What kind of person are you, really?
How did you register to vote, and do you think that it “defines” you in some way?
What kind of person are you?
How does the kind of person you are relate to how you vote, what political Party you join?
Let’s whiteboard a small exercise to see if it can provide us some insight into the kind of person you are.
Perhaps it can serve to be informative, give you a greater insight into the type of person you really are. Indulge me, you may find this informative.
For this exercise let’s say you, and two friends, are hired to dig a hole. The hole must be 4 foot wide, 4 foot long, and 4 foot deep.
You arrive at fifteen minutes before the 7AM job starting time because you know that “fifteen minutes early is on-time”. We are assuming you were “raised right”.
And for this “whiteboard” exercise, we will allow that it is a Spring day, right at seventy degrees, with the lightest cool breeze. Just a perfect day to work outdoors.
The boss is already there of course, the boss always knows to show up early to work, that is how he got to be “the boss”. He didn’t start out as boss, he earned the promotion by showing up early, and being prepared to work the minute the clock struck 7AM, and he was officially being paid to be productive.
Now the boss informs you just ahead of 7AM that the three of you have been hired to dig this symmetrical hole, 4FT X 4FT X 4FT. There are shovels, iron rods, digging equipment, all readily available right next to the spot where you need to dig.
The boss also informs you that he would expect with three of you, all strong men in your early thirties, that you should be able to dig this hole taking 2 man shifts, in about two hours time. Even if you are a thirty-something woman as part of this “three man crew”, you have the equal ability to assist in digging this hole in the approximate time frame. We live in a modern, feminist world now. You are an equal part of the crew.
Now the boss also tells you that you will receive a full day’s pay for your work. Whether it takes two hours to dig the hole, or if you run into rocks, hard clay, or other issues and that causes the job to take up to four hours. All he cares about is finding the hole dug when he returns from other jobs around the area, and arrives back at 5PM. He wants to find a square hole that is 4FT square. As long as he find that accomplished, all is good. Each of the three of you will receive a full day’s pay.
As the clock approaches 7AM the boss adds that a backhoe is being delivered at 3PM. The backhoe is one of those small one-man backhoes, that can dig the 4FT square hole “lickety split”, in just over an hour, and the backhoe will do all the work, shaving sides, creating corners, and digging the hole with the ease of a mechanized wonder. The owners have ordered the backhoe to dig other holes throughout the week. But it will not arrive until 3PM. When it arrives if you need it, it is yours. Just use it to help dig the hole, and all is good.
He waves a goodbye, says he is looking toward 5PM and finding a hole dug that will make him happy, and the owner very happy.
So now you and your two cohorts have an issue.
Do you start digging, work hard, and you are finished in approximately two, to four hours, whereupon you can leave, knowing that you’ve finished work by 11AM, and perhaps as early as 9AM, and have left the job site with the entire afternoon off. A bit tired from digging, but having that great feeling of having accomplished a fine task. And with most of the day off, to do as you please.
Or,
Do you go sit under that nearby shade tree, relax, swap stories, enjoy your morning, and wait for the backhoe to arrive that will do all that hard labor for you and the crew.
On the one hand, you have to put in some elbow grease, work hard for a few hours, if you are fortunate and have loose earth and no rocks, you can be home for lunch.
On the other hand, you can do no real work, sit under the shade tree, laugh, carouse with two friends, and when the backhoe arrives at 3PM, dig the hole in an hour or so, and still leave the job site by 5PM, letting the machine do all the hard labor, and being paid for a full day’s work where yes, you had to stay almost the entire day, but you got home a half-hour early and got paid for a full day when you really just sat around most of the day.
So, which option do you choose?
Do you pick up a shovel at 7AM sharp, and begin to dig, encouraging the others to participate, encouraging your friends to join in and get the job done as quickly as is possible, so as to free up the rest of your day.
Or,
Do you head for the shade tree, take a seat, open the lunch pail, and relax on a fine Spring day, waiting on that backhoe that will whip out the hole in an hour?
So, who are you?
Because I believe this exercise exposes the divide amongst us in the US of A today.
And I would argue that if you grab a shovel, and start digging at 7AM, you my friend, are a Republican. And not only that, but if you are the person that rallies the group to start digging, to “get to work, let’s go”, you are an Alpha male or Alpha female, an Alpha male, or Alpha female Republican, a take-charge kind of person.
And I would argue that if, as soon as the boss gets in his work truck and drives off, you head for the shade tree, happy to whittle away your time as the day passes, getting paid, doing nothing, but waiting on the backhoe that will do all the hard labor on your behalf, you sir are a Democrat at heart. You don’t mind arriving home near 5PM, you planned on getting paid for a full day’s work.
Republicans understand what Democrats do not.
Money is not the most important thing in life, that would be time. The most precious thing we have in life, the most valuable, is time.
Which is why Democrats seek out hourly jobs, jobs in government with a set pay for a set hours labor. And why Republicans dominate the small business space, the straight commission space, taking jobs where renumeration is not tied to hours worked. Republicans prefer to disconnect pay, and hours. They would much rather take risk to earn a higher return, if it also gives them “time” back as well in return for their risk.
Democrat salesman want a salary to sell. Republican salesman want to work straight commission, so that the more they sell, the more they earn. Democrat salesman don’t mind working the full day to “earn” their salary. Republicans would prefer to work harder, work smarter, sell the entire week’s worth of product on Monday, and since earning a full-time week’s pay by 5PM Monday, have the option to make more by continuing to work hard throughout the week, or, to take the rest of the week off for themselves, having earned what would be considered a full week’s pay in just a day.
This explains why 90% of the Washington, DC Federal Government workforce is Democrats. This explains how a state such as Illinois becomes over-run with Democrats, as they expand state and local governments that include an all Democrat workforce, selling off time for an hourly pay rate.
I know what I would do in this exercise. I’ll tell you how I answered this question in college.
I’d grab a shovel and rally the troops. We’d have that God Damned hole dug in two hours flat. It would have squared corners, be exact to size, and look perfect.
And I’d be home by 9:30AM putting the golf clubs into the car and heading for the Country Club. Having arranged the foursome on the phone on the way home in the car. Satisfied in the knowledge that I’d done nice work, earned my day’s pay, and “bought back” my time with some hard work and elbow grease.
And yes, I’ve always considered myself somewhat of an Alpha. Not in the way you might see in your “mind’s eye”, I’m not a big guy, I’m not a strong guy, but I’ve always had some qualities of leadership where, when the group assembles, it assembled because I made it happen. When everyone arrives at the bar to watch the game in the evening, and find they may not all know each other, they all know me, because I organized this soiree, to meet at the bar and watch the game. I have always been the straw that stirs the drink. I’m not the Alpha male you’d picture, but I take charge in situations. I organize the group, I make the plans, I encourage the participation. In short, Iv’e always tried to “get things done”. Which is why I’ve always been self-employed. I’m willing to bet on myself.
Now if you decided to lay under the shade tree, thinking it best to let the backhoe do all the manual labor for the day, I don’t fault you except for your failure to identify the value of your time. Whatever hourly rate you’ve agreed to work on, earning 8 hours worth of pay for the day, you’ve sold off roughly six hours of your time for a set, guaranteed, pay rate.
And guess what?
That is your real worth. You’ve demonstrated that by selling precious hours sitting under a tree and trading those hours for the hourly rate. Your own recognition of time value is tying your own time directly to the rate agreed upon.
If you are out of a job, and need a job, and go out and get a job making $15 an hour, well, that is what the world thinks you are worth. And if you take that job, that is what you agree you are worth. If you hold out, seeking higher compensation, it is because you feel you deserve a higher pay for your talents. That is what you have to sell, your talents. And the job you take, and the rate you accept, defines your “worth”.
Now there is an added factor. If, for example, you take the $15 dollar an hour job because the hours required allow you to have other time you value open, for personal use, well, that changes the entire dynamic. It redefines your “worth”, because that “time value” needs to be factored back into the dollar rate. You are actually buying back some time you value, be it time in the morning hours where you need options, or late at night.
Some want to be with the children right after school, to make their snacks when they arrive home, be there to assist with homework, and to enjoy family time with the kids. If that person has taken an hourly rate below their own “worth”, to gain back priceless time with the children, well, you can’t put a money valued rate on that.
But if you’ve had to sell your full-time value for that $ 15 an hour, the market is telling you in cruel terms what your talents are worth. And your time.
So are you a shovel grabbing Republican?
Or,
Are you an “I’ll wait for the machine to do the hard labor” Democrat?
And maybe more importantly, do you understand the value of “time”?
Did you realize prior to this exercise that time, now that is finite, that is a precious commodity indeed. And your personal time is worth far more than money.
Now in the real world, absent being a Trust Fund Baby, we all have to agree to work, to provide. To keep a roof over our heads, to buy clothing, and all the necessities required to live a comfortable life.
And what we agree to work for in terms of renumeration, well, that can define what our talents are worth.
I mean if we didn’t need to earn at all to meet the demands required for our personal comfort, would any of us sell off our time at all? I think we’d all be much more judicious in how we sold our time. More discerning.
So what were your results?
What was your own decision, your own take on standing there at 5 until 7AM.
Shovel or shade?
Republican or Democrat?
Amen to Kevin’s comment, because it’s likely not to show up at all!
Backhoe might not show up guys. Let’s do it and go home.