Santa John’s View from the Bridge – July 2021
by Santa John McDaniel
The View from the Bridge is an opinion piece that explores how societal changes can/will impact the future, especially as these changes apply to the Graphic-Products industry and small businesses in general.

To Jab or Not to Jab?

On the COVID-pandemic front – the virus is not going down without a fight. It doesn’t care if you’re rich, poor, urban, suburban, age, etc. It seems the only thing it cares about, on its way toward World Domination, is if its intended host is vaccinated or not. Not vaccinated, this host is going down. Vaccinated, the virus will tag along until it finds a more suitable host.

As we’ve said before, it’s your choice. To vaccinate or not!

That said, if you haven’t, please get the shot and stick around. We really hate to lose readers. And: we are sure we’re not the only ones who need you!

On the economic front – Many businesses are facing another shutdown because of rising COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Since news reports point out that over 90% of COVID hospitalizations and deaths are people who are not vaccinated, there is a growing resentment toward the unvaccinated among some business owners and their vaccinated customers.

The inside scoop is that when FOX News and the other fear/propaganda merchants of the World were told by advertisers, who fear another shutdown, “Change your message on vaccination, OR WE’LL PULL ALL OUR ADVERTISING!”, Rupert got the message. Can they be sued for promoting lies? Time will tell.

Predictions

1-Vaccination for COVID-19 will become as common as others we take for other illnesses like Polio or the Flu. 2-It will become a requirement to attend some public schools. 3-Proof of vaccination has already become a requirement from some businesses for their employees and customers. 4-the unvaccinated will be shunned and isolated from the mainstream.

Looking Ahead

As we emerge from this pandemic, we are prompted to assess the cultural and economic changes we have all experienced and observed.

Future Trends

We listed several trends we see coming post-COVID:

Trends we explored last time:

A basic minimum income for all will be enacted. Think Social Security for all.

There are a couple of cities that are currently experimenting with minimum basic income and are having success. In these cities:

1. Theft from local businesses has gone down. Small businesses close to homeless camps are faced with a real struggle to survive. There are many fears about homeless people.
2. Pressure on humane-support services also declined, i.e., food stamps and food banks. If you can purchase food for yourself and your family, perhaps you won’t have to steal it or rely on handouts.
3. Calls for emergency services like police, ambulance, and fire departments declined. People left out in the blazing heat, rain, sleet, snow, or freezing cold may take extreme-unsafe-illegal measures to survive.
4. Many found gainful employment. If you can rent a home and have a physical address, (not “under the bridge at Interstate 10, 40, 5, etc., and some other street”), you might be able to acquire a phone, land a job, and become a productive member of society.

Opinion

Please know these are the writer’s opinions.

Is money really more valuable than people? Money is like manure; spread it around, and it helps grow good things, like food; hoard it in a pile, and it begins to stink to high heaven, like greed and corruption. Do you think money, greed, and corruption had anything to do with the recent condo collapse in Florida?

In our opinion, we have a huge untapped labor force available. Right now, that force is homeless. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) tackled the issue during the Depression by putting people to work building infrastructure. Perhaps we should follow his lead.

By the way, some historians suggest FDR’s New Deal saved the wealthy in the US from the same fate the aristocrats experienced during the French revolution. You know the “let them eat cake” crowd that later heard “Off with their heads!”

Trickle-Down is a failure. Give a rich person a dollar, it goes in the bank. Bubble-Up will boost the economy. Gave a poor person a dollar, it will be spent.

Where does all this money come from? Answer: The wealth of the country. Alaska provides every resident a royalty payment that comes from the oil companies extracting oil reserves in Alaska. Perhaps we should consider expanding that concept nationwide.

This time:

Universal healthcare will come. Think Medicare for all.

Medical experts are warning that World-Wide-Herd Immunity is the only method of conquering COVID-19. That means I care about the health of others, not just my immediate family.

The USA may be the only developed country where healthcare is administered by for-profit companies. Denying healthcare claims – is profitable. Raising copays for services – is profitable. Changing rules – can be profitable and at the very least confusing.

The goal of every large for-profit company is to survive. Survival requires a profit. Profit requires selling your services above your cost. For large companies, profits allow you to buy politicians, more on that in the future. Bought laws keep the profits coming.

As a systems analyst, I suggest we consider other systems of delivering healthcare to our fellow citizens. Let’s consider other countries’ systems that deliver better healthcare for less cost. Greed has been in control for too long.

Prediction – Medicare will be enhanced, and the starting age will be lowered until it includes everyone.

Future Articles:

1. Working from Home will increase. Fewer people will travel back and forth to an office.
2. Vaccination may become an issue in employment and travel.
3. Entrepreneurship will increase. More people will have the opportunity to become self-employed.
4. A basic minimum income for all will be enacted. Think Social Security for all.
5. Universal healthcare will come. Think Medicare for all.
6. Social Security (basic minimum income) and Medicare for all will stimulate the economy.
   Small businesses won’t have to compete with large companies who provide health insurance. And no one will need to work for starvation wages.
7. Linux and Unix operating systems (Android and Chrome) will come to dominate home computers. Windows and I/OS will become niche operating systems.
8. Having some web-presence will become a business necessity.
9. Some businesses in the Graphic Products industry will become fulfillment centers. They receive orders from the web, produce product in-house, and ship it to the customer. No contact.
10. As we have mentioned before, transportation is going electric. Tesla is introducing the Model 2 sometime next year. Its rumored price is $25k. Every major car maker is planning electric vehicles. Who needs gas, oil changes, tune-ups, etc., etc.?
11. Electric generation will become local. You’ll see it in your home, your subdivision, your city, your building, etc. Solar panels and batteries eliminate the need for high-powered transmission lines and transformers. The landscape will be much nicer once all those ugly power lines are removed for scrap metal.

We will cover these trends, and how they will impact our industry in future articles. Next time: Social Security (basic minimum income) and Medicare for all will stimulate the economy.

Moving Forward

In the past, we at CorelDRAW Help have been focused on creating scripts (step-by-step instructions) you can follow to create a product to sell, primarily using CorelDRAW.

Currently, software, equipment, and blank-product manufacturers have assumed the task of training for finished product production.

Going forward, we will focus our energies on how you can start and grow a business. We’ve had some experience starting and building small businesses. Our experience may be of some assistance in your efforts.

Creating – Your Future Life, Income Stream, and perhaps a Business

First, it’s important to understand some of the rules of Creation. We’ll cover each of these in more depth starting with #1 this time.  

1. Each of us creates our future moment by moment.
2. The past is history, the future is a dream, now is what matters.
3. Life is all about experience.
4. Life is terminal, you’ll never get out of it alive.
5. There are two major forces in the Universe, Love and Fear (False Evidence Appearing Real)
6. Karma doesn’t care. What goes around, comes around. You can count on that!
7. My right to swing my arm, ends where another’s body begins.
8. Like everything else in the Universe, Humans are drawn toward Love.
9. After 78 years on this planet, I know that all the things I’ve experienced in this lifetime have been for my good, even if I didn’t see it at the time. I know that in this Universe, all things work together for the good of ALL.

Creating Your Future – This Time

Each of us creates our future moment by moment.

It’s up to me to realize I’m in control. The company I work for does not control my future unless I choose to allow them to. I am never a VICTOM of life! I am a participant in life!

Once you realize you are in control of your future, you can begin directing it.

It’s really no different than planning a trip. Is this trip for work, pleasure, or a little of both? Will you be flying, driving, walking, taking a train, etc.? Planning is critical.

During my career in corporate America, I was encouraged to plan ahead, “Where do you want to be in 5 years?”. Of course, that’s a line fed to all junior executives (salaried employees, not hourly), to encourage them to work their butts off, for the man. Long unpaid hours for the promise of a future promotion. (At the time, my response to this question was: “In 5 years I see I’ll be working for myself in California.”)

And, of course in corporate America there is a better than even chance you’ll be working for an incompetent boss. Ever heard of the “Peter Principle”? The Peter Principle proposes that in large corporations, executives are promoted to their level of incompetence. A person in a large corporation will continue to rise until they are promoted to a job they don’t do very well. They won’t be promoted beyond that level. Of course, this means, your boss is probably an idiot, or at the very least, incompetent.

When Judy (my first wife of 57 years, who is now on the other side) and I first met, we took charge. We manifested our future wedding, our move to California, our businesses, etc., etc. All of which took focusing on the objective and a lot of hard work on our parts.

That said, it was all worth it. Much better than growing old in a job I would have come to hate, becoming another Archie Bunker.

How we created our future:

1. We Set Objectives – we wanted to move out of the gloomy-Detroit weather.
   1. Winter – We were tired of shoveling winter’s partly-cloudy skies out of our driveway (i.e., snow).
   1. Spring – We loved spring and the wonderful feeling of Spring-Fever.
   1. Summer – not so much. Summers in suburban Detroit are hot, humid, rainy, and occasioned by tornados. Summer also brings out ALL the bugs! After all, bug eggs have been hibernating all winter.
   1. Fall – We loved Fall in Michigan, after the first frost killed all those pesky mosquitoes, et al. Crisp, colorful, harvest, days filled with apple cider, pumpkin pie, etc., those are the memories we will always cherish of fall in Michigan.

In short, we wanted to live somewhere that had pleasant weather year-round. In the end, we chose southern California.

• Next, we envisioned our future life in our future home. While traveling on sales calls, I collected sales literature on new homes in California.
• We also envisioned becoming self-employed. During the early ‘70s, some companies were terminating long-time employees to avoid paying retirement benefits. Besides that, very few people have become wealthy working for others.
• As alternative futures came to mind, we evaluated and discarded them. Staying in the Detroit area became less and less desirable. Anyone recall the Detroit riots during the ‘60s?
• I want to emphasize the WE in all our decisions. Judy and I were life partners. We made decisions together.

We are not special. It’s just that we acted with focus and determination. We had help from family, friends, and the Universe to materialize our dreams. The blessings we enjoyed along the way were priceless.

We are not special. Everyone has the ability to manifest / create the future of their dreams. That includes you! Where do you want to be in 5 years? What experiences would you like to have?

Creating the Future – Next Time

The past is history, the future is a dream, now is what matters.

What is your interest in the Graphic-Products Industry?

In today’s world, most graphic products begin life as computer art. Some artists create and sell computer art for use on the web. Some create and sell physical products using their artwork, think t-shirts, mugs, awards, etc. Others create graphic products as a hobby or to help organizations they may belong to.

 Answering a couple of questions might help you evaluate your interest.

1. Do I have any interest in creating digital art?
2. Does my interest in digital art include producing hard copies?
3. Is my interest in creating personalized products for Fun or Profit?
4. What do I do, or does my business do? Are you an Artist or Commercial Artist?
5. If I’m a commercial artist, who are my competitors?

In Short

Thank you for your attention. Keep in mind that we don’t know what we don’t know. So, don’t take our word for it. Meditate and find what is right for you.

As we’ve said before, working from home may become the norm. Commuting to an office, not so much or so often. (great for reducing air pollution, not so great for oil producers and gas stations.)   

The economic transformations COVID-19 has initiated will last long after the dis-ease is brought into balance (i.e., suppressed). These changes will favor small businesses that work from home.

Thank you, see you next time.