© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “I never
did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.” Thomas Edison
The New Mexico Legislature has ended
and there are people in our state who were wanting those politicians to change
the sad plight of New Mexico, which is last in almost every category in our
nation. They are disappointed that despite the politician promises at election
time New Mexico remains poor.
If past performance is a predictor
of future performance it is a good bet that New Mexico ten years from now will
still be last in most categories. Why, because the Legislature does not have a
magic wand to wave over the Land of Enchantment to bring wealth to every
citizen.
Yes, legislation can help citizens who
want to lift themselves out of poverty. Legislation can make New Mexico more
attractive for businesses. But the heavy lifting of changing the fortunes of
New Mexico must be done by the citizens themselves.
It starts with a work culture. New
Mexico suffers from a culture of not working. Right now more New Mexicans are
not working than are working. The poverty programs in our state make it hard to
take a job for pay when the pay will nullify benefits. And the state does
nothing since the poverty programs employ many people and give power to the
leaders.
Question: when do most people who
get a job do so? The week after their unemployment benefits end. Or, and this
is important. They get a job almost immediately after losing a job. One or the
other. I’m painting with a large brush, but we have two cultures.
One says “I work proudly.” The other rides government
programs until they end and then despairs. Those who go for a year between jobs
while milking the system find it hard to get a job when benefits run out.
However, some sectors such as the
Agriculture Industry are full of proud workers. If they do not like a job they
hunt another before moving on. The Oil and Gas Industry have men and women who
do not watch the clock, they get the job done.
But as an employer myself and
manager of hundreds of workers over the last forty years I find many young
people are not taught to work. No, not that you need a 13/16 socket to take out
a spark plug. They do not know you must be on time always. In fact, be five
minutes early so if traffic snarls you are not late.
This all starts in public schools
which should not propagandize but should provide many examples of enjoying
work. The magic wand, if you want to think of it as such is attitude. Thomas
Edison looked forward to going to work each day because he liked to work. Those
people who enjoy being employed are important.
Many people in New Mexico think that
wealth comes from the government and all you have to do is have one of your
relatives get elected to some office and the wealth truck will make regular
deliveries. And in our crony corrupt state that is more true than not. But it
cannot and will not last.
What happens to these people when
their relative is caught and cannot provide any more loot? Then they turn to
drugs for quick cash. Some New Mexicans have no Social Security benefits
because they never have worked officially.
The attitude that is important is to
find things about the job that prepare you for the next job. We hear so much
about minimum wage jobs but most people only make the minimum wage for a few
months and then are promoted beyond it if they apply themselves.
If it is easier to float on the
government programs than actually go to work this will come to the end at some
point. At some point the problems of our budget and debt will intrude. We are
spending money that we do not have.
Who will ride out the hard times the
best? Those who can hunker down working at any job and being satisfied with
making money rather than having it given to them. They have the magic wand of
work.
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