General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: There is not a single business owner in this country who got where they are 100% on their own [View all]hughee99
(16,113 posts)"I did it all by myself" is NEVER 100%. No one gave birth to themselves or raised themselves from a very young age. The thing that's causing the disconnect between people who like the speech and those that think it's not good is the way they're interpreting it.
"I just created a new iphone app. I downloaded the development software and used their internal tools to write a program that would add two numbers together and, using code I learned in college, make the results display in purple. I did it ALL BY MYSELF"
Those who like the speech think it's pointing out how we all needed to come together to create an environment where one could succeed. We all contribute to the environment that's necessary for any of these people to have success, and that success wouldn't have been achieved without a lot of people.
on the other hand...
"If it weren't for the roads and bridges, paper industry, electricity, clean water and clean air, you never would have been able to write your best seller. We ALL deserve credit for that book you wrote."
Those who dislike the speech think it's crediting those who create the environment for each individuals success. Businesses can't succeed without roads, bridges, electricity, clean water, etc... but many businesses have access to that. Some are successful and some aren't. If these things were the reason a business succeeds, then ALL businesses would succeed. Beyond then level of support that a society may provide to many of it's people, there is some effort that many individuals ALSO have to put in to enable them to be more successful than others. Macy's and Gimbels both had access to the same infrastructure, one succeeded and the other went out of business.