Friday, September 23, 2016

Why We Should Let Women Have Corporate America

Women's Take Over of Corporate America

An Agent in the Field of mine, deeply seeded in a large multinational, sent me an e-mail he received from company's Office of Diversity.  It was heralding the "great success" of their "initiative" to employ and promote more women in the company.  They had an arbitrarily set goal of increasing female employment (in this predominantly IT/Tech male company) up to 30%, and even handed out awards to employees that came up with the "top three ideas" on how to get more women on board (this included a "mother's contract," a blatantly sexist policy of hiring one woman for every man regardless of ability, and - the only sane one - to attract more women into STEM).  You couple this with the recent statement from SalesForce.com's new "Chief Equality Officer" Tony Prophet,

"At Ford, quality is job one.  At Salesforce, equality is job one."

and it is painfully clear that corporate America has abandoned excellence as a means to profitability, replacing it instead with virtue signalling, rent seeking, politicking, and marketing/pandering to racial/sexual in-tribe biases.

This, of course, is not only morally wrong, but blatantly sexist (and racist) as you consciously and purposely give preferential treatment to people based on the color of their skin, or their plumbing downstairs, over the content of their character.  And anybody with an ounce of self-respect, intellectual honesty, a work ethic, and an adherence to true fairness should be outraged at this cowardice and evil.

But then the ole Captain's wheels started turning, and in a very Enjoy the Decline-esque way, he make a very important epiphany.  Yes, it may be unfair we are giving preferential treatment to women over men.  Yes, we are sacrificing a meritocracy for sexism.  And yes, this will lead to lower production, lower economic growth, genuine injustice, and a lessening of standards of living.  But so what?   If you really sit down and think about it Corporate America isn't worth it.

Let the women have it.

It's All Yours, Sweetheart!

If it were the 1950's and corporations were booming and headed up by more fair and meritocratic WWII managerial class, I could see Corporate America being a place you'd want to be.  You'd be compensated for excellence and hard work.  You'd be promoted for innovation and creativity.  It would be a reasonably just system where loyalty was rewarded, stable employment was offered, and corporate corruption was at a minimum (at least compared to today).

But it's not the 1950's any more.  It's "the current year" and corporations are a fraction of the equitable places of employment they once were.

Gone are the managers from the WWII generation that led these corporations to their heights and their Jack Welshian logical, but fair management.  They are now replaced with legions of inept, MBA-laden Baby Boomer scum whose only accomplishment was halving US economic growth, getting the largest bank bail out in history, and sending the US into the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Gone is stable employment and the goodies that came with it.  You don't get pensions, you don't get health care, and you certainly don't get that 30 years of lifelong employment that once made a 30 year mortgage a relatively risk free proposition.  Now you can get outsourced, train in your own replacements, be perpetually employed as a contractor, and let go if your job can be done for a fraction of a cent cheaper in China.

And let's not forget the wave of psychotic political BS these past 20 years that has infected Corporate America and just chides the morality and honor of good, honest workers, particularly of the male persuasion.  There's the HR lady epidemic where we put power hungry, inept, math-impaired 20 something ditzes at the helm of our hiring process.  There's "Corporate Social Responsibility" where we force unrelated and unnecessary political crusades on our employees be it donating to the United Way, mandating weekends be spent on charities, or wearing pink every year.  There's diversity, sexual harassment, and sensitivity training where we blatantly treat men like sexual predators, molesters, rapists, and racists, humiliating them to attend said trainings.  There's the eggshell environment men get to work in, one mere false sexual harassment accusation away from being fired.  There's the invasion of privacy into our personal lives where the politically correct Corporate Abwehr will fire you over a facebook post.  There's progressive credentialism where the HR Reichstag demands you have masters degrees for entry level jobs.  There's the blatant sexism against males as previously evidenced before with clearly sexist policies favoring less-qualified women for the sake of "diversity."  And let's not forget this raw deal is topped off with the number one cause of divorce, marital strife, and problem children - commutes!

I ask one simple question.  Who the f*ck wants any part of this rotten deal?  Who the f*ck wants to work at Initech?

And I'm not joking.

I'm not saying this because deep down inside I want to work at Corporate America.  I'm not saying this because I have this discreet dream to retake and recapture Corporate America for meritocratic males.  I'm saying it because it's true.  Corporate America is a HORRIBLE deal for any self-respecting man (or woman) who wants to live a free, healthy, happy, sane, and prosperous life.  You, at minimum, must attend school for a quarter century, face daunting odds of just landing a job.  That job will at best be entry level and mundane.  You're then forced to get a masters if you have any hope of "making it" due to progressive credentialism.  You are a mere merger away from being let go or laid off.  Your compensation is significantly lower with both sexes now flooding the labor market, lowering the wage you can command.  You can't have a political or social life your employer doesn't approve of.  Compensation and promotion is increasingly based on your skin color and plumbing, not your hard work or effort.  And if this wasn't a horrible deal enough, it's all under a psychotic environment where bosses who know they have you by the balls unleash their sadism on their employees simply to get off.

There's just no godly reason to be part of Corporate America.

The real question is, then, why do women seem so desperate and adamant on joining Corporate America?  Why do they seem so obsessed over having a corporate career to the point they'll get one via legitimate means or not?  And the answer is they've been sold a bill of goods.

The Biggest Lie Ever Sold...To Women

I've mentioned it before, but understand like housing, education or Dotcoms, women are buying into a bubble.  Perhaps not a financial one like those mentioned before, but a bubble nonetheless.  They go to college (a bubble and increasingly poor investment unto itself) at rates higher than men, earning the majority of worthless liberal arts degrees, also now accounting for the majority of worthless masters/advanced degrees.  With these worthless degrees, they then throw themselves onto the Omaha Beach of Corporate America where they forfeit family, children, husbands, a social life, and loved ones, all in exchange for promotions, careers, commutes, and Jimmy Choo shoes.  They obsess about "leaning in" and getting the latest certification, credential, or promotion in their lives.  And congratulations if they make that magical six figures.

But to what end?

Not only do they have to suffer the unacceptable environment laid out before, basically ruining and sacrificing their lives, but all so they can become "Queen Bee of Shit Island?"

Alas, it's obvious women didn't consciously decide on their own to pursue the hell known as Corporate America.  They were duped, lied to, propagandized, and fooled into becoming corporate slaves.  And any simple, logical pondering will come up with the main culprits that misled women into choosing such a rotten deal.

First, blame men.  Not consciously, or maliciously, but men are to blame because I don't think they ever truly conveyed what they endured in Corporate America, working a real job to support the family.  In the past, traditionally, men went to work, brought home the bacon, and in order to have a peaceful and enjoyable home, they didn't bring back their work with them.  The wife didn't want to hear about the conditions of working on the railroad, the loneliness of being a traveling salesman, or the politics of a corporate office, and the man frankly didn't want to talk about it either.  He wanted to eat good meal, have sex with his wife, play with his children, and enjoy his free time.  This then misled women into thinking somehow work was fun.  And not only was work fun,  it was MUCH MORE FUN AND REWARDING than being a homekeeper, housewife, or mother.  They only saw the financial upside of Corporate America, not the labor and responsibility that came with.

Second, feminism.  The greatest scam ever pulled in the history of humans was not social security, nor buying Manhattan from the Indians for some beads, nor Seward's Folly.  It was the con job bitter, angry, ugly, jealous, contemptuous women from the 60's and 70's pulled by convincing their prettier, younger counterparts that being a mother or a wife was not real work.  It was fooling three full generations of women that they didn't need men, and that a paycheck (government or Corporate America issued) could replace a passionate kiss from a loving husband and a swarm of hugs from her children.  The fact that women are trying to break into Corporate America, by any means possible, moral or not, sexist or not, while forfeiting a life of staying at home and spending time with their children is jaw dropping once you can remove the hood of leftist, feminist brainwashing.  No sane, self-respecting person would do that back in the 50's, let alone in today's sadistic and enslaving corporate environment.
  
Third, politicians.  Like feminists, it is amazing the con job the democrat party pulled on women.  By making women jealous of what men had, and not appreciating what they had, politicians created a problem that didn't exist.  They thoroughly convinced women they were oppressed, discriminated against, and that sexism was rampant.  And the only way to make things right was by voting in these politicians.  Politicians would enforce affirmative action, enforce Title IX, give you a never ending litany of PSA's and speeches blasting those evil males for their inherent sexism and privilege, and as an added bonus, designate the government as your sole supporter and provider making those nasty evil men unnecessary and obsolete.  This propaganda was so successful, it actually overrode women's genetic programming to the point they actually believed "women need men like a fish needs a bicycle."  And if you needed more proof as to the completeness of the job, women look up to and envy the life of one of the world's most miserable women - Hillary Clinton.  Women, once again, gave up anything and everything that gave them point and purpose in life, all for a masters degree, a commute, and a cold career in Corporate America.

And finally, there's Corporate America itself.  The best thing for Corporate America was women entering the work force.  It lowered wages, it boosted demand for their products (now that women had additional purchasing power), and it created demand for a whole new list of products and services.  Daycare facilities, additional cars, more gas, more insurance, more dining out, more clothes, more cell phones, more divorce lawyers, more child therapists, more cleaning services, more ritalin, more lithium, more everything - the amount of material goods and services families had to buy now that you had two workers, no parents, and needed to outsource your child rearing easily boosted their sales by 50%.  It was a boon in terms of both sales and lower labor costs that only outsourcing to China would outdo.  Of course, the family suffered, divorce ravaged three generations, mal-raised children of broken homes drove up everybody's taxes, women we're becoming less happy, and the country's finances went to pot, but it didn't matter.  Women had careers in Corporate America.  And that's all that matters.

So What Do Men Do Now?

It's a foregone conclusion that with the support of government and corporations themselves, women will inexorably take over Corporate America.  And any sober, realistic, self-respecting assessment of Corporate America will conclude we should let them have it.  But if men are to give up Corporate America what are they supposed to do for work?  What do we do for employment?  What do we do for agency?  What do we do in order to support ourselves and live our lives to the fullest?

The prospective loss of what has traditionally kept us employed and alive is daunting, and willingly giving it up may seem insane.  But giving up on a career in Corporate America is a reality we're just going to have to face.  And not only one we have to face, but one we should be welcoming.  For while abandoning what has served as our primary means of support may be daunting, we men have a trick up our sleeves that have served us well since time immemorial.

We adapt.

Understand Corporate America is a bubble.  It's the Titanic.  It's going to burst and sink anyway, so you're better off living in reality and coming up with a Plan B.  But while many of you may not see an obvious alternative to Corporate America for employment, millions of men have already blazed the trail to a new, and much better form of employment - minimalism and entrepreneurship.

Though not the traditional corporate career we originally wanted or were brought up to desire, minimalism and entrepreneurship is the only logical choice for any man not already:

1.  Steeped so far in Corporate America in terms of his career that it would not be economic for him to abandon it and start down the path of entrepreneurship, or

2.  Endebted in terms of student loans, auto loans, mortgages, alimony, child support, etc. that he is a debt slave and therefore needs to be in Corporate America.

The reason why is that minimalism and entrepreneurship is infinitely superior to working for Corporate America.  One, in being a minimalist you do not need that much money to survive.  You avoid debt, you avoid unnecessary luxuries, and in doing so you not only minimize what you need, but maximize your freedom.  This leads to a second important benefit - the ability to insist on employment standards.  If the pay isn't high enough, they won't let you telecommute, it isn't enjoyable work, or your client is just a lippy pain in the ass, simple.  You fire them.  You just quit.  You don't need the money and therefore can do without them.  This also leads to a third major benefit - you can bluff your way to higher compensation.  Unlike your divorced, debt-enslaved, Corporate American wage slave counterpart, you don't "need" the money.  You have a choice.  You aren't a beggar, you're a chooser.  This allows you to demand $100 an hour, because if you don't get it, so what?  You don't NEED it.  Alas, if done right self-employment can, in the long run, become much more lucrative than a Sheryl Sandbergian corporate slave career.

But perhaps the single largest benefit of the minimalism-entrepreneurship form of employment is the happiness and sanity that comes with it.  While you're sleeping in till 10, your Super-Power-Tripping-Corporate-America-Power-Woman is waking up at 6 to suffer her commute at 7.  While you're at your local bar getting your morning coffee with Bailey's at 11 to answer e-mails, your rah-rah empowered feminist counterpart is stuck in a meeting, begging the government for more grant money.  When you decide you've done enough work at 2PM and it's time to hit the gym, your "You-Go-Girrrrrrl Power-Moxie"(TM) Corporate America counterpart is only half way done with her day.  And when your kids come home from school at 4PM, you can take them out for ice cream, go swimming with them, or give them noogies, the strong-independent, divorced, Corporate American "single mom hero" leaves her kids to decay in daycare till 7, and that's if traffic has cleared up.

It's simply a no-brainer.

The sad tragedy, for women at least, is that men are one, small epiphany away from realizing the wise words of Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and switching our historical roles.  It was already hard supporting oneself in this world.  It's much, MUCH harder supporting a family.  But if socialist, sexist (and racist) political forces are going to insist on turning Corporate America into a childish insane asylum like today's Academia with "safe spaces," "mandatory diversity training," and a blatant favoritism for women, forget it.  "I say it's time for a change.  I say let them give us money.  Let's live off of them for a while."  And men can do it, not just because we're more capable of minimalism, but (hilariously and ironically) women have also voted in a huge welfare state.  And if they want to be the ones to slave and work away in Corporate America, then they can pay the taxes to support men who just, meh, don't fee like working.

Alas, women fought so hard (as well as unfair and dirty) to get ahead in Corporate America, I cannot think of a better fate than to let them have it.  And the only way to give it to them is to realize losing Corporate America is no great loss, but a blessing.  Let women do the work.  Let women drive the commutes.  Let women waste their lives in meetings and cubes while the world passes them by.  I'm going fishing.  I'm sleeping in.  I'm working out.  I'm riding motorcycles.  I'm spending time with friends, families, and loved ones.  I'm going to Enjoy the Decline.  I suggest you do the same.
_____________________________________________
You can visit my other hate-filled, but 100% truthful sites below!
Podcast
Asshole Consulting
YouTube
Twitter
Books
Amazon Affiliate

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Best thing you've written since The Minimalism Threat. Well done!!

Maureen said...

Women and Human Resources - for the past 8 years I have taught a prep course to help Canadian HR staff to prep and pass the national certification exam (yes, one more certification that probably is not needed). When I started teaching this prep course it was about half women and half men - however the men were always in labour relations (negotiating collective agreements) or occupational health and safety. But I've noticed in the last year that the split has changed and in the last two classes it has been all women except for one guy in each class (and working in labour relations). HR is now becoming another pink collar ghetto full of women who haven't taken any of the hard courses so that they could specialize in the hard parts of HR but instead specialize in the easy stuff (employee engagement being one).

I think you are correct - corporations are no longer a future for anyone who actually wants to accomplish any real work.

Anonymous said...

Paid PMS leave ? Who is going to pay for that, the taxpayers ?
How about if those absent paid for all the disruptions they caused ?
Men don't have any pains ?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1842570/women-who-suffer-from-period-pains-should-get-three-paid-days-off-work-each-month-says-expert/

Lab Guy said...

Here is a good essay that addresses some of the issues. He refers to politics but what he touches on also occurs in the corporate and public sector bureaucracies way too often and is part of the affliction.

Publik skools are a big part of the problem that you talk about in your article Captain. Most people merely transfer their alleged 'social' skills from there to the work world. Granted, I don't come in to the office wanting to hug everybody and sing Kumbaya, but the world work is just an adult version of high school.

http://www.scifiwright.com/2016/09/chesterton-on-honor/

Anonymous said...

Let's not forget the Playboy philosophy that convinced men that marriage, raising kids and being faithful are for suckers. Feminism didn't help, but Playboyism started it all.

Lab Guy said...

The Go-To Guy Gets Educated:

How Business Really Works On Planet Earth

Start with about 300 million people in the United States . Consider that half of ’em are retired or in school or on welfare, a fourth of ’em are taking care of the retired ones and the ones in school, you’ve got 75 million left. But 29 million work for the Federal Government which means there’s only 46 million left to bring home the bacon.

Ah, but then there’s the 15 million who work for the local government, so they’re only marginally more worthwhile than the feds. We’re down to 31 million now. 80% of the 31 million are either lazy, apathetic and mostly unproductive, or they’re busy undoing the damage done by the doofuses every day. So in fact there’s only six million people doing real, actual, productive, innovative hard work.

Those 6 million people are not only feeding 300 million, but providing them with warm homes in the winter and quality television programming. The comfort food and Seinfeld reruns keep the unproductive, roiling masses from rioting.

(Karl Marx was wrong: Religion is not the opiate of the people, television is.)

That explains why you feel like, in any room full of 20 people, you’re the only one getting anything done. It’s because you ARE the only one getting anything done. The rest are mostly dead weight, playing a zero sum game.

https://www.perrymarshall.com/adwords/gotoguy2/

Craig said...

Two other reasons to let women have corporations.

1. This is the dawning of the age of AI and robotics. Add in outsourcing and insoourcing and many of those jobs will not exist soon or will be done by cheaper labor.

2. As the demand for work increasingly surpasses the supply of jobs, there will be even less need to treat workers well especially if they are evil white heterosexual men. The wrong type of man will face more and more pressure to be submissive and have less stability in his life.

Anonymous said...

This is legitimately one of the best essays I have ever read.

Anonymous said...

The decline is already here. Or at least in progress.

It's already happening in Japan with all those guys, the hikkimori, not giving a crap. The MGTOWers, particularly in the Western World, are just sitting back to play video games and not quote on quote improve themselves aka work to death for promotions, higher pay, etc. Even Latinos and Blacks do the same with pump and dump hence a lot of unmarried mothers or even high women to men ratios. And lastly, don't forget the Middle Easterners - I've never see such lazier guys that when the oil money runs out, there will be more panic on the part of the women than the men.

It appears that Mankind's Manifest Destiny for the rest of the universe will have to be postponed for quite sometime before this is fixed. Or maybe we'll be enslaved by another alien species by then before we blast out of the Solar System.

Mark In Mayenne said...

Very interesting take on modern social changes.

Faithless Cynic said...

Plus one on the female not listening or appreciating that work can be soul killing or even dangerous. I was underemployed and took a temp job working for a utility contractor. Our job was to put new parts in every gas meter in New Castle County Delaware. We were sent into inner city Wilmington alone ( AKA Murdertown ) to upgrade the meters. I have gone into abandoned buildings full of homeless and druggies to work on the meters located in the basement. The company, in its infinite wisdom, decreed that all meters had to be done, even if the building was abandoned and stripped of copper pipe and wiring. Some of the guys carried pistols but, I was afraid to risk jail time for illegal carry. I have worked on a gas meter one handed, with an icepick held in my left hand ready to stab an attacker. The company decreed that we would be fired if found with pepper spray or any weapon. The icepick was a company issued tool to remove security seals.

Fast forward two years, I have a safe, decent job that I love. I tried to explain to my feminist wife how dangerous my old job was, and that I did it for our family even tho I was scared shitless. The reaction? BIG FUCKING YAWN. I risked death for nothing. Young males, do not repeat my mistake.

Anonymous said...

Cappy, I've been reading you for years and have been lamenting the total waste of money and time of corporate HR decades. I just want to congratulate you on this being YOUR FINEST ESSAY YET! Truly, when you're on your game you are one hell of an insightful guy, dare I say "a thought leader." Sincere thanks for saying what has badly needed saying for a long time.

I'm 69 and was pushed out of VP-level Fortune 500 corporate America 11 years ago - at the top of my game but just months before pension vesting! - with (most of) my sanity and (some of) my dignity still intact. Entrepreneurship has not only improved my mental and physical health, it has greatly improved my wealth. Wish I had the balls to do it when I was a lot younger. Keep on keepin' on!

Davers6
Barrie, ON, (summers) and Apex, NC (winters)

Anonymous said...

"Swedish lawmakers are considering a bill that would require corporations to have at least 40 percent women on their boards of directors. Companies failing to meet the quotas would face fines of up to $590,000."
h/t Reason

Anonymous said...

Yet another way in which Atlas is shrugging.

David Jravis said...

"Karl Marx was wrong: Religion is not the opiate of the people, television is."

Well, in fairness to Marx, television wasn't around back then.

Post Alley Crackpot said...

I suspect that at some point Salesforce will decide to stop putting Prophets before people ...

Tucanae Services said...

I would suggest that Sterling Hayden, actor, writer was the 'Alpha One' of MGTOW --


“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? ”
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer

Hayden was ahead of his time. Pick up the Wanderer, its a good read.

Anonymous said...

Once the men leave, the women will follow. Ever notice that women only do certain things because there are men involved? Take the NFL for example. How many "diehard" female 'fans' would watch the NFL if there were no men around? Exactly zero, on the entire planet. Yes, zero. There is not a SINGLE female on the planet that would sit down and watch an NFL game by herself. NOT A SINGLE ONE. Guaranteed. They will only watch it as a social event, and ONLY if there are men present.

Anonymous said...

Human exploitation and slavery have always existed, and will always exist in some form as long as the human race is around. Human stupidity and WILLFUL ignorance are endless natural resources to be exploited. If not exploited to some productive end, human stupidity would be a massive net loss for any society. I have long said this. Most of the human race is ok with their own slavery in one form or another, as long as they feel "safe." Most human beings do not like having to think for themselves. They want to pass that responsibility on to others.

That being said, I personally believe that this modern form of voluntary, multi-level enslavement, (personal debt, college debt, marriage/divorce debt, mortgage debt, etc), is the best, most humane type of slavery system that has existed in history; by far. Stupid, thoughtless people crave their own slavery, and so they have it. For the small minority that does not want to be enslaved , there are clearly other options.

Contrast the current system with other past systems of FORCED slavery, and any rational man should be able to see that this type of system is likely the best we can hope for. Enjoy it while it lasts. I believe this current system is in full-on failure mode, and the older system will likely begin to rear it's ugly head.

I'll take voluntary slavery over forced slavery any day. Again, low IQ, thoughtless people want their own slavery. They cannot handle, nor do they want, and type of freedom or the personal responsibility that comes with it. There are plenty of cogs to input into this volunteer system. Let them take the fall. They want it. The idiot masses are the bulwark against forced slavery being thrust upon the VERY tiny minority of men that want and can handle personal freedom. Enjoy this system while it lasts.

Lab Guy said...

"I'll take voluntary slavery over forced slavery any day. Again, low IQ, thoughtless people want their own slavery. They cannot handle, nor do they want, and type of freedom or the personal responsibility that comes with it."

You give way too much credit to 'low IQ' people. Think how many fairly high IQ people with 4 year degrees or more are also complicit with the system.

Anonymous said...

What? You don't like 'affirmative consent'? You don't like a law that states that if you can't prove 'enthusiastic and ongoing consent' at 'every stage of the sexual encounter', you're guilty of rape/assault? That's just your white male privilege showing! Stop your man-splaining! Muh feelings! The world needs more anti-male-positive-discrimination laws so that men can be put in their place - beneath women! Down with the patriarchy! This fish don't need no bicycle!

MGTOW

Anonymous said...

The problem is that they will never leave you alone, they will always figure out some way to force a woman into your enterprise and make your life miserable. Good example of that is my fathers Alaskan commercial fishing business, Obama appointed some know-nothing college professor to head up fish and game and she decided that you could not trust the fisherman to behave while out catching fish and so mandated that every boat have an observer (usually some contractor and mostly women) to record the catch and make sure that the fishermen were not taking more than they should. These observers had the power to levy $10,000 fines at the drop of a hat and were to be give priority for access to the radio and other "facilities" on the boat and were paid for by a 2% tax on the catch. It was the last straw for my dad and he sold the boat and quota to a Russian emigrant.

You can try to start up a business but most of them are so over regulated that it's almost impossible to make a go of it unless you're a large corporation (with a small army of women drones making sure that you are up to date on all regs). Even had my barber complaining about it as the state inspector was always finding something to fine him $500 dollars for on a monthly basis which was driving him out of business. So sure, it sounds all nice, just go out and start your own business but unless its in the underground economy you're going to be buried in regulations and governmental busy bodies that will be looking to hassle you to death.