For the good of the community

One way to serve the community is to see it as a market and solve one of its problems.

When people choose to buy something, it’s ostensibly because the thing you sell is worth more to them than it costs. And so value is created.

And when you make a profit selling something and pay taxes, those taxes go to create services for the community.

Those are two reasons culture has evolved to enable capitalism.

When this system gets out of whack, two things happen–first, some businesses use their market power to extract more value than they create. And second, they use their lobbying power to pay no taxes.

The market hasn’t failed, but the system used to address market and community needs sometimes does.

October 2, 2022

The way it’s done

Some people say, “we’re not changing it, because this is the way it’s done.”

And some people say, “the way it’s done isn’t good enough, let’s make it better.”

In a given situation, you might encounter one or the other type of response. In fact, each of us might adopt one posture or the other.

It’s not “who”, it’s “what do they believe.”

It’s worth thinking about the beliefs of the person you’re talking to before you try to suggest making things better. And it will help you understand the feedback someone else is giving you about your work as well.

October 1, 2022