No matter how advanced our technology is, we still depend on people who can build and fix and fight. We who cannot do these things shouldn’t be so stupid and suicidal as to despise the people who can.

Some people like to say that the United States has evolved into a “creative economy.” By that, they mean that we don’t manufacture a lot of things, but we invent them, and new ways to use them. So, for example, the MacBook Air I’m typing this on was invented in Cupertino, but manufactured in China, and I’m using it to write a book, which will be sold on Amazon.com, a company that has created a new kind of relationship between writers and readers.

Fair enough. But while I have no idea what percentage of Americans make their living in the “creative economy” (I count myself blessed to be one of them), I suspect that it isn’t more than ten percent or so. It is, however, the ideal for those who work in it, and many who aspire to. We feel liberated, enlightened, and evolved. We are much cleverer than the uncreative types. Yeah us!

Far more Americans work in government and service jobs. They teach school or work in restaurants or retail stores. But in their free time they surf on their smart phones, and aspire to do something creative. Lots of us want to live in gleaming cities full of smart electronics powered by clean energy, surrounded by flat screens suggesting brands to our hungry consumer dreams. Few of us want to do something dirty or dangerous, see anything dirty or dangerous, or be reminded that all of this only exists because some people do things that are dirty or dangerous.

But we want our devices to power up. We want our heating and air conditioning to work every time. We want our planes to stay in the air and our poop to flush away, never to be seen again. We want the seas to be safe and tourists not to be kidnapped or blown up in some equatorial resort.

All of these things require people who can do more than type on a MacBook, or build websites, or pick interior colors. Our creative economy rests on those who can build and fix and fight. We had better not despise them. Not because they might revolt, but because we need more of them. If we don’t honor what they do, our kids will continue to aspire to doing anything except building, fixing, and fighting. Then they’ll be importing guest workers to keep the power on and the poop flushing while we sit in coffee houses and play games on iPhones paid for by government benefits. We’ll become what large swaths of Europe have become. That is not a stable or prosperous future.

Wannabe warriors boast and pose and taunt. True warriors, the real deal, never brag or strike a pose. Their language is either self-controlled respect, or focused, purposeful violence.

I am not a pacifist. There is a place for armed conflict. Not all wars are just, but there are just wars. We shouldn’t start unjust wars (although we may need to defend ourselves when they are launched upon us). All of that can (and should) be debated.

But one thing is clear to me: there are a few real warriors, and lots of (mostly) guys who want to be warriors, but actually aren’t. The posers prance and preen and pretend. They show off their weapons, shooting them pointlessly in the air in third world conflict zones for cameramen who broadcast it to gullible populations in comfortable countries who haven’t seen a war in a generation. They swoon with delight or fear (depending on the politics of everyone involved) at these idiots wasting ammunition.

The real warriors that took Omaha Beach or defended Bastogne the next Christmas, or the professional operators who have waged firefights in the dark behind enemy lines that will never be written about, or the brilliant and brave who drive some of the most complex machines ever built above the clouds or below the waves—these men and women don’t brag or boast, award themselves with ridiculous ranks or fake medals, or dress like action heroes when they are not in action. They are self-controlled, of above average intelligence, well trained, respectful, and they don’t enjoy violence. They are not teenagers playing a video game nor are they untrained young men in a gang or third world army who use their soldiery as an opportunity to bully and steal and rape. They are prepared to rapidly unleash extreme, lethal violence on anyone and anything they are ordered to attack. But when the mission is accomplished, they just want to go home.

A wise, good, and free nation needs wise, good, and free men and women to fight for it when necessary. That is how liberty is preserved in a world with plenty of foolish, evil, armed enemies. We should honor and support the real warriors that allow us to sleep safely in our beds at night.

Nice Article About the Growth of Black Lake Studio & Press

HOLLAND -- A little over a year ago, entrepreneur Greg Smith was running his marketing and publishing company out of his house and local coffee shops.

Today, Smith and his Black Lake Studio and Black Lake Press is meeting clients and doing business from the top floor of the prestigious Riverview Building at 44 E. Eighth St. in downtown Holland.

“For a lot of people, this looks like an overnight success. But, they don’t see the 10 years I freelanced, built a solid portfolio of quality work and a client base,” said Smith who has gone from a one-man virtual business to bricks and mortar company with an eight-person staff.

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Speaking at the GR Home and Builder's Association Today

The Home and Builder's Association of Greater Grand Rapids is holding their annual conference today at the Prince Center on the Calvin College campus. I'll be speaking on, "Selling with Stories, and How Not to Get Stuck with a Truckload of Sombreros."

Looking forward to a great discussion about brands and narrative.