I spent the weekend in Boston, and it helped me understand better why Massachusetts is considered the birthplace of America, and not Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress, and other such organizations were taking place.
Basically, it all comes down to money, and in this fact, we see a very interesting lesson.
You see, if it wasn’t for the additional taxes that the British were imposing, I doubt the revolution ever would have gone anywhere. There is the cry of “No taxation without representation,” but to me that statement seems more like a red herring since the early American’s really were protesting ADDITIONAL taxation, and not really taxation in general.
Which brings up the main point, people hurt, and thus rebel when they lose the status quo. So if you want to anger someone, take away what they have. The reason that you get this extreme negative reaction, is that the anger that festers comes to the surface to protect the downtrodden from additional hurt.
This is a practical lesson in business, where we want to make sure not to take things away from employees, especially benefits and money that they already expect. When companies don’t heed this lesson, they often find that they have mutiny on their hands.
So if faced with a decision about employee pay, keep this lesson in mind, before you open a Pandora’s Box that you can’t close.