Chuck Muth: When it comes to creating jobs, it’s your job

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of hearing politicians bloviating about how they’re going to create jobs, especially those who have never created a job in their life. And I’m also sick and tired of people sitting on unemployment for months at a time. 99 weeks? That’s almost two years! Gimme a break. In fact, at the risk of losing the “Humanitarian of the Year” award, allow me to suggest it’s high time to kick most of these people off the unemployment rolls and force them to start taking care of themselves again. Sink or swim time, baby! I’m not talking about people who are physically or mentally incapable of working. I’m talking about the able-bodied who aren’t seriously looking for work and/or refuse to take available jobs because they believe the work involved is “beneath” them. Why should I work my butt off to pay for them to sit on their butts eating potato chips and watching game shows on TV all day? Seriously, if you’re collecting an unemployment check, maybe we should take all the televisions out of your house until you get a job. Talk about motivation! I guess what troubles me most about this, though, is that so many Americans are sitting back waiting for someone else — especially the government — to step in and take care of them instead of taking care of themselves. Whatever happened to our fabled frontier spirit of self-reliance? Are we really now a nation dependent upon community organizers? Have you no self-respect? This whole “Stark Raving Muth” rant was sparked by something I read recently, written by marketing consultant Dan Kennedy: “(Here’s) a social truth very inconvenient for politicians and bureaucrats whose fortunes are tied to the welfare industry — being aggressively expanded by (the Obama) administration — and the liberals who love it: Just about anybody can employ themselves starting today and start making money tomorrow. “I’m reminded of a client I worked with about 10 years ago. With a family business in tatters, a need to make money, no money to do it with, she put together bucket, mop, sponge and knocked on doors offering cleaning services. A few years later she sold the company she built for a few million dollars. You could even start without the mop. Most folks have one.” In other words: Stop waiting for the government to “create” a job for you. And stop waiting for someone to “give” you a job. Instead, get your butt out there and create your OWN job. After all, if unemployment is 12 percent, that means that 88 percent of us are working and have money to spend on … something. Why not figure out a service you can provide that makes that “something” YOU? • Chuck Muth is president of CitizenOutreach.com and blogs at MuthsTruths.com