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Comment by WalterBright | Hacker News Reader

As a counterpoint, I'd like to point out that it has never been easier to start your own business and instantly reach a worldwide marketplace. It has never been less expensive to make things to sell. It has never been more practical to work from your home for a company anywhere in the world.

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This isn't a counter-point to the themes in the article at all. While starting a business from a legal and paperwork standpoint is quite easy, maintaining a business is still incredibly difficult and is not even remotely fathomable for the vast majority of white collar, working individuals and families, let alone even blue collar folks. Most businesses still fail, regardless of how easy it is to start one. Furthermore, making things to sell online from ones home simply isn't a panacea to working class America's economic woes and trivializes the true plight of the situation.

> incredibly difficult and is not even remotely fathomable

Running a business can be as easy as mowing peoples' lawns, cooking meals for the elderly, trolling garage sales for things you can resell on ebay, fixing washing machines, etc. I know a guy who bought a trunk full of garage door springs, paid for a yellow page ad, and charges $200 a pop to replace peoples' broken door springs. I could go on for pages.

Banking on the next President to fix anything is a bit naïve. There have been quite a few elected on the promise to fix everything :-)

Agreed, and of course some people make use of this.

I have for a long time worked online to sell products (and also have a day job). My wife talks about liking the idea of selling something online, but can never find a calling.

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