My dad always found it ironic that we would celebrate Labor Day by not working. He, and eventually I, would always spend the day working with the thought that most of the competition is taking the day off so we have an opportunity to create more and work a little harder.

Coming off of Labor Day and starting the Democratic National Convention, I started thinking about what was instilled in me and how too many people today think that the wealth pie is limited in size. My labor is a resource of sorts, and I can deploy that any way I want to create more money and wealth. The more of my labor I utilize, the bigger the pie gets. If I work more hours that someone else I get paid more; the other person is not diminished at all, he or she just chose to use their resources differently.

Granted, there is more to life than money and wealth and if you choose to watch your kids play ball or play yourself that is fine with me. I choose to work and see if I could increase my wealth.

Now, I know that Labor Day was to give the working man an extra day off. I believe that the working man or woman has generally earned that day off. The trouble is that too many people feel that only the worker and not the businessperson is responsible for the increase in wealth. The bottom line is that the worker would not have a job without the business owner and the business owner would not be able to create his product without the workers.

The workers have a resource that the business owner needs and is willing to pay for. If the price is too high the business owner doesn’t hire and if the wage is too low the worker does not have to work there. Both sides have choices to make and all choices have consequences. When those choices are taken away, with minimum wage laws, layoff notices, hiring quotas, etc., then the free market forces are no longer unrestricted and everyone suffers.

Where a lot of the conflict comes from is workers who want low accountability and ever-more pay for ever-less work. The only group of employees that can thrive in such an environment is government workers. In today’s competitive world economy, governments are mostly exempt from competitive forces.

The competitive forces going forward will be small entrepreneurs, independent contractors, home-based businesses and some entrepreneurial-thinking employees in large corporations.

All this being said, the United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population and is responsible for almost 25 percent of the global manufacturing. No other country comes close. We are producing at almost three times the rate of the 1950s and we are doing it with fewer people. Part of the reason for this is robotics and automation and part of it is the productivity of the American worker.

One of the only things that we can count on is that things will continue to change at a faster and faster pace. We as a country need to be free to produce things and use the resources available to their best and most profitable use. This includes labor.

Only capitalism will make this country solvent again. Only capitalism will decrease unemployment. Only capitalism will make the wealth pie larger.

I hope you enjoyed and celebrated Labor Day this year and I also hope that you realize that the American people are the best in the world. The most generous and caring people in the world and I believe that we can outwork anyone in the world as well.

Gary L. Rathbun is the president and CEO of Private Wealth Consultants, LTD. He can be heard every day on 1370 WSPD at 4:06 p.m. on “After the Bell with Brian Wilson and the Afternoon Drive” and every Wednesday and Thursday evening at 6 throughout Northern Ohio on “Eye on Your Money.” He can be reached at (419) 842-0334 or email him at garyrathbun@privatewealthconsultants.com.

Tags: A View from the Gulch, Gary Rathbun, Labor Day

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2012 at 4:28 pm and is filed under A View from the Gulch, Toledo Business Link.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

“He will have juice and I’ll have coffee,” I said to the waitress after my son and I sat down Labor Day at Rick’s City Diner. After our drinks came, I ordered a fruit dish for Liam and a Western omelet for myself. We had arrived around 10 a.m. with the restaurant about a quarter full and people coming and going as they would on any other day.

What I and the rest of the customers had thought was just another morning breakfast soon turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  At 10:15 a.m., a gentleman walked to the center of the room and asked for everybody’s attention. He said he was from the Secret Service and that in 15 to 30 minutes we should expect a special guest. He said if we wanted to leave we would have to do it at that moment. If we chose to stay we would be in for a great experience, but would have to remain in the restaurant until the special guest had left.

To be honest, I didn’t know if I would be able to stay because my soon-to-be 2-year-old son can only stay put for so long. I decided to stay and figured if Liam got restless, the Secret Service would just have to deal with it. For the next 15 minutes, everyone was searched and we sat in anticipation.

Around 10:45 a.m., about 30 vehicles surrounded the building. Among those vehicles were two presidential limos, one of which was carrying President Obama. No one inside the restaurant could believe what was happening as, seconds later, the president walked through the back door.

President Obama meets Brian and Liam Malkowski.

Obama made his way through the back of the restaurant and the news media poured in through the front. The chaos was nice because my son was interested in what was going on. Obama said, “Hello everybody, pretend like I’m not even here. When I am done with breakfast I will come around and meet with everyone,” and took a seat for breakfast.

After the president finished breakfast, he made his way down the aisle to meet and greet the customers. I knew I had only about five minutes before Liam was going to erupt, so I decided to sit him on my knee. The couple Obama was talking to before me was taking a while and Liam began to fuss so I let him stand, but that was a bad idea because seconds later he bumped his head on the table.

A moment of silence by a toddler who has just hurt himself means an eruption is about to happen, and it did — and that is how Liam met the President of the United States. Obama and I tried to calm him down, but it wasn’t happening. That’s when a member of the Secret Service jetted over with a box of presidential M&Ms. In the instant silence by Liam and applause by the customers, I had the opportunity to introduce my son to the president.

After shaking hands and introducing myself, I asked Liam (who was wearing a Tigers Jersey) to remind the president what had happened to his White Sox over the weekend. Obama laughed and then told the restaurant what I had said. He asked if I had any more kids and I said, “After this one, I am one and done.” The president said he had it pretty easy only having girls. “Boys, however, can be a little tougher to raise.” We shook hands again and he said, “You have a good-looking boy; take care.”

Obama then worked his way around the room and paid his bill. After that he was off to Scott High School to give a Labor Day speech.

I spent $14.84 in the restaurant, but the experience was priceless. Liam will be 2 on Oct. 1 and I hope someday he will appreciate the day he met the President of The United States.

Tags: Barack Obama, Labor Day, Rick's City Diner

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2012 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Community, People, Politics.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Due to the Labor Day holiday, all waste collection from Republic Services will be pushed back one day during the week of Sept. 5. Regular collection days will resume Sept. 12.

Labor Day will be the first holiday since Republic became Toledo’s official private waste collection provider in mid-July.

After taking over, Republic dropped the old “LEAP Forward” waste collection program and instead will delay all trash pickup one day after holidays.

The company operates 348 collection companies in 40 states and Puerto Rico.

Republic announced its My Republic Rewards program Aug. 25 to reward citizens for their recycling efforts with coupons from Imagination Station, The Toledo Zoo, Quiznos and The Andersons, among others.

To enroll in the program, visit www.MyRepublicRewards.com or call (888) 727-2978. For online registration, residents will need to enter the unique PIN they received in the mail.

Tags: Imagination Station, Labor Day, Quiznos, Republic Services, The Andersons, The Toledo Zoo

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Community, Environment.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.