircraft and for many years no new small planes were built. Imagine the impact on that industry, jobs, and families. Used airplanes kept flying in one of the safest forms of travel so, what gives? A quality industry was killed for no good reason. Small jet aircraft continue to be built (and now some prop planes) but the industry, over all, remains on the edge, as does all air travel.

When politicians attack the private jet owner as depriving the government of revenue (not paying their fair share of taxes)they make a common error for the purpose of forwarding their tax and spend agenda. Folks who own and fly jets are typically the most productive and driven wage earners in America that is why they fly in jets. This group make more money and pay most of the taxes. Allowing most of the rest of us to pay lower and half of Americans to pay no taxes. As a group they tend to own businesses and run big companies that employ hundreds of thousands of people. These are the people who respond to Federal tax incentives (loop holes)to buy equipment and facilities that help employ more people. They take risks, to be rewarded in higher profits which, you guessed it, now they pay higher taxes. Envision a country like the former Soviet Union. No incentive to make profits means lower standards of living( for all classes). The federal government creates incentives to energize the economy and increase employment and yet in this recent debate, you would think jet owners are killing babies. And who is defending the hard working employees who are building their lives by building, servicing, and flying these jets. And of course paying their taxes. So really, jet owners are really just innocent faceless symbols of the rich people that are not paying their fair share of taxes.

There are two real good productive reasons why rich folks and corporations don't pay taxes. And we should cheer them on. Sometimes an enterprise is so successful, they give their excess money away to avoid paying taxes on money they would invest. They give the money normally to a charity that they choose or they create a foundation that is managed by honorable citizens that carries on the giving after the benefactors death. They would rather give the money according to their choosing (wouldn't you?) rather than the government where 30-40% goes to bureaucracy. The other great places to invest are in" loop holes" incentives. If General Electric is not paying taxes, let me assure you they are taking legal advantage of incentives created by the federal and state government. These investments almost always result in job growth which is sustainable (not just do nothing jobs) and generates more tax revenue because of the risks the company is willing to take to generate the jobs and profits. So when someone talks about taxing the billionaires and jet owners, remember all the men and women who work for those folks.

One more example of costly talk. Where I live, we attracted Honda to do research and development on a new small fuel efficient corporate jet. This means hundreds of jobs for our community. Great high paying jobs long into the future. When they hear that we should tax more heavily, jet owners, what are they talking about around their coffee machines and board rooms. Words, mean things and have consequences. Especially to foreign ears. Oil execs, boat builders, car and truck builders, all have ears that hear. Let's get on and tax basketball players and Federal bureaucrats for awhile, not job creators.