It’s a Free World… Free Enterprise… Free Markets… Free Speech
We all have heard these buzz words all of our lives until now no one has challenged these popular phrases, literally. Humanity can quickly fall off a cliff if such words were actually to become reality and I am afraid they are.
Our society is moving from the noble benefits of; freedom of enterprise, freedom of markets, and the freedom of speech towards the cheapness of enterprise, cheapness of products (markets) and the cheap rancor of free speech. Being cheap and hunting for “free” bargains can suck the blood out of our economy if we let it and the Internet can be the vacuum pump.
Free; (adj) without cost, payment or charge.
My contention is that the closer a society gets to “free” the closer it gets to anarchy. Yeah, I mean real anarchy; mobs with torches and pitchforks, bodies on the streets and Marshall Law type of anarchy. The fact is that you can’t get a good riot off the ground without someone demanding the ultimate bargain…” free stuff”.
People don’t act much different than a frenzied pond of fish when free pellets are cast upon the water. Have you seen the behavior of “sweet innocent brides to-be” at 80% off bridal sales or midnight (commando) Christmas bargain shoppers?
Like the wedding dress, greed can tear to shreds the fabric of our society and ruin its purpose if we let it.
The internet is loaded with FREE things that bait and snare people everyday. Most of the time, the one giving out the FREE cheese is the one that gets whacked. My complaint is that people can’t recognize (or respect) a great deal when they see it.
I have a friend whose family has been in the printing business for over 50 years. Profits from their business were plowed back into buying over $20 million of equipment and hiring a staff of loyal workers.
One of the things my friends does to grow his business is to give away high quality business cards (3,000 of them) to potential new customers. Yeah, that’s what I said 100% FREE, no strings attached, just for the “good will” it earns him.
The course of our society, in my opinion, rest with the response of those people who got the free business cards. If they run away and hide like a church mouse with stolen cheese never inclined to give my friend a penny, then we are all doomed.
My business, your business, the $20 million of printing equipment needs real money to grease its gears.
How do you respond to free? Graciously, thankfully (will you do business with them?) or do you grab the loot and split?
When the marketplace considers a person who creates real goodwill as a sheep to be sheered, it just might be “game over” for all of us.
We really don’t live in a free world and none of our businesses can operate as a free enterprise can they?
