I am impressed with the large number of people doing nothing for something.  The most obvious example is the individual receiving some form of dole.  He or she is literally doing nothing for something.  Others are performing some sort of task, but one which does not need doing, and which offers no benefit to society in general.  Most government work fits this category, as well as private work required to satisfy government regulations.

What brought this to mind was my office telephone bill.  I very rarely make long distance calls from my office, so my long-distance carrier informed me, some months ago, that my phone bill would include a $5.00 minimum long distance charge, in order to "help us better align our rates with our costs."  In other words, for not making any long distance calls, I would be charged $5.00.  It is easy to see how this would "align rates with costs." 

My first inclination, after I had read and re-read this notice several times to assure myself that I had it right, was to send the president of this long distance company a bill for my services.  It would certainly help me align my income with my costs!  And the fact that I had never met this man, much less provided him any service, seemed irrelevant.  The phone company was apparently comfortable with the idea of charging someone for services which were not provided.  However, this scheme was rendered unnecessary when I received, at home, a "check" for $100 from this same company which would, if endorsed, change my long distance service at home to the company we are discussing.  I sent the company this check, unendorsed, and suggested that they apply the $100.00 they were willing to give me to my office long distance fees.  To my surprise, they did this with alacrity.  But the episode got me thinking.

Why should the phone company have to resort to such a bare-faced robbery as billing for services not rendered?  The answer they themselves gave was that it "aligned rates with costs."  But why was this necessary?  A close look at the phone bill gives a hint:  there are numerous taxes, federal and local, attached to this bill, and they are for relatively small amounts, usually a dollar or less.  Someone has to calculate all these amounts, collect them, and forward them to the appropriate government.  It is a job which the phone company is compelled to perform (in this land of the free) and which obviously increases costs.  The company's rates are fixed by the same government which imposes this tax-collecting obligation upon it, so the solution, evidently, is to inaugurate a new "minimum long-distance fee" to enable the company to pay workers something for doing nothing.  The regulators agree:  why not?  Their hands are in every pie.

There's a lot of this going on.  Virtually every large company hires people for the express purpose of keeping the firm within government guidelines.  In addition to these workers, there are others producing books, lectures, tapes, videos, etc., on the techniques of compliance.  These, too, are doing nothing for something.  We all end up paying for it in the form of higher costs.  Productivity suffers also, with so many people busy doing pointless jobs.

How very sad that no one seems to object to this.  The Constitution forbids Congress from passing any law impairing the obligation of contracts, but contracts are impaired every day, in that the parties to the contract, such as my phone company and I, are unable to deal with one another on our own terms, but must include the demands of strangers in Washington or the state house. 

The power of government has become so awesome because we made it that way!  Every acquiescence to government demands strengthens the government's hand, and gives greater impetus to its next demand.  And the government is able to reward its compliant victims with various benefits, such as allowing a charge for services not rendered.  The destruction of the economy resulting from all this serves as an excuse for more government "aid," and ever more people become dependent upon it.  The circle is vicious, and the end is not in sight.

Is there an underground movement afoot?  An organized resistance?  I don't mean the kooky fringe that, however right it may be about some things, is nonetheless lacking in credibility.  I mean sensible, God-fearing, soft-spoken, intelligent citizens, who have decided enough is enough.  I'm ready to join!

Paul Hein is semi-retired from the practice of medicine (ophthalmology) in St. Louis.  His book All Work and No Pay should be available soon from Amazon.com.

Paul Hein Archive

Help Us Grow

back to Strike The Root