What is the incentive?

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Encouraging to action. Motivation.

Been noticing, as the economy struggles, the city and state provide “incentives” to businesses to locate or expand here and wonder.

What are these incentives? Tax breaks? Transportation made available to the companies site? Infrastructure and construction breaks? What can a government give to a business to influence a decision?

So if these incentives are made available to businesses, what about to individuals?

Our incentive to get employment is to provide ourselves with the means to purchase shelter, food, and warmth. The necessities of survival require money and money is only available by a baneful existence of sweat, tears and hard labor for another.

Should there be more? Stock options or a corner office or other perks to entice one to work and give up their formidable years to struggling up the ladder of success. Then again, what value do we offer to warrant incentives?

Should we review what gives us incentives?

Loves certainly gives us the incentive to hang around with another person as much as possible. Hunger gives us the incentive to acquire food.  Fear gives us the incentive to survive. Anger gives us the incentive to strike back.

So should there be create bigger incentives on education which will lead to better opportunities, incentives for managing money responsibility, incentives to contemplate rearing children before it becomes part of your life, incentives to embrace diversity, or incentives to find peaceful solutions to conflict?

And what is the incentive for the homeless to go on? And what is the incentive for the poor to strive? And what is the incentive for ill or injured to struggle? And what is the incentive for the wealthy to care? And what is the incentive for the comfortable to become uncomfortable?

I could state there are studies that show, because there is always a study that shows, that individuals are created with self-worth and will overcome any obstacle to reach for a better condition.

So let’s turn it around as an incentive not to do things that are disruptive to the majority, which is how we govern. Laws and jails have been created as an incentive to behave within cultural acceptance, but the perception has been that these have been softened through the years of lynching and an-eye-for-an-eye mentality. What if, like in Honduras, jails were set on fire randomly? It would certainly give a pause to the most hardened criminal beside the meals and hard labor that he or she could be locked in a room where the building is burning. Maybe the ease of obesity would be reduced or eliminated if the sweet and salty treats everyone loves gave them pimples or hair loss or diarrhea. The incentive of what taste good reacts badly to you may be a deterrent to wanting that biggie size.

Radical!! Inhumane!! Unconscionable!!

So what would the incentive to a person to give up their present occupation offering their time and knowledge and beliefs and effort for public office? Power? Prestige? Influence? Wealth? Celebrity?

The incentive to do your job in today’s economy is the fear of a layoff or firing. If pubic officials had the same worries, would they vote differently? Would they vote by the facts or whatever information is available or conviction or faith or fear?

Our country has used “the bomb” as an incentive for other countries to not go to war and it has somewhat accomplished it’s goal, but now more and more countries have the same or lesser capabilities to evaporate others. Our religion has used the incentive that the next life will be better than this life if we have faith. Our incentive for love is physical pleasure and our incentive for hate is…?

What is your incentive for getting out of bed in the morning?