

Is it ethical for parents to guide their children towards a life as employees? - amichail

One could argue that starting a company is so much more rewarding than working as an employee that discouraging people from doing so should be considered unethical.
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SwellJoe
That's a stretch.

One could also argue that starting a company is so stressful, so full of risk,
and so time-consuming, that encouraging people to do so should be considered
unethical.

That said, I don't think parents could encourage or discourage effectively
without providing an example. My parents and grandparents on both sides owned
their own businesses (grandmother owned a beauty shop and then a thrift store,
grandfather on the other side owned a body shop, dad owned an electronics
business but later became an engineer working for others, mom owned an
antiques and collectibles business); I don't think there's any other way my
sister and I could have ended up (sister owns a medical billing company, and I
started my first company right after college, which paid the bills but
ultimately failed, and now I'm onto a winner).

My parents didn't encourage me to start my own company. In fact, they
encouraged me to go the safe path: Get a good education in a marketable field.
And, while I was still in college my dad clipped out and gave me the want ad
that I replied to that got me my first regular job other than working for my
mom in her store or loading furniture for her at garage sales and flea
markets. They encouraged me to accept the full-time position offer from that
same employer. I opted to quit instead and start my own tech business with the
money I'd made in the stock market.

I don't know for sure that the environment I was raised in made a difference,
but I do know that when I talk about the risks and expenses and other concerns
of starting a business with some folks, they look like I'm speaking a foreign
language. And, I also know that parental examples are how kids learn about
just about everything, early in life.

So, if parents don't believe in being an entrepreneur themselves, how can that
possibly encourage it in their children effectively? That's not to say they
shouldn't try. A little entrepreneurial spirit goes a long way when the
economy gets weird and jobs are no longer reliable.

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branden
Encouragement in either direction is ethical so long as the parent is taking
the child's wellbeing into account. Past that, it's a judgment call on the
part of the parent, and a lot of that is informed by their own life
experience. I know my parents never tried to instill any entrepreneurial
values in me, but instead encouraged me to do well in school and go to college
so I could get a decent job. Hardly what I'd call unethical - they were simply
valuing my safety and stability over my independence and creative fulfillment.
Since they came from less privileged backgrounds, that was likely a reflection
of their own aspirations. You grow up wondering if your family will be able to
put food on the table, around families who sometimes can't, and you might
place a higher value on stability for yourself and your children.

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xsmasher
It's certainly normal. Many, many people do not have a single entrepreneurial
bone in their body- they really do wish to be told what the task is, and
sometimes how to do it, when they arrive at work. And they want to punch out
at 5pm, turn on the television and forget about work.

If that's what they want from work, then pushing them to start their own
company, or take over the family business, can only end in disaster. Have you
ever seen a company driven into the ground by the 2nd or 3rd generation
owners, who don't have the passion for sand & gravel that Granpa Kerzyk did?

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cperciva
Yes, it's perfectly ethical. To take an extreme example, some people find
murder to be rewarding, but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with
encouraging people to not murder. Most people would find that the cons of
starting a company vastly outway the pros.

