A Tribute to My Mother and her Generation of Small Business

 

In memory of my Mother’s birthday which was in April, I am presenting a tribute to her generation and the small businesses which made America the global power it is. I remember the small town in southern Illinois which she was born and grew up. The photograph is of her parent’s family business which started as a small garage and grew into a local hotel located on the main street of this southern Illinois town.

During her lifetime and her parent’s lifetime, which spanned the entirety of the 20^th century, the world changed exponentially. At the turn of the century between 1899 and 1900, the mode of transportation was the horse. Large loads and multitudes of people were transported via rail. In fact, I remember one story which my grandmother told about arriving in San Francisco via train with her mother one day before the 1909 earthquake.

By the time my mother was born, cars were the main mode of transportation, but rail was still very prominent. Her family had one of the first automobiles in this small Illinois town. She would describe trips taken across the United States via automobile. They had quite an impact on her. The entire family would travel together, including my grandfather’s parents. One trip, when she was seven years old, was to Colorado (where she ended up living for most of her life). They went to the top of Pike’s Peak near Colorado Springs. Another family trip was to New York City.

Her family and millions of others like it worked in or owned small businesses in small towns across America. Many more were farmers and ranchers on small acreages producing the food and livestock to feed an expanding population. Because this area of southern Illinois had an abundance of oil and natural gas, coupled with a lot of agriculture, the great depression of the 1930’s was not as severe as it was in other parts of the country. Businesses bartered with each other, much as they had done prior to the depression. They traded goods and services to the benefit of the community and its members. By today’s standards, they lived a relatively modest life style, but they seemed much happier and contented than today’s first world societies.

World War II changed society in the United States. Many of the men went off to foreign lands to fight, while the women took jobs previously reserved for men. “Rosie the Riveter” was the name used for the women who took these factory and shipyard construction jobs, building the material to wage war.

When Dad came home from the Pacific Theater, he and Mom moved to Colorado. Dad started mining for silver, lead, zinc and uranium in the central Colorado Rocky Mountains. Many of the men who had been off to war, came home and started businesses, or went to college on the G.I. Bill. Often, they were the first in their families to be able to do so, thanks to the financial help from the government. This help enabled a generation of men and women to become engineers, doctors, lawyers and accountants. They applied what they learned and with a lot of hard work and dedication, built a nation, the likes of which the world had never seen.

This economy was still fueled economically primarily by small business and family owned farms. However, as money flowed, standards of living rose and profits made small businesses and farms larger. Large companies began to dominate the American and global economy. Things began to change. Because our society was more mobile, children began to leave the small towns of their parents and move to the large cities. Family ties were being broken by an increasingly mobile expanding society.

One of the first trips I remember taking on an airplane was to Hawaii. It was in 1962 and the trip was amazing. Mom, Dad and I felt extremely “pampered” by today’s standards. Air travel gradually became the “norm” and it morphed into the “dollar-hungry” ordeal of today.

As my generation came of age, many of us went to college, as our parents had done. However, the rise of the military – industrial complex (MIC), which President Eisenhower warned us about, was becoming increasingly dominant. Wars, such as Vietnam which was one of the first, became “profit centers” for these large corporations and their huge government contracts. As the money flowed into the mega-defense/government contracting corporations, they bought lobbyists, politicians and other “influence” peddlers to slant legislation in their favor. The political influence and impact of small business (as well as that of the individual) declined rapidly.

Throughout my youth, technology was advancing at a rapid pace. Computers, developed during WWII, were becoming part of everyday life. Companies such as Microsoft and Apple were started by the same entrepreneurial spirit and quest for knowledge shown by the generation of my Mother. This technological revolution is still one of the bright spots in our world today, in my opinion.

That being said, where will it take us? For example, there are an increasing number of articles and blogs concerning the development and use of robotics. As the use of robotics increases, what will happen to the workers who previously filled those positions? What is our educational system doing to offset the impact of this new technology? Are the young people of today going to be able to find meaningful employment? If not, what skills do they need to learn to be competitive?

Why aren’t our “leaders’, both in government and the private sector having this discussion publically in a meaningful way? As the United States enters into yet another “election cycle” why are we hearing about “lost emails” and “the necessity of starting/continuing yet another war” against people that can’t harm us? This lack of meaningful dialog makes almost anyone who attaches an “R” or “D” behind their name essentially a “sad joke on the American public”, in my opinion. With perhaps one exception (Rand Paul), I won’t be voting for any of these “R” or “D” candidates who claim to be “aspiring public servants.”

I included over 100 major predictions about these and other issues in my EPub entitled World Collapse or New Eden. These predictions, starting in 2008, have been carried forward to 2015. They show trends which are unmistakable and more than slightly discouraging.

Contrast the predictions in World Collapse or New Eden with the marvelous technology shown in my EPub entitled EROS Adventure, Journey to an Asteroid. It contains over three hundred high resolution photographs of this amazing billion mile space mission to a small near-Earth asteroid. This NASA/JPL mission, completed in 2001, is a testimony to the triumph of technology. Why do we continue to reduce our government and private space and science expenditures in relationship to that of the MIC? Clearly the benefit of the few out weigh improvement for the many.

So what about the promise shown by my Mother’s generation? Have we (the sons and daughters of her generation) really “frittered” their accomplishments away in such a short time? I have a very high regard for the generation coming up, i.e. that of my Mother’s grandchildren. They seem to be operating on a different “wavelength” than my generation (their parents). While I probably won’t see the outcome, I see the same promise in them that was in my Mother’s generation. I can only thank my Mother and her generation for their wonderful accomplishments and hope for a swift transition in power from my generation to that of her grandchildren.

Sincerely,

H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
Research, freelance writing & self-publishing services
Facebook: HCourtYoung
Phone: 303-726-8320
Email: tmcco@msn.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hcourtyoung
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hcourtyoung
Blog: http://hcourtyoung.blogspot.com

The Promise of our Future in Technology

 

What is the promise of our future in technology? How will it impact you?

I bought a new HP Stream 8 tablet at the Microsoft store two weeks ago, and have been a part of the Windows Insider program for Windows 10 since November 2014. These two technologies demonstrate incredible advances in technology when compared to my youth.

So as technology continues to advance in an exponential way, what is the promise of our future with this technology? We know about the medical and scientific advancements, as they are in the news daily. But what about our daily lives and the way we typically use our technology such as email, television, phone and personal computers?

The photograph shows both my dilemma and delight with technology. Taken at my favorite writing location, the local Barnes & Noble bookstore, it shows my newest story entitled “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” as well as three different devices which are operated by the Microsoft Windows platform.

The first device is a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which is a combination tablet/laptop computer. The second device is my new HP Stream 8 tablet with an 8” touch screen. The third device is my phone, a Lumia 928 running Windows 8.1. I can use any and all of these devices to pursue my writing and access the files on my local and cloud storage site.

This is the crux of Microsoft’s internet of things known as “IoT.” Depending upon circumstances, I can choose whatever device that fits the moment. When in a meeting, researching or in a bible study, I can use my HP Tablet which has a sim card to connect to the “cloud” (internet) using T-Mobile. This is easier than using my phone because the screen is larger. However, when I am in a place where I don’t want to carry a larger device, I can use my phone.

A video which I watched recently also presents the potential of technology in a slightly different way. This video was created and presented by Caterpillar, the world wide heavy equipment manufacturer. It is a fascinating video about the mechanization of a large iron mine in Western Australia. The six trucks used to haul ore from the mine are all driverless. They use a series of technology to guide these huge haul trucks safely from being loaded to dumping the ore. The demonstration of this technology is both fascinating and a little less than amazing. To see driverless, multi-ton trucks with tires larger than a normal automobile navigating the terrain of an open mining pit is riveting.

However, along with the promise of this future technology there is also downside. This downside will directly impact you, but how?

Using the Australian mine example, I estimated the loss of jobs due to driverless trucks. Assuming three shifts and six trucks, at least 18 to 25 drivers will not be needed. This may not sound like many people but automate the 100 largest mines around the globe where large haul trucks are used and the number quickly escalates to the hundreds if not thousands. Include the mid-level mines and the number grows very large indeed.

For example, the following shows the impact of technology on coal mining:

“In the United States, the increase in technology has significantly decreased the mining workforce from 335,000 coal miners working at 7,200 mines fifty years ago to 104,824 miners working in fewer than 2,000 mines today.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining)

But most of us are not going to drive a large haul truck in an open pit mine, you say. Well that may be true, but what about self-driving cars. If it can be done in a mine setting, where loading and dumping tolerances are in the range of centimeters, then it can be done on our streets and highways. There have been numerous articles about the development of self-driving cars in the last six months. The technology is coming, probably faster than we imagine.

How many taxicab drivers, long-haul and short haul delivery drivers will be impacted? What about the busses? If it can be done on land then it can be done in the air and on the sea. At least one mine in Australia has automated a series of long haul trains which travel across some of the most desolate and hottest terrain in the country. The technology is here today to make this a reality.

But automation and new technology can and has been very beneficial. Many of our scientific discoveries would not be possible without it. My EPub, EROS, Journey to an Asteroid, tells the story about a small automated space explorer making a journey of over a billion miles and ultimately landing on an asteroid 6 miles long by 1 mile wide. It was a precursor to the current space exploration technology. The 300 plus high resolution photographs are stunning and a tribute to the potential of technology. With automation and computing capability advancing at an exponential rate, so much more is possible today than in 2000 when this very special NASA/JPL mission was accomplished.

Many of these technology questions are posed in my EPub, World Collapse or New Eden, 101 Predictions about your World. This EPub presents predictions between 2005 and today, and examines these trends over time.

So are we ready for the changes that these new technologies will bring, from a social and economic standpoint? Is our “leadership,” discussing where we as a global society are headed in any meaningful way? The “R’s” and “D’s” in our government, which we elect to “guide and lead” us, with very few exceptions, seem not to even be aware of the potential impact, let alone lead the discussion about what our global society should look like. They typically “blather” on about things that in a larger sense are irrelevant to the coming future. As an example, “lost emails” have no relevance to this technological potential that is coming. It only has relevance to corporately owned media and politicians who are profiting off of the information distraction, in order to keep the general population as uninformed as possible.

It is possible, even probable that there may be massive “unemployment,” due to this technological revolution. These new “unemployed” are not people who don’t want to work or who are “lazy.” Most of them are people who are capable and intelligent, but who lack the skills to fit into this technologically changing world.

Yet our leaders are still railing against “government handouts” as something given to the “lazy” or “poor.” However, the elite (top 1%) realize these “handouts” are necessary to prevent riots or worse from a totally disenfranchised population. Instead of fostering the discussion about what our global society needs to become, and helping with resources to direct us toward those goals, they are content to allow governments to continue the “handouts.” It is easier for the corporate/government oligarchs to have “slaves” than to truly innovate, lead and progress. This is the reason the middle class is shrinking around the world.

For example, watch as the presidential campaigns heat up in the United States. Regardless of the “R” or “D” candidate, if you really analyze the discussion, you will conclude there is only one party with two factions (liberal and conservative). This is not the way to progress in a technologically advancing world. Remember this when you are evaluating the choices you have, whether it is the government officials you are electing or the job/career choices you are making.

Should we become “Luddites” and pull back from or destroy the technology? That would not solve the challenge we face. The only answer is to change the way we think about our “leadership”, our society and the people around the world. We need a different vision of what is possible and how to get there.

So as you can see, the potential of technology is fantastic. I can use multiple devices to create, present and communicate my ideas. Our technology is beginning to impact in a major way how we live in our homes, how we work, how we travel and how the goods we use every day are made. This trend will continue at an accelerating pace. The promise of technology is great but, sadly, without leadership, innovation and direction the curse may be greater than the blessing, in the short term.

Sincerely,

H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
Research, freelance writing & self publishing services
Facebook: HCourtYoung
Phone: 303-726-8320

Email: tmcco@msn.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/hcourtyoung