The Self-Made Myth: Debunking Conservatives' Favorite -- And Most Dangerous -- Fiction

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  <XholonWorkbook> <Notes><![CDATA[ Xholon ------ Title: The Self-Made Myth: Debunking Conservatives' Favorite -- And Most Dangerous -- Fiction Description: Url: http://www.alternet.org/visions/155149/the_self-made_myth:_debunking_conservatives'_favorite_--_and_most_dangerous_--_fiction_/ InternalName: YoutubeId: Keywords: My Notes -------- How to run the simple editable app that's part of this workbook :: Click the Run button above. Sara Robinson at AlterNet has written about a new book by Brian Miller and Mike Lapham called "The Self-Made Myth: The Truth About How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed" that "makes a strong case that nobody ever makes it on their own in America". The book identifies 7 types of help that governments provide that were crucial in making "self-made men" in the U.S., all of which are also important in other countries. In this workbook I explore these, and try to pick out the big picture. These are the 7 types of help as stated by Sara Robinson :: (1) An excellent education received in public schools and universities (2) The support of the Small Business Administration and other government agencies (3) A strong regulatory environment (4) Enforceable copyright and intellectual property laws (5) A robust system of roads, ports, airports, and mass transit (6) The government's role in creating the Internet (7) The ability to issue public stock in a fair, reliable, regulated marketplace The key idea is a "built-together reality" rather than a "self-made myth". Built-together includes not just government, but also employees, customers, other partners in the community, and just plain luck. The authors of the book work at United For a Fair Economy, which includes a book-related infographic :: http://faireconomy.org/infographics My favorite "self-made man" story --------------------------------- My own personal favorite exemplar of a "self-made man" myth, is from Montreal writer Mordecai Richler's novel "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz". In chapter 3, the Max character, Duddy's father, tells the rags-to-riches story of how the Boy Wonder, a local boy made good (or bad), made his fortune. Here are some quotes from the book :: Anyway, he's broke, like I said. So he walks up to the corner of Park and St Joseph and hangs around the streetcar stop for a couple of hours, and do you know what? All that time, he's collecting streetcar transfers off the street and selling them, see. Nerve? Nerve. At three cents apiece he's up to a quarter in two hours, and then what? He walks right in that door, MacDonald, right past where you're standing, and into the back room. There, with only a quarter in his pocket, he sits in on the rummy game. Win? He's worked his stake up to ten bucks in no time. And what does he do next? Around the corner he goes to Moe's barbershop and plunk goes the whole ten spot on a filly named Miss Sparks running in the fifth at Belmont. On the nose, but. And you guessed it, MacDonald, Miss Sparks comes in and pays eleven to one. The Boy Wonder picks up his loot and goes to find himself a barbotte game. The story continues on like this until the Boy Wonder is :: "driving a car a block long and sitting beside him is the greatest little piece you ever saw. ... By this time he owns his own stable already.". He's done it all himself. He doesn't appear to use any type of government help, except for the tax-supported highway system. His only school was what he learned on the street, and government regulation would have hampered his creativity. There's also a huge element of luck in the story. For more details on the novel, see :: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apprenticeship_of_Duddy_Kravitz_(novel) ]]></Notes> <script implName="lang:python:inline:"><![CDATA[ print "Self-Made Myth" ]]></script> <script implName="lang:javascript:inline:"><![CDATA[ print("Built-Together Reality\n"); ]]></script> <_-.XholonClass>  <BuiltTogetherSystem/>  <Entrepreneur/> <Partner> <Government/> <Employees/> <Customers/> <OtherCommunityPartners/> </Partner> <Partners/>  <EducationSystem/> <PublicSchool/> <University/>  <GovernmentAgencySystem> <USSmallBusinessAdministration/> <OtherGovernmentAgency/> </GovernmentAgencySystem>  <RegulatorySystem/>  <LawSystem/> <Law> <CopyrightLaw/> <IntellectualPropertyLaw/> </Law>  <TransportationSystem/> <Roads/> <Ports/> <Airports/> <MassTransit/>  <Internet/>  <Marketplace> <RegulatedMarketplace/> </Marketplace> </_-.XholonClass> <xholonClassDetails> <Entrepreneur> <port name="education" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/EducationSystem)"/> <port name="agencies" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/GovernmentAgencySystem)"/> <port name="regulations" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/RegulatorySystem)"/> <port name="laws" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/LawSystem)"/> <port name="transportation" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/TransportationSystem)"/> <port name="internet" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/Internet)"/> <port name="marketplace" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Government/RegulatedMarketplace)"/> <port name="employees" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Employees)"/> <port name="customers" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/Customers)"/> <port name="others" connector="#xpointer(ancestor::BuiltTogetherSystem/Partners/OtherCommunityPartners)"/> </Entrepreneur> </xholonClassDetails> <BuiltTogetherSystem> <Entrepreneur/> <Partners> <Government> <EducationSystem/> <GovernmentAgencySystem/> <RegulatorySystem/> <LawSystem/> <TransportationSystem/> <Internet/> <RegulatedMarketplace/> </Government> <Employees/> <Customers/> <OtherCommunityPartners/> </Partners> </BuiltTogetherSystem> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:python:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:javascript:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <BuiltTogetherSystembehavior implName="lang:webEditionjs:inline:"><![CDATA[ function postConfigure() { $("textarea#btstrp_console").css("font-size", "12px"); $("textarea#btstrp_console").attr("rows", "15"); $("textarea#btstrp_console").attr("cols", "50"); print("\nIn a " + this.parent().getXhcName()); } ]]></BuiltTogetherSystembehavior> <Entrepreneurbehavior implName="lang:webEditionjs:inline:"><![CDATA[ function postConfigure() { this.bindPorts(this.parent()); print(" the " + this.parent().getXhcName() + " benefits from government and other partners including:"); print("\n " + this.education.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.agencies.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.regulations.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.laws.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.transportation.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.internet.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.marketplace.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.employees.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.customers.getXhcName()); print("\n " + this.others.getXhcName()); } ]]></Entrepreneurbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:bsh:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:jruby:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <Blockbehavior implName="lang:groovy:inline:"><![CDATA[ ]]></Blockbehavior> <SvgClient><Attribute_String roleName="svgUri"><![CDATA[data:image/svg+xml, <svg width="100" height="50" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <g> <title>the built-together reality</title> <rect id="BuiltTogetherSystem" fill="#98FB98" height="50" width="50" x="25" y="0"/> </g> </svg> ]]></Attribute_String><Attribute_String roleName="setup">${MODELNAME_DEFAULT},${SVGURI_DEFAULT}</Attribute_String></SvgClient> </XholonWorkbook>