The Hone Depot Co-Founder Bernie Marcus pulled no punches when he described the current movement and what it’s done to the workforce. If everybody is equal such as what socialism might strive for, then nobody rises to the top by virtue of the effort they put out. Capitalism is based on merit. You can’t achieve that if nobody wants to work and they’re all entitled. Business is not meant for social purposes.
The workforce needs to get up
With socialism in place, Marcus argued, nobody does anything. He spoke with the Financial Times, “Nobody works. Nobody gives a damn. ‘Just give it to me. Send me money. I don’t want to work — I’m too lazy, I’m too fat, I’m too stupid.’”
Marcus is 93. He described how capitalism works and he was a little worried about it.
“I’m worried about capitalism. It’s the basis of Home Depot [and] millions of people have earned this success and had success. I’m talking manufacturers, vendors and distributors and people that work for us able to enrich themselves by the journey of Home Depot. That’s the success. That’s why capitalism works.”
The workforce can lift everybody
Business has always been about selling a product or service and making a profit. This profit benefits everybody from employees to customers. Business was never meant to be social.
Marcus noted, “The role of a business is to sell a product and make a profit. The whole idea that a business is set up for social purposes doesn’t make sense to me.”
The workforce wouldn’t be there
If Home Depot were started today it wouldn’t be anywhere near what it is now. The regulatory environment would help kill the store. Too much government combined with a workforce that doesn’t seem to care keeps small business from competing with big business.
Marcus explained, “We would end up with 15, 16 stores. I don’t know that we could go further.” Currently Home Depot has 2,300 stores in North America. The capitalization is $300 billion with $150 billion generated in revenue.
