A Special Labor Day Blog: The Largest Threat to the American Economy and Entrepreneurism

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What is the largest threat that is poisoning our economy?

What is the largest threat that is poisoning our economy?


Every so often I like to digress and write a blog outside my normal areas of diversity management and career development. In this blog I want to address what I believe is the most serious threat to entrepreneurs and the economic recovery today. And I hope this goes viral and is sent to President Obama and Congress to take some action!

I bet some of you are thinking that I am going to start ragging on Obamacare. Others may think I am going to write about the wholesale shipping of IT and manufacturing jobs overseas. And others may think I am going to write about the tax system or governmental paperwork that could take far too much time away from developing and selling products and services.

But it is none of these. No, in my view the biggest threat to small businesses is the astronomical explosion of spam mail and “phishing.” Let me explain.

The barrage of junk e-mails is simply overwhelming!

The barrage of junk e-mails is simply overwhelming!


I get about 500 emails per day, and 490 of them are unwelcome. In a typical day and I will get 20 emails from someone I don’t know telling me my credit rating has taken a dangerous plunge and how they can help restore it, and at the same time I get 20 emails telling me my credit rating has greatly improved and that they will loan me $10,000. Mixed in with those are emails offering me Russian brides, miracle diets, six-pack abs and a larger “male endowment.” Most of these are unsolicited unwanted spam from people I have never heard of.
Really? Can I get six-pack abs in a week with no effort? And do I really want a Russian bride?

Really? Can I get six-pack abs in a week with no effort? And do I really want a Russian bride?

But then add to that e-mails from non-profits I do support (do I really need three updates per day?) and 20 different political organizations seeking to raise funds for a variety of causes supported by my political party, and my inbox backs up faster than airplanes trying to fly into LaGuardia airport at 5:00 PM.

So why exactly is this flood of emails harming my business? I have to spend an hour each day wading through all this junk to see if there are any legitimate business e-mails. I could set up a strict spam filter but then I could accidentally lose a key e-mail or two from potential clients asking for a “Total Engagement Career Mapping” proposal or contacting me about a speaking engagement. And when I send out my monthly e-newsletter (yes – only one per month!), many of my readers who will want the useful resources I send out will miss it amidst their 500 spam mails. And many times when I do send a personalized e-mail reaching out to a potential client, they miss it because they too get too much junk.

If I had my way - all junk e-mailers and phishers would be behind bars with the key thrown away!

If I had my way – all junk e-mailers and phishers would be behind bars with the key thrown away!


I call on our American Executive and Legislative Branches to do something! Perhaps pass some laws and then round up these parasites and stick them all in jail for five years. The freeing up of productive time will fuel the economy enough so that the additional collected taxes will more than pay for the additional prisons. Plus we can hire more prison personnel which will further help our stumbling economy and the unemployment rate.


Who wants to start or join a movement to stop all spam and junk e-mails?


Russia, LGBT Rights and the Psychology of Bullying

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This blog is loaded with links – do use them!

Over the past 2 months there has been a lot written about the recent draconian Russian laws attempting to crack down on gay people and any form of promoting LGBT equality. There have been discussions of boycotting
Boycott Russian Vodka
Russian vodka, moving the 2014 Winter Olympics out of Sochi, Russia, and US President Barack Obama even cited unhappiness with the Russian LGBT oppression as one of his reasons for canceling an upcoming meeting with Russian President Putin (link). See also recent NY times “op ed” by well-known playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein.

But what is the underlying psychology behind any leader seeking to demonize or bully any group? My belief is that any leader of a major world power is in a pitiful state of mind if the only way he can build support for his regime it by demonizing and setting up the populace against a minority group. That so often is the psychology behind bullying – that a person feels so poorly about their own self esteem that they need to promote themselves by putting another group down.

Instead, any entity seeking to grow and improve should be practicing the psychology of diversity and inclusion instead of bullying and exclusion. When every member of a diverse group is valued for their uniqueness and given the opportunity to grow, flourish and contribute, the whole group is lifted up. At the opposite end, when any group is demonized, they feel excluded, may then move into destructive behavior and become an oppressed drain on the entity instead of a contributor (See my 2010 blog on the Macroeconomic of Gay Bullying).

Unfortunately, Russia is not the only place in the world where LGBT people are routinely bullied. This problem is common in many places around the world and the US Department of State is even trying to make global positive impact on thsee issue (see my August “Business of Change” blog on these US efforts.)

And we still have the bullying issue against LGBT people here in the United States, particularly in our schools. Young people just entering adulthood and naturally struggling with their own self-esteem often turn to putting others down to feel good about themselves. This week I have been attending the annual North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film festival, and two of the “shorts” have poignantly addressed this issue of LGBT youth bullying:

Blog author Stan Kimer is in the red shirt with movie producers, actors and other patrons at the NC Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Blog author Stan Kimer is in the red shirt with movie producers, actors and other patrons at the NC Gay and Lesbian Film Festival


• In “The Symphony of Silence” a gay teenager commits suicide after enduring horrific bullying both in his school and at home.
• “Live to Tell” has a happier ending as friends at school unite to form a “gay / straight alliance” after a gay student is beaten up by a bully.

On a positive note, awareness of and actions and resources to fight bullying continue to grow. Do check out my blog written for last year’s anti bullying awareness month for some information and resources to help fight bullying.