The Importance of Ownership

As an employee, someone else owns what you produce with your labor. Whether you have a brilliant idea that is patented and makes the company millions or you haul rocks from point A to point B, everything you produce belongs to someone else. You are building their future and their dreams rather than your own. One day the companies you have contributed to will be worth a significant amount of money. The owners will retire comfortably or decide to move on to other projects. They will have choices because of the work you have done. And in the end, you will have nothing to show for your efforts other than your last paycheck and the dollars you've been able to save.

Some people think that having a job is safer or offers some kind of security. The reality is that there isn’t any job security. You can lose your job because your company has to lay people off. Maybe they are going out of business or need to downsize because business is slow or the owner made poor decisions. You can lose your job to someone younger and less expensive. You can lose your job because the new boss decides to get rid of you and hire his friend. There are a million reasons and they’re hanging over your head every day.

When you work for someone else, you are making yourself available to fulfill their needs and must often put theirs ahead of your own. This lack of flexibility means that you won't necessarily be there when your children, friends or family need you. If you want to take a vacation but the company needs you during the holidays, you'll most likely have to work. As an owner you have a choice and are not tied to a set schedule. You're able to be with the ones you love.

The owners of corporations have control of our future. This has gotten out of hand and is destroying everything we have been taught this country stands for. This is true for many reasons:

Our perception of the world is shaped by the media. Whether we receive our news from a printed publication, the television, radio or Internet it has a major impact on what we think and believe. Chances are, even news from a friend originated from one of these sources. After many years of consolidation, just a handful of companies own most of the major forms of media. Due to their financial interests, our view of the world is increasingly manipulated and slanted to match what they would like us to believe. We know that is a bold statement and we urge you to do some of your own research in this area.

Even the Internet, which has the potential to level the playing field between large companies and everyday people, is increasingly dominated by a handful of companies. Think about where you spend your time online. What website do you use to search the Internet? That company controls what appears on the search results page. Where do you get your news? The company that owns the news website controls your outlook on the events that shape your world. Do you use social media sites? Increasingly few companies along with marketers who benefit from mining our personal information control this media.