I AM Joe the Plumber

October 16, 2008

I am a high school graduate.

I didn’t have enough money to go to college.

I worked side jobs until I saw a commercial for computer programming school. I applied to go, got a small grant, took out a student loan and went there to learn to program.

I got my first ‘computer’ job at a small company on the second shift and made $2.75 per hour.

I was able to work my way through a few lowly computer jobs until I became a partner of a small computer programming firm.

Three years after I graduated programming school, I started my own programming company.

During the 80’s, I had as many as 50 clients and 4 employees.

Toward the end of the 1980’s, the economic recession took hold and I lost practically everything.

I took a job with a former client. I spent nearly ten years as an employee until I stalled at position #5. I left to pursue other interests.

I was a part-time consultant as I planned to open a food franchise. I secured the exclusive rights for the franchise in New York and New Jersey.

Three years after I left my staff job, I opened a restaurant and added the franchise component. We opened to rave reviews.

After a seventeen year run-up in the restaurant market in New Jersey, the market turned. Business started to fall off and by late 2007, we could no longer sustain the restaurant and sold the business a few months later.

As you know, today, I am a blogger. It was a natural progression of a person who is a mix of entrepreneur, IT professional and political junkie. I am not making a ton of cash, but I see a path and I am following it. I am passionate about what I do and see a way to make some money doing it. I have the support of my family and am in the best of health.

Much like Joe, I am a ‘regular guy’. I wish I was doing better and perhaps, with my drive and dedication, I may improve my lot in life. What I don’t need is to see a country in an economic crisis that if a candidate wins, will cap my success and insert an I.V. as soon as I get back on better footing. When I failed in business, where was MY bailout? I guess I wasn’t “too big to fail.”

I believe that this chaos is the perfect time for an unscrupulous person or person, using the pretense of the government help, to reorganize and socialize government programs. I must caution everyone, income redistribution DOES NOT WORK! It forces everyone to move to the lowest output and maximum gain - it’s a race to the bottom. It kills incentive.

I, like Joe the Plumber, am in a position that I have been before - lower than I want. I DO want to achieve more. I am willing to work for it. I am determined to do it. And I certainly do not want my prize to be that you take away my incentive once I cross the next finish line.

Are YOU Joe the Plumber? I bet many of you are.

Take the shackles off…free your spirit, an fly.

The ‘hope’ I have is that no one wants to control me because HE sees fit to give the spoils of my effort to another.

Borrowed from "The Armchair Energist"