Vegas Socialism

The Con

The current political dialogue in the Untied States is rife with accusations, insinuations, screaming and flat out lies told to an audience that believes every word that comes out of the MSNBC or FOX talking heads. The current theme being bandied around by these TV adolescents is the policies of President Barack Obama are leading the country down the road to a socialist (or worse), communist future.

I find it rather amusing that the Bill O’Reilly’s of the world appear to be waking up to the social democratizing of the US economy; it’s been going on since FDR’s New Deal and perhaps since his cousin Teddy’s administration – trust busting et al. Personally, I’m a good capitalist. I like the free market economy, keeping the money I earn, the harder I work the more I sell, the more I earn etc. That’s why I choose to work in the service industry, a sales job directly linked into the capitalist economy, where my job performance dictates my earnings. But the socialization of the last vestige of pure capitalism has begun.

Currently, most fine dining restaurants and hotels have switched from a direct tipping structure where the individual server/waiter/bartender/concierge keep the tips they earn on a given shift to a ‘pool house.’ In a ‘pool house,’ all of the days tips are pooled and each department, captains, servers, waiters, bus boys and bartenders are assigned a percentage of the days take. All tips – cash, credit/debit cards and gift cards are put into this pool so the only chance to hustle up more money on a given shift is for everyone to up-sell their customers.

The advantage for operators in this system lay in the lack of IRS audits of tax evading employees. The downside is the lack of ambition the ‘pool’ system breeds. Like any other socialist enterprise –each according to his needs means laziness will ensue. The question is who would want to institute this sort of near Soviet system in their stores, hotels, restaurants etc. Answer: the very pinnacle of American Capitalists.

Recently, Vegas Hotelier and billionaire Steve Wynn gave an interview to MSNBC where he decried the current state of unpredictability in Washington. Wynn is so disgruntled with the ‘wild, out of control spending’ and near socialist practices in the US, he is giving thought to moving his base of operations to Macau. In Macau, Steve Wynn can count on a freely flowing capitalist environment with few restrictions so he can make billions more.

In other Steve Wynn related news, a Vegas labor court has dismissed a challenge to his latest change in tip pool policy. Now salaried management and supervisors are given a percentage of the days take, along with the tipped employees. Vegas Socialism: the new serfdom.