Socialism Is Good For Start Up Entrepreneurship

[Psychoblues]

In Norway, Start-ups Say Ja to Socialism

We venture to the very heart of the hell that is Scandinavian socialism—and find out that it’s not so bad. Pricey, yes, but a good place to start and run a company. What exactly does that suggest about the link between taxes and entrepreneurship?


Source: Inc.
By: Max Chafkin

Wiggo Dalmo is a classic entrepreneurial type: the Working-Class Kid Made Good.

Dalmo, who is 39, with sandy blond hair and an easy smile, grew up in modest circumstances in a blue-collar town dominated by the steel industry. After graduating from high school, he apprenticed as an industrial mechanic and got a job repairing mining equipment.

He liked the challenge of the work but not the drudgery of working for someone else. "I never felt like there was a place for me as an employee," Dalmo explains as we drive past spent chemical drums and enormous mounds of scrap metal on the road that leads to his office. When he needed an inexpensive part to complete a repair, company rules required Dalmo to fill out a purchase order and wait days for approval, when he knew he could simply walk into a hardware store and buy one. He resented this on a practical level—and as an insult to his intelligence. "I wanted more responsibility at my job, more control" he says, "I wanted freedom."

In 1998, Dalmo quit his job, bought a used pickup truck, and started calling on clients as an independent contractor. By year's end, he had six employees, all mechanics, and he was making more money than he ever had. Within three years, his new company, Momek, was booking more than $1 million a year in revenue and quickly expanding into new lines of business. He built a machine shop and began manufacturing parts for oil rigs, and he started bidding on and winning contracts to staff oil drilling sites and mines throughout the country. He kept hiring, kept bidding, and when he looked around a decade later, he had a $44 million company with 150 employees......................................... ......................

Long but entirely worth it: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/in-norway-start-ups-say-ja-to-socialism.html


It's nice to take a look at how others with supposedly less freedoms than us deal with business startups and such. I found the entire article refreshing and relevant.

Psychoblues

[fj1200]

It's nice to take a look at how others with supposedly less freedoms than us deal with business startups and such. I found the entire article refreshing and relevant.

Relevant? Norway is a small homogeneous (88% Norwegians) country of 5mm people sitting on the 21st largest oil reserves and the 17th largest natural gas reserves; all with the 118th most people in the world. Hardly the best comparison. Also, who said that they weren't free? They're ranked (http://www.heritage.org/index/Ranking) 30th in the Index of Economic Freedom and 14th in the Global Competitiveness Report (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Competitiveness_Report).

That being said they rank below the US in both of those categories so I think that it magnifies how poorly we have done in making ourselves competitive.

[texastom]

What's funny is that in reading the article, you realize that it the tenants of true free market capitalism that have made him successful, while it was socialist style rules and regulations that had impeded him in his last job.

[fj1200]

What's funny is that in reading the article, you realize that it the tenants of true free market capitalism that have made him successful, while it was socialist style rules and regulations that had impeded him in his last job.

I noticed that too but chalked it up to corporate bureaucracy seeing as how he, apparently, worked in a private enterprise.

[texastom]

I noticed that too but chalked it up to corporate bureaucracy seeing as how he, apparently, worked in a private enterprise.Not stating that it was socialism, but socialist <b>style</b> rules and regulations (bureaucracy) that were his impediment in the corporate job.

[fj1200]

Not stating that it was socialism, but socialist <b>style</b> rules and regulations (bureaucracy) that were his impediment in the corporate job.

I know. You can have socialist style rules in any bureaucratic enterprise.

[Psychoblues]

Relevant? Norway is a small homogeneous (88% Norwegians) country of 5mm people sitting on the 21st largest oil reserves and the 17th largest natural gas reserves; all with the 118th most people in the world. Hardly the best comparison. Also, who said that they weren't free? They're ranked (http://www.heritage.org/index/Ranking) 30th in the Index of Economic Freedom and 14th in the Global Competitiveness Report (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Competitiveness_Report).

That being said they rank below the US in both of those categories so I think that it magnifies how poorly we have done in making ourselves competitive.

I think it is relevant from a more comparative standpoint and for demonstrating that socialism is not the monster entreprenuerial eating system of economy and government that it has as it's primary reputation. I go much further than Norway in my examinations of relative national happiness and success.

It looks like you read the article. Did you enjoy it, want to talk about it? I'm certainly no expert but I am curious in various governments and social phenomenom.

Psychoblues

[Psychoblues]

Not stating that it was socialism, but socialist <b>style</b> rules and regulations (bureaucracy) that were his impediment in the corporate job.

Practically all corporations demand a good bit of socialistic behavior out of their workforce. It's only when the government wants them, the corps, to also toe the line, pay their fair share, squeeze them for all they are worth, protect the environment, etc., that they would rather spend trillions to only save billions. Slow the goddamned presses down,,,We got a dollar chasing a goddamned dime!

BTW, your asshole buddy NightTrain neg repped me for you last night. I don't know what he'll expect from you for that. I thought maybe you and I had come to a better understanding?

Psychoblues

[DragonStryk72]

In Norway, Start-ups Say Ja to Socialism

We venture to the very heart of the hell that is Scandinavian socialism—and find out that it’s not so bad. Pricey, yes, but a good place to start and run a company. What exactly does that suggest about the link between taxes and entrepreneurship?


Source: Inc.
By: Max Chafkin

Wiggo Dalmo is a classic entrepreneurial type: the Working-Class Kid Made Good.

Dalmo, who is 39, with sandy blond hair and an easy smile, grew up in modest circumstances in a blue-collar town dominated by the steel industry. After graduating from high school, he apprenticed as an industrial mechanic and got a job repairing mining equipment.

He liked the challenge of the work but not the drudgery of working for someone else. "I never felt like there was a place for me as an employee," Dalmo explains as we drive past spent chemical drums and enormous mounds of scrap metal on the road that leads to his office. When he needed an inexpensive part to complete a repair, company rules required Dalmo to fill out a purchase order and wait days for approval, when he knew he could simply walk into a hardware store and buy one. He resented this on a practical level—and as an insult to his intelligence. "I wanted more responsibility at my job, more control" he says, "I wanted freedom."

In 1998, Dalmo quit his job, bought a used pickup truck, and started calling on clients as an independent contractor. By year's end, he had six employees, all mechanics, and he was making more money than he ever had. Within three years, his new company, Momek, was booking more than $1 million a year in revenue and quickly expanding into new lines of business. He built a machine shop and began manufacturing parts for oil rigs, and he started bidding on and winning contracts to staff oil drilling sites and mines throughout the country. He kept hiring, kept bidding, and when he looked around a decade later, he had a $44 million company with 150 employees......................................... ......................

Long but entirely worth it: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/in-norway-start-ups-say-ja-to-socialism.html


It's nice to take a look at how others with supposedly less freedoms than us deal with business startups and such. I found the entire article refreshing and relevant.

Psychoblues

Okay, here is the issue I have with this:

1) Norway is not 14 trillion in the hole (Yes, I will lay that mostly at Bush's feet, since we had a surplus when he made it in, and he had more than enough time to counter the losses from 9/11), so any system is pretty much going to work better with the far lower debt

2) Their populace wants their brand of socialism, and so it works well for them, but that's not the case here.

3) Their government itself is set up for a socialist way of conducting itself, which again, is clearly not the case here at home.

4) As has been noted by several other posters, the business is succeeding using the capitalist tenants, despite the socialist style rules that would otherwise muck it up.

[Psychoblues]

Okay, here is the issue I have with this:

1) Norway is not 14 trillion in the hole (Yes, I will lay that mostly at Bush's feet, since we had a surplus when he made it in, and he had more than enough time to counter the losses from 9/11), so any system is pretty much going to work better with the far lower debt

2) Their populace wants their brand of socialism, and so it works well for them, but that's not the case here.

3) Their government itself is set up for a socialist way of conducting itself, which again, is clearly not the case here at home.

4) As has been noted by several other posters, the business is succeeding using the capitalist tenants, despite the socialist style rules that would otherwise muck it up.

I'm not arguing for or against any of those points, DS'72 but I only wanted to use this article for superficial comparative purposes. Certainly our national circumstances are entirely different but all things considered WE are Socialist when we want to be and Capitallist when we want to be. In fact, I maintain that we are and have been since our founding a nation that allows capitalism to profit at the expense and risk of the public trough. Private profit at public risk has ALWAYS been here and some people fight like hell to keep it here. Many of those people never look beyond the fields of Ambrosia promised them by their masters. It's like watching a damned cocaine addict. He just keeps chasing that illusive dragon.

Psychoblues

[NightTrain]

BTW, your asshole buddy NightTrain neg repped me for you last night. I don't know what he'll expect from you for that. I thought maybe you and I had come to a better understanding?


I don't know why you would assume I neg repped you on anyone's behalf.

I saw you spewing your crass inane ramblings in your usual rabid manner and felt you deserved to be neg repped.

You didn't? :happy0203:

[Psychoblues]

I don't know why you would assume I neg repped you on anyone's behalf.

I saw you spewing your crass inane ramblings in your usual rabid manner and felt you deserved to be neg repped.

You didn't? :happy0203:

Nope. And I think my deal with texastom is none of your business but more importantly, resolved, I hope. Until tonight I haven't said one word to you in weeks and never intended to speak to you again. I don't want your guardian coming over here bitching me out for harassing your juvenile ass. As long as you act like a damned spoiled brat I think you need to be treated like one and that means calling you a short stubby stinking lil' turd when you act like one. I'm not calling you that right now, that was only for an example. And just so you know, negging is about as juvenile as anything else in MOST cases. If you have a disagreement then let the board in on it. Post it. But, I guess it takes more of an adult than you to do that. The door's wide open, girlie. Step on in.

Psychoblues

[fj1200]

I think it is relevant from a more comparative standpoint and for demonstrating that socialism is not the monster entreprenuerial eating system of economy and government that it has as it's primary reputation. I go much further than Norway in my examinations of relative national happiness and success.

It looks like you read the article. Did you enjoy it, want to talk about it? I'm certainly no expert but I am curious in various governments and social phenomenom.

Meh, the analysis seemed superficial.

The implied definition of "socialism" is pretty weak in the article and they are blessed with some circumstances that aren't repeatable. I did check a bit into their tax structure, nothing stuck out to me but they do have some advantages compared to the US.

[Psychoblues]

Meh, the analysis seemed superficial.

The implied definition of "socialism" is pretty weak in the article and they are blessed with some circumstances that aren't repeatable. I did check a bit into their tax structure, nothing stuck out to me but they do have some advantages compared to the US.

I just wanted a low level yet even handed discussion on this, fj. And you are more than correct about it being "superficial". If you remember it says right there in the first line or two that the article is intended to be superficial.

Thanks for your input.

Psychoblues

[fj1200]

I just wanted a low level yet even handed discussion on this, fj. And you are more than correct about it being "superficial". If you remember it says right there in the first line or two that the article is intended to be superficial.

Thanks for your input.

Psychoblues

I missed that, it would have saved me some reading. :laugh:

[Psychoblues]

I missed that, it would have saved me some reading. :laugh:

Yep, I've had a few "aw shit" moments but 150 pages into a 350 page piece of crap not worthy of scratching up my ass with.

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Psychoblues

[NightTrain]

I don't want your guardian coming over here bitching me out for harassing your juvenile ass.


I have a guardian?

Who, pray tell, would that be? This is news to me!

[Psychoblues]

I have a guardian?

Who, pray tell, would that be? This is news to me!

I have no idea who your guardian is but I don't want them, whoever they are, bitching me out for calling you the short stubby lil' stinking turd that you are. You can't take a hint, can you? Although I have cleared my ignore list there are those, you among them, that I would prefer not to communicate with. I tried with you. Your fail, turd.

Psychoblues

[blarset]

What's funny is that in reading the article, you realize that it the tenants of true free market capitalism that have made him successful, while it was socialist style rules and regulations that had impeded him in his last job.

Exactly the rules made his last position less competitive. Trade offs.

[DragonStryk72]

I'm not arguing for or against any of those points, DS'72 but I only wanted to use this article for superficial comparative purposes. Certainly our national circumstances are entirely different but all things considered WE are Socialist when we want to be and Capitallist when we want to be. In fact, I maintain that we are and have been since our founding a nation that allows capitalism to profit at the expense and risk of the public trough. Private profit at public risk has ALWAYS been here and some people fight like hell to keep it here. Many of those people never look beyond the fields of Ambrosia promised them by their masters. It's like watching a damned cocaine addict. He just keeps chasing that illusive dragon.

Psychoblues

The problem, however, is that, in order to have a truly stable economy, we have to have those sorts of openings. Yes, companies are going to take advantage of any rules you place before them, regardless, but instead of simply punishing the guilty, we make laws that makes enemies of those that have been operating within solid business practices. The rules have to apply the same to everyone, it's the basis of our whole system, that no one person stands above another.

This is what makes me so furious about the businesses that were deemed "too big to fail", is that the status shouldn't exist in the first place. That was the entire point of our anti-trust laws, to keep businesses from being so big that they could ignore the rules, which is now what we have allowed.

Now myself, I have an idea for a business, a combination of game store (board, card, & tabletop, not video games) and coffee shop (most gamers I know are also raging caffeine addicts. I'm still a year or two off before I start really pushing, but I'm doing my research, and I'm learning that most of the states that top the list of places to open a new business here in the states are the more conservative states (i.e. Virginia and Texas), while the more liberal states are at the bottom of that same list (i.e. California and New York), and a lot of it has to do with the regulations and tax codes in those states. So, while yes, we do need enough regulation to be able to punish bad business practices, we need to keep it minimal to encourage growth. It's an interesting balance, and one that has to involve the people themselves, because in the end, they vote everyday, with their spent money.

[Psychoblues]

Well, DS,72, I probably shouldn't be telling you this but I know a fantastic one million plus metro area that could use your business and you can get very wealthy there if you capitalize correctly on the front end. As in all start-ups you probably don't have a lot of room to pay for many fuck ups. I would fully advise you to use the video games as well as the others and yes use the classic gaming model as in "gambling".

I once owned and operated a music store in this metro and I tried to do everything just right. I got the business license, the Department of Revenue sticker, the building inspection, the signage and alarm licenses, man I was wired for stereo except all that shit about bankrupted me. An old friend of mine that was the chief city inspector stopped by one day and we talked a bit. He said, "Man, the worst mistake you ever made was getting that business license." I said, "The hell, you say!" He then went on to tell me that city inspectors rarely ever make cold calls and everything I do is based off that business license. With the business license comes the sign people, the alarm people, the electrical inspector, the plumbing inspector, $75 here $125 there, $50 every month for this, $35 for that, on and on and on. He said 90% of the businesses, other than dining facilities, open up with a clean slate no license no trouble. Even though operating without a license is illegal there is no penalty for it. You simply go get a license when you get caught and that will probably be never.

I'll tell you a lot more about it if you're interested but I think I've already said too much on this open board.

Psychoblues