Post by The Resister on Jan 8, 2024 4:26:41 GMT
I am engaged in a long running argument, discussion and /or debate on another forum. Problem is that forum likes to censor a lot of stuff. Sooo... I have something to say that is relevant to both this board AND the many people calling themselves "contractors" that spend endless hours trying to force their services on the public.
The United States was not founded as a Democracy. The United States was founded as a constitutional Republic based on Christian values and free market principles. I went to a site where people refer others nearby to do all kinds of jobs. Contractors, businesses and private individuals are free to participate and post. The big issue comes down to when individuals seek out "handymen" to do odd jobs or gig jobs. Then the "contractors" like to chime in and raise holy Hell against anyone that doesn't want to pay big box prices for small odd jobs.
Now, we are a free market country. You have the Right and the luxury to engage the services of who you think can do the job you want at the price you're willing to pay. Granted, there are a lot of rich people that will argue with businesses and try to needle business and negotiate them down. If those people are rich, they aren't so stupid to realize what risks they take by not hiring from such sites as we have available to us in my AO. There is Angi List and Trust Dale. Those are sites that evaluate businesses and have been investigated, reviewed and approved. If you hire from those sites you are getting the high dollar businesses. That usually means they are bonded, licensed, insured, have a storefront, an advertising budget and employees on their payroll (which means paying into state unemployment, employee insurance, etc., etc.)
That is all well and good, but as individuals we don't always NEED a contractor to put a flush valve in the back of the commode, replace an electric outlet or clean out the gutters. The "contractors" want to tout their experience and tell you that they have this valuable experience, etc., etc. Let's get down to the facts:
For most simple handyman jobs, a man needs a truck and, at best, a thousand dollars worth of tools. If he has minimal skills, he can do most handyman jobs. I did them at the age of 17 when my parents owned a trailer park between Macon and Warner Robins in Georgia. Back then "handymen" were scarce and you had to go a long way to find a business that could come out and do odd jobs. People that live in mobile homes are not the most financially secure individuals. And so, at 17 I was washing mobile homes, doing some small paint jobs, putting in heating elements in mobile homes, etc. People could afford me and it paid better than washing dishes in a restaurant, pumping gas at the local service station (Oh, that's right, some of you don't know what those were) or working in the peach packing plant. Adding insult to injury,in the early years my father was trying to build a company from nothing. So, he did jobs like installing septic tanks, doing concrete work and an assortment of other jobs. Because he had no storefront, no employees and didn't require an advertising budget, he did the same work for HALF of what the big box guys charged. As the business grew he was able to get more lucrative jobs - which eventually led to a building, employees, etc.
Now the people that hired my father were well aware of the risks. But, he made it affordable for those on the low side of income spectrum to keep their homes maintained and enjoy what they have. This is unacceptable for the people that call themselves "contractors" on the Internet. They can't (or most likely, won't) get out of bed and come to your house for less than $500. And they don't want you to have the choice of hiring the real handyman to do the job. And, so, it is a bitch fest on the Internet. These guys who want to charge more than a surgeon using a skill set they learned in two years or less (unless they are downright stupid) want nothing more than the government to protect their jobs by outlawing real handymen. There are guys that work for the big box guys that would go next door on their day off and help a neighbor out. Spend an hour or two fixing some minor problem that only requires readily available hand tools and charge $100 and they're satisfied. Everybody is happy. Then there might be the retired journeyman that wants to supplement his Socialist Security check by doing quick gig jobs in the neighborhood. Finally, you might get an unemployed person OR someone just starting out and trying to build a business by working out of their truck. They're capable of doing a small job for you AND let's be straight: If you've understood this conversation up to this point, IF you hire someone like that you know what you're getting. I know. To the delight of the "contractors" I've been screwed by more than one person. But, here is the rest of the story:
I went on the aforementioned site once and hired a "contractor." Oh yeah, he had a license and all that good crap. He painted the upper portion of my house as I can't do ladders any longer. It looked like an angry ten year old did the work, but it was dark when he finished. I paid him and then he wouldn't make it right. That's not all. while working on my house, he broke into the basement and stole a lot of tools and personal items. THEN, on top of all that, he was nominated for some kind of contractor award by the website I'm referring to. When I posted pictures of the guy's work that website took them down and deleted my warnings. Long story short, he ended up in jail and then he skipped town bound for Arkansas. But, he was still on that site being nominated for an award. Moral: even the contractors can screw you. At the end of the day, I've been able to stay in my house when I couldn't afford to, presupposing that I were forced to use contractors every time something broke down.
Every time you turn around the system has added a new statute, regulations, ordinance, rule, etc. to protect "contractors." And some of them want to force you to use their services. Some say they won't negotiate on their prices, but they have unlimited hours to stay on the Internet and argue about this. Hell, if they cut their prices I could find work in my neighborhood that would keep them busy. According to an economist, he said that over 7 MILLION American males between the ages of 17 and 54 have opted out of the labor market. Just think that if they pulled their heads out of their collective butts and began doing some of this handyman work for a price you can afford; if the system encouraged the practice; if we embraced it think about how much your taxes would go down. But, since they won't and since people that will hire anyone in order to keep from losing their home there IS an alternative. IF the American male wants to sit on his ass and live off mommy, welfare, food stamps and handouts from the public; if the contractors want to watch low income Americans forced from their homes so that foreign investment companies can buy those houses and turn them into rental properties then one day there will be no private property owners. But, there ARE those will fill the void. So, either the contractors can pipe down and allow individuals to shop for handymen OR home owners can go out and hire undocumented foreigners . And if you want to know WHY there are so many of those people here, now you know.
The United States was not founded as a Democracy. The United States was founded as a constitutional Republic based on Christian values and free market principles. I went to a site where people refer others nearby to do all kinds of jobs. Contractors, businesses and private individuals are free to participate and post. The big issue comes down to when individuals seek out "handymen" to do odd jobs or gig jobs. Then the "contractors" like to chime in and raise holy Hell against anyone that doesn't want to pay big box prices for small odd jobs.
Now, we are a free market country. You have the Right and the luxury to engage the services of who you think can do the job you want at the price you're willing to pay. Granted, there are a lot of rich people that will argue with businesses and try to needle business and negotiate them down. If those people are rich, they aren't so stupid to realize what risks they take by not hiring from such sites as we have available to us in my AO. There is Angi List and Trust Dale. Those are sites that evaluate businesses and have been investigated, reviewed and approved. If you hire from those sites you are getting the high dollar businesses. That usually means they are bonded, licensed, insured, have a storefront, an advertising budget and employees on their payroll (which means paying into state unemployment, employee insurance, etc., etc.)
That is all well and good, but as individuals we don't always NEED a contractor to put a flush valve in the back of the commode, replace an electric outlet or clean out the gutters. The "contractors" want to tout their experience and tell you that they have this valuable experience, etc., etc. Let's get down to the facts:
For most simple handyman jobs, a man needs a truck and, at best, a thousand dollars worth of tools. If he has minimal skills, he can do most handyman jobs. I did them at the age of 17 when my parents owned a trailer park between Macon and Warner Robins in Georgia. Back then "handymen" were scarce and you had to go a long way to find a business that could come out and do odd jobs. People that live in mobile homes are not the most financially secure individuals. And so, at 17 I was washing mobile homes, doing some small paint jobs, putting in heating elements in mobile homes, etc. People could afford me and it paid better than washing dishes in a restaurant, pumping gas at the local service station (Oh, that's right, some of you don't know what those were) or working in the peach packing plant. Adding insult to injury,in the early years my father was trying to build a company from nothing. So, he did jobs like installing septic tanks, doing concrete work and an assortment of other jobs. Because he had no storefront, no employees and didn't require an advertising budget, he did the same work for HALF of what the big box guys charged. As the business grew he was able to get more lucrative jobs - which eventually led to a building, employees, etc.
Now the people that hired my father were well aware of the risks. But, he made it affordable for those on the low side of income spectrum to keep their homes maintained and enjoy what they have. This is unacceptable for the people that call themselves "contractors" on the Internet. They can't (or most likely, won't) get out of bed and come to your house for less than $500. And they don't want you to have the choice of hiring the real handyman to do the job. And, so, it is a bitch fest on the Internet. These guys who want to charge more than a surgeon using a skill set they learned in two years or less (unless they are downright stupid) want nothing more than the government to protect their jobs by outlawing real handymen. There are guys that work for the big box guys that would go next door on their day off and help a neighbor out. Spend an hour or two fixing some minor problem that only requires readily available hand tools and charge $100 and they're satisfied. Everybody is happy. Then there might be the retired journeyman that wants to supplement his Socialist Security check by doing quick gig jobs in the neighborhood. Finally, you might get an unemployed person OR someone just starting out and trying to build a business by working out of their truck. They're capable of doing a small job for you AND let's be straight: If you've understood this conversation up to this point, IF you hire someone like that you know what you're getting. I know. To the delight of the "contractors" I've been screwed by more than one person. But, here is the rest of the story:
I went on the aforementioned site once and hired a "contractor." Oh yeah, he had a license and all that good crap. He painted the upper portion of my house as I can't do ladders any longer. It looked like an angry ten year old did the work, but it was dark when he finished. I paid him and then he wouldn't make it right. That's not all. while working on my house, he broke into the basement and stole a lot of tools and personal items. THEN, on top of all that, he was nominated for some kind of contractor award by the website I'm referring to. When I posted pictures of the guy's work that website took them down and deleted my warnings. Long story short, he ended up in jail and then he skipped town bound for Arkansas. But, he was still on that site being nominated for an award. Moral: even the contractors can screw you. At the end of the day, I've been able to stay in my house when I couldn't afford to, presupposing that I were forced to use contractors every time something broke down.
Every time you turn around the system has added a new statute, regulations, ordinance, rule, etc. to protect "contractors." And some of them want to force you to use their services. Some say they won't negotiate on their prices, but they have unlimited hours to stay on the Internet and argue about this. Hell, if they cut their prices I could find work in my neighborhood that would keep them busy. According to an economist, he said that over 7 MILLION American males between the ages of 17 and 54 have opted out of the labor market. Just think that if they pulled their heads out of their collective butts and began doing some of this handyman work for a price you can afford; if the system encouraged the practice; if we embraced it think about how much your taxes would go down. But, since they won't and since people that will hire anyone in order to keep from losing their home there IS an alternative. IF the American male wants to sit on his ass and live off mommy, welfare, food stamps and handouts from the public; if the contractors want to watch low income Americans forced from their homes so that foreign investment companies can buy those houses and turn them into rental properties then one day there will be no private property owners. But, there ARE those will fill the void. So, either the contractors can pipe down and allow individuals to shop for handymen OR home owners can go out and hire undocumented foreigners . And if you want to know WHY there are so many of those people here, now you know.
