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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Base-Dynamics - Base-Dynamism

The other day I had lunch with some friends who discussed what is going on with the economy on the local scene. In that discussion I touched on the necessity to basically create something out of nothing or as little capital input as possible. I addressed this as Base Dynamism.

Maybe I created a new term there, but here is what I was getting at:

Base - the bottom support of anything; that on which a thing stands or rests: a metal base for the table.

Dynamics - Physics . the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion and equilibrium of systems under the action of forces, usually from outside the system.

Dynamism - any of various theories or philosophical systems that seek to explain phenomena of nature by the action of force.

Base-Dynamism in this terminology is a realization that the structure of our community is no longer viable. Hence, we are no longer going to be able to rely on the current structure that has been in place for generations to create, generate, maintain, and sustain commerce, productivity, wealth, and economic growth.

The core of our community has been and still is being torn down to its foundation (base). We were a furniture and textile hub and because of globalization, we cannot compete when it comes to the production of these material goods.

Local furniture and textile manufacturers offshored their production of these goods in order to maintain expected profits, but what they failed to realize is that this was the most temporary of fixes, because once the production of these goods move offshore, then these company owners no longer control the product. They complicate the production, distribution, and intellectual property chains of command involving their rights to their product. Essentially the product can be nationalized and/or someone else can decide to produce the product, thus cutting the product owner and other existing middle men out of the loop. So basically this short term fix has resulted in these company owners giving away their industries. The Chinese say Thank you very much!

In this community, the people from top to bottom seem to have a sense of entitlement. They think that something is going to be handed over to them like they are running a relay race. The Trust Fund Babies expect Grand Daddy's legacy and money to get them to the finish line in life and the average people in the community expect there to always be a job waiting on them that will provide a living wage, benefits, and retirement funds. We are living in an age of transformation where no such guarantees will be provided.

Most of the people I have seen think they should be rewarded just for breathing. We have cracks in the foundational principles upon which this community was built. If we do not restore a solid foundation, then anything we do will crumble to the ground. We need a "Habitat for Humanity" type of effort to restore the foundation of this community. What does that mean?

It means that we need the skilled people in this community to be willing to volunteer to help start-up businesses get going. We need people to open their minds to industries and businesses that don't even currently exist in any tangible form. Some of these businesses aren't presently located in our area and some don't exist anywhere on God's green Earth.

There are ways that such efforts can reward you, but there are no guarantees that they ever will. I know people that are working creatively towards such efforts. They are willing to do work in which there is no guarantee that there will ever be a payoff, but they understand the big picture. I am one of those people.

Such efforts will get us on a path and get us moving again. From this path other avenues of opportunity will open. That is how dynamic growth will take place and has the possibility of growing exponentially, but it all starts from baby steps. All we need is one breakthrough accomplishment, one tangible success, and from there we will begin to become a credible entity and be on our way to being a credible community. As one of my mentors stated. Credibility comes from telling people what you are going to do and doing it.

We are going to turn this community around. We are going to bring High-Tech industry to Catawba County. We are going to become a Creative Community. We are going to begin growing again and we are going to have Exciting, Interesting, and Intelligent people become interwoven into the fabric of Hickory. If you aren't willing to roll up your sleeves to help, then please just get out of the way. Don't tell us what we can and cannot do. There is a Force of Determination at work here folks. We are going to make things happen. Bank on it!

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