Recent weeks and months have been traumatic. In business June was the quietest for us in three months. As quiet to the first couple weeks of the virus shutdown. The disgusting murder of George Floyd on top of the virus sure has changed our lives. I’ve put a lot of thought in all that’s going on, done a lot of reading, and listening. About those disenfranchised by society and those whose businesses and lives have been ravaged by a virus and then by looting.
Bottom line: I can put up with our business being slow for a while (repeat, for a while) if it leads to the societal change we need. Because if change truly occurs it will benefit all of us in many different ways (not just economically).
For perspective, we have a son-in-law who’s a police officer. I had three or four high school friends become police officers, two very good friends; guys with whom I played rec softball and touch football. One of those friends was murdered at age 29 when he served a (rather insignificant) warrant, the recipient pulled out a gun, and put a bullet in his head. His partner would have also been murdered but the killer’s gun jammed.
At the same time, some of my best friends are Black. I’ve known people who have been “targeted” based on their race. It happens and I know because I’ve been on the periphery of it. While not nearly the same, a number of years ago we were in Scottsdale over New Year’s, I went out for an early morning walk around the resort grounds, and because it was about 40o I had on a sweatshirt with the hood up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a security guard on a Segway, and he was following me. Once he saw I was a white, middle-aged guy he left me alone. Hmmm, if I wasn’t would he have acted different?
I’m a believer in the 80-20 rule (sometimes more, sometimes less). In my opinion:
- 80% (or more) of police are good.
- 80% (or more) of protesters are well meaning.
- 80% (maybe 98%) of politicians are in it for themselves not you or me.
So we know this stuff happens and it’s not from the good 80%. When I hear the president make comments encouraging violence against peaceful protestors it nauseates me. Just as it does when criminals hijack peaceful protests in order to steal and destroy. A destroyed small business will devastate the owner (see the front page of the June 4 Wall Street Journal about looting in small, minority owned businesses), his or her family, and the employees, who may have a hard time getting another job or getting unemployment given the ineptitude of the Unemployment Department, at least in Washington.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution to all of this other than to do our part and have more acceptance. On one of our Rotary projects in Antigua we were having a discussion and one of my (Seattle) friends said, “People are people. Some are fat, some skinny; some tall, some short; some smart, some not so smart, some black, some white, but people are people.” And that really sums it up.
Education is one of the foundational pieces and we can’t keep having such educational disparity. More education, less dependency on government assistance, and a better life for all as life in general and the economy are not zero-sum games. It takes all of us doing a little bit. Business is business and there are more important things in life.
“Hell is boiling over/And heaving is full/We’re chained to the world/And we all gotta pull.” Tom Waits