GOALS AND GROWTH

Individuals, businesses and countries cannot survive and thrive
in a vacuum devoid of stable families and communities.

Symbolically and functionally, AESOP improves the employment setting for a better community. The problems facing mankind will not disappear with additional patches or cosmetic surgery. A new, unified problem-solving process is needed that starts in the work place and spreads through the community, family and finally government. An improvement in the quality and rewards of work will have an impact beyond the work place.

AESOP is a dual acronym: By establishing the American Employee Stock Ownership Plan, AESOP will expand across the American Economic System Of Production. By quantifying and rewarding productivity with steady raises and equity shares, AESOP will do more than attract above-average people to achieve this goal. The AESOP process should make good people better and bring out the best in all individuals.

Everyone profits when people work smarter with more inspiration and less perspiration. At AESOP, daily performance logs and profit profiles guide individuals in scheduling their time. This assistance, freedom and responsibility helps everyone because the individual is solving his own problems better. When people solve their own problems the problems do not become time-wasting, costly burdens to others.

AESOP's evolution began in the 1970's with writings on economics and politics. It became apparent that certain truisms were variations of an ignored logical theme: if you are not producing then you are consuming. Variations are: you are either creating or destroying ... part of the solution or part of the problem. The key concept was "production." Unfortunately, these natural, logical laws are not transcribed into formal written laws.

Man is at the top of a hierarchy of the different production systems that constitute the food chain. It was a small step to "economic system of production," for how man organizes his home and his laws determine the efficiency of the production systems. Having long been an admirer of AESOP's Fables and living in America, I chose what seemed like an obvious term was AESOP: American Economic System Of Production.

This initial meaning of AESOP became secondary to American Employee Stock Ownership Plan for several reasons. Reflection on other industries showed that many large companies eventually failed because of management/employee problems. While the acronym and its meaning sounded catchy, the actual creation of a corporate leader would depend on employees believing in and benefitting from democracy and capitalism. Thus, the role of an employee stock ownership plan became focal in the concept and meaning of AESOP. Through the employees who eventually will own it, AESOP will create the American Economic System Of Production.

Ironically, the original writer of AESOP's Fables wrote on economics. If one pauses and recalls many of the fables, e.g., tortoise and hare, one can recognize the fables as stories about economics, human productivity, and the value of life. The term "fable" has sadly suffered semantic slippage, often meaning falsehood or lies. In fact, AESOP's Fables contain deep, lasting truths about human life. Most of them have the theme that if you do not produce then you cannot consume, e.g., the playful grasshopper and industrious ant surviving winter.

A Better Work Environment

By optimizing democracy and capitalism in the work place, AESOP will achieve more goals than just generating higher dollar profits. It will accomplish socially worthwhile goals.

Shorter Workweek

America and the world are facing a problem of what to do with people unemployed because of time-saving devices. The present economic policies cause instability which increase the homeless, criminals and terrorists. These policies keep a declining number of workers employed full-time while increasing the number of non-workers who receive public assistance or who resort to theft to acquire their daily bread.

AESOP's solution for this process is a gradual reduction of the work week with a corresponding increase in earnings based on working smarter and achieving an increase in the value of one's lifehour.* At the end of a month, one's profits are assigned to employee benefits, e.g., time off, insurance, community and education. The remaining profits buy lifehour shares in the company and determine a raise for the following month.

If a worker receives a raise beyond the rate of inflation, the amount greater than inflation affects a partial reduction in the workweek. For instance, suppose one received a 5% raise during a month that had no inflation. The following month, one's time clock basis for calculating earnings will be 97.5% of the previous month. However, with the 5% raise, one's earnings would be about 102.5% of the previous month's earnings. Thus, one would have a gradual increase in disposable income while achieving a gradual reduction in the workweek, i.e., more disposable time to enjoy family. This process would increase the quality of life.

Keep in mind that this increased income and lifestyle is based on becoming a better problem-solver.

This income growth is not based on strikes wherein one withholds his labor from problem-solving as a form of economic blackmail. Unlike more income from strikes, this income is non-inflationary. With pay raises from strikes, a worker receives more money without more goods or services being produced--a classical definition of inflation. Increased income at AESOP is not inflationary. The higher wages corresponds to increased productivity in solving the problems of providing services or producing goods.

Aesop's work life reduction provides more time for improving one's lifestyle. It embodies the time-honored principle for self-improvement: If you want a better paying job do a better job and get a better education. In addition, the profits for raises are what's left after deductions for education and community service. If you want more income, the solution is to go to school or serve your community. Moonlighting (part-time second jobs) is not the solution; it denies employment for others. If you unfairly monopolize the opportunity to create your own wealth then you will find the disenfranchised using their time to steal from you individually by theft or collectively through the political process.

The reduction in time can be scheduled on a daily basis or accumulated on a monthly basis. A 24-hour workweek could achieve the same production results. Taxation, directly or indirectly, takes 40% of a person's wages, that is, 16 hours of a 40-hour work week which leaves 24 hours. Ideally, a person could work a four-day workweek of six-hour days, making more money than he would have if his career were with another company. This person would be able to schedule flip flop workweeks,

Week 1: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Five day weekend

Week 2: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
One day weekend

Week 3: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Five day weekend

Week 4: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
One day weekend

Thus, twice a month, this ideal employee would have two five-day weekends. This work schedule can only work if each person is cross-trained with an associate to handle the other's general and specific duties.

Gradual retirement would be made possible by Aesop's reduction of the workweek. The social cost of all or nothing employment would not be present with a gradual work reduction, complemented by a gradual increase in free, disposable time. The economy would benefit by still having the intelligence and expertise of well-trained senior workers. The senior workers would benefit by keeping an evaluating eye and expressing an encouraging word on the business from which their retirement income derives. A great part of their income would derive from training younger people.

There is no overtime at AESOP. The world would be a better, safer place if the workweek was reduced to ensure full employment. AESOP's workweek reduction with increased disposable income is an example of more for less, of people working smarter and needing fewer hours to earn their daily bread.

Better Work Day

A primary goal is to have a less stressful work environment. If people work smarter, they will not have to work harder. People will not work smarter unless they are paid to think and they are rewarded for thinking.

Self-management means that each worker determines how much time is spent learning skills: job production, project coordination/sales, office management, resource development and system expansion. Based on accumulated earnings, one chooses where to place his work time to best benefit himself and the company. It is not a matter of "Ask not what your company can do for you" or "Ask not what you can do for your company," but "Ask what will benefit both you and your company."

This self-controlled usage of time gives employees more power over their work life. Co-workers and their knowledge are immediately available when needed. The peer contribution to one's growth is quantified by the profit profile. The Aesop work environment is comparable to a proprietorship or partnership in self-determination but without the stress of being alone while re-inventing the wheel.

Community and Education Funds

Both the individual and the community would benefit if people spent a portion of their time on a regular basis involved in some problem-solving community project. Aesop's accounting system diverts a portion of profits into a community fund and an education account.

As an employee's workweek decreases, one's education and community service funds are increasing. If the employee has children in school or pre-school, he can draw on the community and education funds to work with his children. Similar activities exist in which one can use their community service account to benefit their home and neighborhood.

Future economic stability or retirement security requires business involvement. The business community must become more actively involved in community, education and family. Aesop is an objective assessment and assistance package for this purpose. Similarly, if one has parents who require standardized, quality care, one's education and community service accounts can be accessed.

A Better Human Milieu

Aesop creates a tremendous competitive edge in the marketplace. Customers are served faster and better. Administrative corporate overhead is very low. With growth, the company will receive increasing amounts of attention from the media as it spreads geographically and offers more services. This favorable attention, reflecting a positive environment and professional services, will promote more business and more applicants.

Private Enterprises and Competitors

AESOP could serve as a model company as it grows in geographical and hierarchical size. For those companies that cannot adopt the system of individual capitalism and daily democracy, AESOP will develop an enterprise to provide service in that field.

Public Enterprises

Conceptually, the essence of AESOP is a unified problem-solving process. It is readily adaptable to government. The software is applicable to any human enterprise. Government units, like private businesses, can be broken into business areas with standardized job departments for services provided. Each service solves a problem.

The on-line profit assessment will allow a less political evaluation of public servants. The ability to determine business profit allows for true merit bonuses and raises. As the public official supervises the solution of problems at a lower cost, part of the savings will show up in raises. If a public servant is in fact an ineffective crony of another public figure or politician, the system will flush him down to a level of problem-solving and rewards appropriate to his skills.

Individuals, businesses and countries cannot survive and thrive in a vacuum devoid of stable families and communities. By improving individuals' problem-solving skills on the job, all human organizations will benefit. Only a small investment of time is required to standardize any existing business or agency into AESOP's service modules. Individuals, businesses and countries will survive and thrive with more stable families and communities.

Warning: Anyone found stealing lifehours will be forever banned from participation in and rewards of Better Democracy and Capitalism.

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