From: Dan Glover (daneglover@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Jul 07 2004 - 18:35:42 BST
Hello everyone
>From: Arlo Bensinger <ajb102@psu.edu>
>Reply-To: moq_discuss@moq.org
>To: moq_discuss@moq.org
>Subject: Re: MD the metaphysics of free-enterprise
>Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:15:05 -0400
>
>I find it heartening that Pirsig makes the statement "an employee-owned
>company is more moral than a privately owned company for the same reason
>that a democracy is more moral than a dictatorship".
Hi Arlo
I tend to disagee with Mr. Pirsig's analogy and I will try to explain why.
Let's say I start a company in 1980 and I've worked over the years to grow
it until I now have, oh, say 14 employees who work for me, one who's been
with me for nearly 10 years. I depend on this fellow and pay him accordingly
(yet come year's end he doesn't make close to what I do as owner). Let's
also say that there are times when I have to be away for extended periods of
time and though I pride myself on my salesmanship abilities, it does happen
that I invest a great deal of time in a project and end up walking away
empty-handed (or empty-walleted to be more precise).
On the other hand, I've always made sure my employees get paid first and get
paid on time. There have been times when I've literally gone hungry and not
paid my own bills in order to ensure that. It's true that when it comes to
the business I'm a dictator and there's rarely a way to make everyone happy.
The buck stops with me and that's a huge responsibility. Only a business
owner knows that. I have to know when to say no and stick to it. On top of
everything else there's times when I can't sleep nights since there are
things that need doing at the business and I'm the only one willing to do
it. Other nights I can't sleep worrying about a big job coming up and
whether I've gone and overextended my company on this one.
Now I ask this question because I fail to understand: why is it more moral
for my employees to own the business rather than me? Would they put their
blood, sweat and tears into the company the way I have? I tend to doubt it.
That's why they're employees! Even my best most trusted ones. They can go
home at the end of the day and forget business. I can't. The business
follows me around. Would I sell my company to the employees? Sure, for the
right price. You better believe it. But would they really be interested in
being the owners? And the $64.000 question: Could they run it profitably?
Again, I tend to doubt it. If they were cut out to be business owners they
would be already, in my opinion.
I started the business, you see; it's like a child to me. A dictator of a
country did not start the country. I think that's where the analogy fails.
Thank you for your comments,
Dan
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