I just added blog post to two other topics I am trying to develop ::
I wonder what I should add to that here! :-)
I have been trying to catch up with all my reading - the articles I printed off while looking for new information on food and business. Reading gets to be a big challenge. To improve my marketing efforts for Working Together and for my personal income needs, I need to find out how other people have solved these problems. I especially need low-cost (no-cost) methods to survive and thrive. :-)
Earlier today I was doing my "Today I am thankful for..." post and I noticed a Rush Limbaugh item about the young businessman that tried to pay everyone in his company the same wage. I decided to make a comment and this is what I ended up with. (copied and pasted here)
I think the statement he was trying to make to the world is worth more efforts... the amount may have been too much, the structure of the company may have had problems, and the rest of the business world may have been afraid of what he was trying to do at a personal level. --- It is my view that we are all equal in the eyes of GOD and that such disparity in wages is not always a good thing. It is my hope to build a Christian company that acts as both a ministry and a for-profit business, and that makes a statement that each person contributes equally to the success or failure of the company by making wages equal, at a liveable wage, and with benefits tied to survival needs. An hourly wage that covers the living needs of employees at the bottom of the economic ladder is a BASIC NEED, not a threat to the survival of the company. If there is a labor budget, we need to start with the pay scales at the bottom and then work up to the executive offices. My reason for wanting everyone to have a decent lifestyle with Working Together is that the needs of the End Times are going to be harsh and desperate and threatening... and there will be many, many, many people in need...not only Christians, but others who will be caught up in poverty and persecution. What would happen to the budgets of all our ministries if this focus was the norm (that everyone was paid at the same rate)? It would change a lot.Here is the link I got at Facebook, but it goes to the article and not to the post about it. I didn't read the article...I was upset about the perspective I saw about the man. I felt my comment was important and decided to share it as a post on my timeline, and then decided to see if I could reach the man at his company, gravitypayments.com -- which became a contact form submission.
I wish I could do more for his company because I think there are parts of this concept that are critical. Becoming a co-op company is not the same as socialism. One is controlled by the government, with the possibility of military and police-state enforcement. The other is a large partnership. I didn't read a lot about this company, I just heard the news about his effort. I think he was trying to create a more equal management atmosphere, not socialized business practices. (But, I don't really know his motives or goals.)
So many of our businesses are having to change because of the effects of technology... there really isn't going to be a choice pretty soon. My hope has always been to create some kind of safety net for these economic changes, mostly for Christians, and mostly for the membership base I am trying to create. Working Together is meant to be a kind of co-op, a kind of non-profit, a kind of bank, and a kind of church. To protect it I felt it needed to be a privately-owned for-profit business, and I own all the stock until GOD brings me the person He wants to take control of it after me.
There is no guarantee any company will flourish under any specific kind of business structure, but this seemed to be the best option for the goals of Working Together. I am sure that the man in charge of Gravity Payments felt he was doing the best thing for his company, too. I am concerned for all the Christian companies that will disappear if we don't find a way to help each other... instead of attacking each other.
