Today is my day to do those things that most craftsmen despise. I have forms to fill out and checks to write... my end of the year accounting to a governmental system designed to inhibit free enterprise. If we wanted to make things easy for the expansion of business in America we would make it easier for very small businesses like my own to cope with the paperwork.

When the government talks about small business, they mean companies with less than a couple thousand employees, but most of the small businesses in America, and those presenting the most potential for immediate growth, are the smallest: companies like mine consisting of a single employee (in my case, me) or fewer than 5. The nightmares of accounting and the high expenses of contracting those needed accounting services for very small businesses present a major obstacle for their expansion. There are two consequences. Businesses try to operate illegally in the underground cash economy and avoid the paperwork, or they just decide to keep small, refusing to hire help and thereby avoiding the complications of payroll deductions and accounting, but also never reaching their full economic potential.

The consequences are huge. And if the system were designed by people with some experience in the real world of small business it would be simple, more direct and less burdensome and thereby encourage growth... A system designed with with the smallest businesses in mind would allow for making the next steps in the growth of small businesses reasonable and practical.

So, here I go again, off on a tangent, talking about stuff that seems unrelated to craftsmanship, or is it? What happens when a maker of beautiful things decides to keep his or her business small, avoiding the complications thrown in the path of growth by the IRS and other governmental organizations? There is a simple answer. The vast accumulation of knowledge from the hands and heart of that maker may not be passed along to others. And it might not arise again.