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Old 07-07-2018, 17:37   #1
Surf n Turf
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Everything Is Not OK

Found this article today, and I think it sure strikes home about the “Laws, Regulations, and Rules “ that seem to strangle us today. I am at a loss to figure out how to stop/ reverse it, as with all things progressive it is UNSEEN

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Everything Is Not OK
I went for a haircut today. Money is no object when it comes to my appearance – only the absolute finest will do. So I went to Sport Clips in the strip mall next to Target, with a $3 coupon in hand. Like many other fashion-conscious men, I frequent this establishment and don’t think I’ve ever had my hair cut by the same person twice. Like many other seemingly mundane things, this interests me. Well, most of the things that interest me actually are mundane, I suppose. But I’m fascinated by these young ladies. Who are they? Where do they come from? Where do they go? So I’ve applied for a federal grant to study attractive, rural, 30-year-old women who cut hair at gimmicky chain barber shops.

Well, actually, no – I just talk to them. And I learn a lot.

Kaitlyn (not her real name) just moved here from Georgia. Her husband is an auto mechanic. “He can fix anything with four wheels! Well, except my car – it runs like crap!” She went on at some length about how good he was at fixing things. His plan was to start his own shop once they moved here. They moved into a double-wide trailer that had a nice pole barn out back, which he planned to outfit with electric and a high-end air compressor, maybe even a grease pit, and start his own business.

He spent almost a year working on permits, licenses, inspections, and so on. He spoke to people from the county, city, state, feds, and the EPA. He talked to attorneys, accountants, and consultants to help wade through all the red tape. After about a year, he realized that the start-up costs were more than he was willing to gamble on the eventual success of a business that did not yet exist, so he got a job with the city, maintaining their trucks and mowing equipment. It doesn’t pay very well, but it has good benefits. It’s not a bad job, she says. Nothing to complain about. Everything is ok.

Kaitlyn did a great job on my hair, was very pleasant and personable, and is clearly very intelligent. She said that a few miles from their house, a barber recently retired. She considered buying his shop. She’s always dreamed of owning her own business. She said that’s the whole reason she went to cosmetology school. I said that sounded great – the shop is already set up, it has a large group of established customers, and she could expand from there.

She said that she spent several months looking into it, but she would need permits, licenses, inspections, and so on. I pointed out that it has been a barber’s shop for years, so the inspections, permits, and so on would already be done. She said that it would be a new business, and she would have to pay for all that to be done over again. She spoke with attorneys, accountants, and consultants to help wade through all the red tape – some of the same individuals that her husband had just consulted. She soon realized that the start-up costs were more than she was willing to gamble, so she got a job with a chain. The pay is not very good, and the benefits are lousy. One reason her husband took a government job was for the health insurance for their family. But she doesn’t mind working for Sport Clips – it’s a decent job, she says. Nothing to complain about. Everything is ok.

So how does this story end?

Well, in my view, it’s already ended. This young couple from a modest background has all the potential in the world. They’re both ambitious, intelligent, and very good at a valuable skill. They’re devoted to their family, their dreams, and each other. They dream of better things and are willing to gamble, willing to work hard today for a better tomorrow, and willing to take on the additional responsibilities that come with owning a business. They’re savvy enough with modern government to hire attorneys and consultants to help with the red tape.

And even they can’t open a new business, to do something they already know how to do.

And 30 years from now, nothing will have happened.

My Uncle Fred (Frederic Bastiat) described this as the seen versus the unseen. Progressives win elections because the benefits they provide are immediate and obvious. They give people free money with taxpayer dollars, or build highways with taxpayer dollars, or start new general assistance programs with taxpayer dollars. They’re working for you, and anyone with eyes can see it. The benefits provided by progressives are seen.

But the damage they cause is mostly unseen. In 30 years, Kaitlyn and her husband could have retired to a very nice community on the Gulf Coast and played golf for the rest of their lives. But they won’t. She’ll still be cutting hair for $12 an hour plus tips, and he’ll still be fixing lawn mowers for the city. Just like they are now.

They didn’t lose a fortune, because they never had the opportunity to earn one. Nothing happened. There they sit. And there they’ll stay.

Progressives may think they’re utopians who dream of a better tomorrow. But, in reality, they are the robotic defenders of the status quo. Everything stays the same because nothing happens. And when things don’t happen, those things don’t make the evening news. They didn’t happen at all, so there’s nothing to complain about. Everything is basically ok. And that’s the way it will stay.

Until it doesn’t.

Change is scary. You never know what might happen. It might be good. It might be bad. You roll the dice like this young couple tried to do. Twice.

Or you don’t. Like progressives do, every day.

I wonder if Kaitlyn views progressives as nice people who are trying to help her. Or if she views them as well-meaning fools, as I do when I’m trying to be charitable.

But in bed late at night, I wonder if she ever hates them for destroying her life and the lives of her children.

Probably not. Because nothing really happened. And nothing ever will.

There’s nothing to complain about.

Everything is ok.

I left her a $10 tip for a $15 haircut, and I walked out. I looked good – it really was a sharp haircut. But I felt like I wanted to puke.

Everything is not ok.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3669178/posts
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Old 07-07-2018, 20:48   #2
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That is a good example of what goes on, and most end up working for a large corporation or local, state or federal government because they make it too damn cost prohibitive to run your own business.

It is redistribution of wealth on a grand scale.... so crooks like Jamie Diamond and Lloyd Blankfein can pocket 300+ million a year in salary and bonuses, while the people who do the real work make peanuts. It is also how the Local, State and Federal governments finance their expansions and provide non-producing bureaucrats six figure salaries, cost of living increases and paid health care.
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Old 07-07-2018, 21:51   #3
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The age of legislation started with the Railroads facing competition from truckers post industrial revolution and this is exactly what many conservatives have fought for to deregulate industries so people can prosper with innovation without the restrictions of costly regulation. This turned into a fire that spread with industry facing competition the age of lobbyist came to be influencing legislation that favors the company they represent and restricting competition.

A barber or hairstylist has more regulation than many high risk jobs simply due to licensure because they have a higher potential to spread or cause disease quality does not count.....the entire licensure testing depends on the stylist sterilizing their equipment IAW regulation.

Have no fear the black market is alive and well mechanics still work outside the regs...I recently had a transmission rebuilt for less than half of shop costs by a tranny mechanic in the evenings working on his own time making some extra on the side....I do the same with everything the only trade off is the warranty by the company in the case of the tranny by an ASE certified specialist.....I accept this trade off. I grew up poor and using the underground black market to get things done or doing them myself. Funny I can go to a parts store and buy an entire brake system and install them on my 7000lb truck without ASE certification or supervision from a master mechanic and put it on the road...god forbid I take
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Old 07-07-2018, 23:08   #4
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Originally Posted by WarriorDiplomat View Post
The age of legislation started with the Railroads facing competition from truckers post industrial revolution and this is exactly what many conservatives have fought for to deregulate industries so people can prosper with innovation without the restrictions of costly regulation. This turned into a fire that spread with industry facing competition the age of lobbyist came to be influencing legislation that favors the company they represent and restricting competition.

A barber or hairstylist has more regulation than many high risk jobs simply due to licensure because they have a higher potential to spread or cause disease quality does not count.....the entire licensure testing depends on the stylist sterilizing their equipment IAW regulation.

Have no fear the black market is alive and well mechanics still work outside the regs...I recently had a transmission rebuilt for less than half of shop costs by a tranny mechanic in the evenings working on his own time making some extra on the side....I do the same with everything the only trade off is the warranty by the company in the case of the tranny by an ASE certified specialist.....I accept this trade off. I grew up poor and using the underground black market to get things done or doing them myself. Funny I can go to a parts store and buy an entire brake system and install them on my 7000lb truck without ASE certification or supervision from a master mechanic and put it on the road...god forbid I take
I prefer to call that the grey market. It isn't the type of illegal that normally gets doors kicked in when discovered.
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Old 07-07-2018, 23:19   #5
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Originally Posted by WarriorDiplomat View Post
A barber or hairstylist has more regulation than many high risk jobs simply due to licensure because they have a higher potential to spread or cause disease quality does not count.....the entire licensure testing depends on the stylist sterilizing their equipment IAW regulation.
Exactly what the lady who cuts my hair said. And the reason that the old days of being able to finish up a haircut for someone of my vintage using a straight-razor for the final line around the ears & in back is lonnnng gone.
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Old 07-08-2018, 05:24   #6
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Originally Posted by Badger52 View Post
Exactly what the lady who cuts my hair said. And the reason that the old days of being able to finish up a haircut for someone of my vintage using a straight-razor for the final line around the ears & in back is lonnnng gone.
My barber still uses the straight razor, hard to find a real barber these days they used to be everywhere.
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Old 07-08-2018, 05:30   #7
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My barber still uses the straight razor, hard to find a real barber these days they used to be everywhere.
I'll bet that's an independent barber, vs. a franchise with a bunch of metro-boy liability lawyers behind them.
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Old 07-08-2018, 08:43   #8
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My barber still uses the straight razor, hard to find a real barber these days they used to be everywhere.
Small town here.
One barber started doing it and the other major shop had all their people start doing it in order to compete.

Easy to get a good razor-tight haircut now.
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Old 07-08-2018, 20:24   #9
WarriorDiplomat
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Originally Posted by Badger52 View Post
Exactly what the lady who cuts my hair said. And the reason that the old days of being able to finish up a haircut for someone of my vintage using a straight-razor for the final line around the ears & in back is lonnnng gone.
Lawmakers are great and all when needed but IMO term limits is needed or a deregulate group of law repeal-ers to offset the craziness aren't law makers allowed to introduce regulation to repeal???. My thinking on this is, is to understand the sheer amount of entrepreneurial spirit crushing restraints their are on innovation and motivation a person has to either be a businessman who has had to pay an army of lawyers tons of money to figure out how to avoid legal entanglements (Trump) or a small entrepreneur who has struggled due to regulation that makes no sense but crushes him while chains flourish (The Barber, Mechanic). Only a businessman on the receiving end of that regulation would be motivated to deregulate. Career politicians should never happen it is not a career nor should it be they never face the working end of bills they pass so could care less about the consequences.

Regulation is what killed the legal free market and introduces us to a ridiculously big government.....with regulation comes the taxes to pay the enforcers and overseers in suits or uniforms. Big Gov is an intro to total government control and conditions the populace to become accustomed to being controlled by arbitrary laws that benefit the few who can afford to lobby....Whats next?. Trump wants to eliminate all regulation that kills the American who wants to build his own life and work for themselves and we should be able to benefit from someone offering comparable, or better service for lesser cost. I support the underground resistance and benefit from the auxiliary's day time expertise working for a regulated employer but bring the same skills to us on places like Craigslist etc....without the added cost of lawyers, insurance and regulatory requirements but all the same skill. If the guy screws me on the work he gets the negative of me beating the shit out of him kidding lol....but spreading the reputation and he suffers from lack of additional income its in his best interest to do a good job so I am happy to recommend him.
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Last edited by WarriorDiplomat; 07-08-2018 at 20:26.
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Old 07-08-2018, 20:50   #10
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Originally Posted by WarriorDiplomat View Post
Lawmakers are great and all when needed but IMO term limits is needed or a deregulate group of law repeal-ers to offset the craziness aren't law makers allowed to introduce regulation to repeal???. My thinking on this is, is to understand the sheer amount of entrepreneurial spirit crushing restraints their are on innovation and motivation a person has to either be a businessman who has had to pay an army of lawyers tons of money to figure out how to avoid legal entanglements (Trump) or a small entrepreneur who has struggled due to regulation that makes no sense but crushes him while chains flourish (The Barber, Mechanic). Only a businessman on the receiving end of that regulation would be motivated to deregulate. Career politicians should never happen it is not a career nor should it be they never face the working end of bills they pass so could care less about the consequences.
Heinlein's model of a bi-cameral legislature looks pretty good by comparison. One to pass legislation if 2/3 can agree it's needed. The other body's sole mission is to repeal stuff & it only takes 1/3 to decide that something so stupid that 1 out of 3 agree it's stupid needs to be kicked to the curb.

That would free up some 3-ring binders I'll wager.
And yes: Term Limits, c'mon y'all, sing it with me.
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Old 07-08-2018, 10:30   #11
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I recently had a transmission rebuilt for less than half of shop costs by a tranny mechanic in the evenings working on his own time making some extra on the side....
Was he wearing fabulous heels with a killer sequined outfit?
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Old 07-08-2018, 11:38   #12
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After signing a lease in February, we are up for inspection this Tuesday. July 10th. We expect some resistance to receiving our CO. We expect it, because all local building code enforcement is municipal, county & state regs are what municipal codes are structure on., at least in NJ.

From our experience, having built a number of restaurants, all local code officers are party hacks that are given a real code enforcement role based not on experience, but party affiliation. The building code officer where our current restaurant is located, was the code officer in a adjacent town, when that position closed, they found a spot for that POS, know nothing, here, in this 90% Democratic voting town.

More often then not, due to our endeavors, we have become efficient interpreters of the building codes. This is critical, especially, when working with unqualified code enforcement officials. When then get into a serious jam with a job/contractor, they call in an experienced party affiliated contractor who consults on behalf of the town.

With that understanding outlined, even before signing the lease, we canvased our client base to get the lay of land in the town we were/wanted to move to. It was social, political, recon. Saved us tons of money, by navigating the red tape we might face, with that assessment in place, we jumped through all the hoops. At the end of the day, starting a small business is about clarity, risk tolerance, money. The first two will get you to first base, but without the proper financial package in place, you're time in the batters box is over. imoo
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Old 07-08-2018, 20:00   #13
WarriorDiplomat
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Was he wearing fabulous heels with a killer sequined outfit?
Good one LOL
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Old 07-09-2018, 07:39   #14
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Was he wearing fabulous heels with a killer sequined outfit?
LOL..Haaa, Haaaa....But the main question; did he wear lipstick that matched that killer sequined outfit with those fabulous heels?

Lipstick matching is a necessity when wearing an evening gown w/high-heels.......
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