HOME DEPOT COFOUNDER Bernie Marcus made headlines late last year with his claim that capitalism may not survive because “nobody works, nobody gives a damn.” I respectfully disagree. While Marcus has one example—people not wanting to work or work hard enough at the stores he founded—I believe America has a terrific future based on four observations:
I know what a few dozen young men from Boy Scouts are doing today. Many—but not all—went to college. They currently have careers as varied as teacher, film editor, lead custodian at a school, satellite engineer, data analyst, diesel mechanic, insurance salesperson and hotel manager. Many are married. My point: Each has gone on to contribute to society, pay taxes and become a solid citizen.
I also worked closely with supply chain analysts, factory workers, maintenance workers and quality technicians. I’ll concede that many of the younger folks wanted to know the “why” when asked to do a job, as opposed to simply following a directive. To me, this is a plus. When explaining the outcome that I’m seeking, they often have input that makes both the process and the results better.
Most of these graduates already have jobs lined up. Some will work with Fortune 100 companies. Some chose to work with startups. Virtually all will be contributing to America’s competitiveness.
Bernie Marcus may worry that capitalism won’t survive. But when I look at the young people that I’ve personally witnessed making contributions to America and its businesses, I’m not worried. Echoing the words of Warren Buffett, I wouldn’t bet against America.
I don’t know how I missed this article 6 months ago. I think Bernie Marcus’s initials say it all.
If you don’t like what the kids are doing, you have to look the parents. We are the ones responsible for nurturing our young.
The time spent with them in the earliest years sets them on their path. If you don’t like what you see, they were failed by their parents when they had their chance.
The emphasis has to be on citizenship and education. Yes, it is really that simple.
I remember my parents extreme focus on education when I young. They didn’t want us to work with our hands. Now my dishwasher repairman earns more than my doctor.
I did both, good hands and a mind. I was successful because I discovered my passion before I was 10 and my parents enthusiastically supported me.
It’s worth saying again, the blame or praise belongs to parents. It’s a shame that it takes two incomes to raise a family. It often takes time away from raising the children.
I’m embarrassed for Marcus for making that overly broad statement. “Nobody works.” Good grief! Marcus has been so rich so long that he’s forgotten the difficulties of being lower middle class or poor. I’ve lost any respect for him that I might have ever had.
I guess what I want to say about evidence is that one should look beyond their own personal experiences. One should also look at overall stats and studies and the views and experiences of those from different backgrounds than themselves in forming their opinion. That is how science works. It isn’t just based on the personal experiences of the scientist but on the actual results.
But many people don’t want to challenge their beliefs but instead look for only confirming evidence.
Most people that I know are truly grateful to live in this great country.
There seems to be very little evidence that the current generation is worse than those that came before.
The whining that I hear is mostly from older white folks and their political reps who seem to want go back to a time when only white males were empowered. These election deniers are a much greater threat to our country than the next generation.
Personally, I try to avoid HD and buy from local businesses.
I’ve been a university professor for 33 years now, so I’ve seen several generations of college students go through. The students I teach now are bright, engaged, hardworking, and motivated. Now, I teach at a highly ranked public university that is very hard to get into, so these students basically did what they were told their whole lives to get there. But in my previous job, I was at a mid-level state university that focused on teaching rather than research—and those students, in their own way, and at their own pace, were also highly motivated and hardworking. It was a privilege to teach them.
Obviously, since college graduates are still in the minority in the U.S., I encounter just one slice of young adulthood in my work. But people ask me all the time if and how students have changed over the decades I’ve taught. I always say they’ve changed in both good and detrimental ways. Their attention span is more limited, so I can’t just lecture for 80 minutes straight—I have to actually come up with a creative lesson plan that gets them engaged and interactive. But my attention span is similarly more limited—I think social media is responsible in all cases—so I don’t judge them for that. A good teacher adjusts to the students in front of them, not expect it to be the other way around. The good part of this is that students are more informed and curious about the world since literally anything they want to know (pop music in 60s, movies from the 80s, any question you can ask Siri) is at their fingertips.
Bernie should explain why the unemployment rate is so low if no one wants to work. I think he should get out more.
Not disagreeing with either side, but much of everyone’s opinions or views will be based on the area they live.
….and the young adults they know. We all live in our own unique world of anecdotal evidence. Every generation complains about the generation that follows. But in the end, humans don’t fundamentally change from one generation to the next, so I think it’s foolish to imagine that the latest generation will somehow put us on the fast track to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Let’s hope you are right, but I think we are living with fundamental changes started in the 1960s.
For example, the working role of women translating into two income families, the resulting demand for more like two cars and larger homes, more expensive vacations to generate quality time with family.
Now a two income family is a virtual necessity to cope and along with it the cost of child care needs. Those who rather not have two working parents are trapped because the way society was changed by a generation. IMO
America must be a place filled with opportunity. All over the world smart and hard working people struggle to get here to take advantage of these opportunities. My newest neighbors are highly educated immigrants who work very hard; one is from China, and one from India. These young people in their 30s are buying million dollar houses.
My cardiologist is a first generation child of immigrants from India. My dentist was born in India. Both completed educations in American universities.
As long as the gates at the border are open, at least to some degree, as they have been since the first Europeans arrived, we will continue to add people who bring energy and add to our society.
When I see how hard so many immigrants work to get ahead in this country and hear their feelings at being able to come here, they seem appreciate the opportunities this country provides so much more than many native (those of us born here) Americans
I couldn’t agree more. Immigration energizes our economy, our culture and our small business environment.
It should be interesting to see how a new 10 million illegals will energize our economy. So far the hotels, bus companies, food vendors, and the cartels have been boosted, so hopefully all these new people will be able to contribute to our country at some point the way our legal immigrants have done for 200+ years.
Very true, all my local bagel shops are now run by immigrants from south or Central America. I observe many relative recent immigrants working hard and grabbing every opportunity and more power to them. I have great respect for those who start with less than nothing, sacrifice and work hard.
All that while it appears so many native born Americans complain about no opportunity, unfairness and not receiving all they deserve.
I prefer Lowe’s, but in HD’S defense it should be noted that:
A spokesperson for Home Depot told Insider: “Our co-founder Bernie Marcus left The Home Depot more than 20 years ago, and his views do not represent the company.”
I was also a Boy Scout leader for many years, and agree with you. The young adults of today are approaching life differently than we did and dealing with vastly different social issues than us, but that doesn’t make them wrong. Both of my sons are Eagle Scouts and in the military. I could not be more proud of them, their families, and their friends.
I appreciate Kenyon referencing kindness, helpfulness and trustworthiness, three of the twelve goals of scouting that I was taught when I joined scouting at age eleven. I also helped teach the principles of the twelve goals of the scout law for a decade as an assistant scoutmaster when my youngest child began scouting through getting his Eagle rank and his teaching life skills as a BSA camp councilor. Like you, I often think about those young men and the value their scouting experience was to them and our society overall.
Our troop Scoutmaster when I began volunteering, as one of many Assistant Scoutmasters, was a man named Gorden Grace. Gorden’s profession was a machinist, a tool and die maker, but his passion was teaching practical skills to young men. I fondly remember a early lesson about having an extra pair of dry socks when hiking. Gorden developed cancer while leading the troop and continued teaching to the end of his life.
His obituary included – Gordon was simple, strong, capable, and straight forward. He never shirked from helping anyone who asked. He was strong in his moral character and always a loyal husband and father, and always had a ready sense of humor. He helped his wife as she struggled with diabetes. He was diagnosed with Hodgekin’s Disease, which he battled for many years. He died in his sleep the night of Oct 11, 2003 in the presence of his parents, in the home of his daughter, after having held his newborn first grandchild for the first time earlier that day.
America needs more Gordon’s.
Unfortunately, participation in Boy Scouts has steadily and dramatically dropped in the last several years.
Just anecdotally, from friends of mine (my kids are not old enough for scouts yet) they were disappointed that the Boy Scouts started having girls join. This isn’t from any sort of chauvinist perspective, but just that both girls and boys should have a space to themselves to act as they need to. There has been a fair amount of research on why males are struggling more today and part of it is the lack of male “spaces”. (I say this as non-politically as possible.)
In any event, they chose to have their kids join Trail Life USA which is a Christian alternative to Boy Scouts that has been growing dramatically over the last decade.
I suppose each generation has something negative to say about the current young people and I’m one of them.
No doubt there are many young people as you describe, but they are the exception I fear.
Motivation, personal responsibility, the family unit and how it works, something is different. I wonder if we are up to the task of global competition?
We seem to spend a great deal of time attacking the Marcus’s of our world as examples of what is unfair rather than appreciating the overall value of what they create.
I received a good solid education through high school, virtually everything I needed to know to be successful. Today, 4% of the students in my old high school are proficient in math and not much better in other subjects. About 70% graduate.
I hope you are right and not me, but I fear we have lost our edge and that attitudes toward work, capitalism, success and simply hard work to achieve one’s goals are slipping away.
I agree that there are serious problems with our education system and very concerned about the negative impact of social media on today’s youth.
However, I view your complaints about younger folks which you seem to base on your social media interactions as nothing more than your unsubstantiated personal biases.
Do you really think today’s younger engineers, accountants, computer programmers, plumbers, electricians, and workers in many other occupations are slacking off on their jobs?
I wonder if what you describe isn’t less an indictment of today’s young people than it is of today’s educational system. The well-rounded public education you and I both received is now increasingly difficult to find, due in my opinion to rising societal indifference, even opposition.
Public school bonds and taxes are voted down at a startling rate across America. So qualified teachers leave the profession, aging school facilities fall apart, and curricula and extracurriculars are cut back.
Are students really less dedicated to success, or are we as a society simply not supporting them the way you and I were supported?
No simple answers to that my friend. The drum I beat is “take your child to the library” and tell/show them you love them. If we all put our phones down and talked to those around us, humanity would be well served.
True, Stacey, although I now go to the library through my laptop!
Kindle books are one of my many joys!
We’re heading to FL soon for my husband’s family reunion. He’s the oldest of 8! Time to borrow/ load a couple for my beach reads!
The Marcuses of the world would earn more business from me if they kept their political opinions to themselves.