Luke Johnson offers a brief and eloquent defense of entrepreneurial capitalism in this recent FT piece entitled, "What's so terrible about making money?".
Here's an excerpt:
"One thing that has always baffled me is why certain people hate capitalism so much. They really are missing something.
Ever since I was 18 and co-founded a business by accident, I knew that being an entrepreneur was the most fun you could have with your clothes on - it is the greatest adventure modern life has to offer. And if you're lucky and astute, you might even get rich in the process. Why is that so terrible? Yet all too often capitalism is blamed for many of the ills of modern life, from global warming to poverty.
I remain convinced that many intelligent, ambitious individuals would adopt a self-employed way of life if they could strip away all the cultural bias and realise that building a venture can be a creative, even an heroic, endeavour. In truth, becoming an entrepreneur is a vocation, like fine art or quantum physics or teaching. But intellectual snobbery, prejudice and the comfort blanket of big organisations means business frequently fails to win the moral arguments."
Read on for more. If you are a fan of true capitalism, I'm sure you'll enjoy the piece as much as I did.
While you're at it, check out Luke Johnson's reading list for entrepreneurs, or as he calls it, "A reading list for those who want to succeed".
We'll have more on this tomorrow, as we highlight one of the items of note from Luke's reading list and look at a famous investor who is less known in the US than in his native England.
Until then, enjoy the article and Luke's reading list!
Here's an excerpt:
"One thing that has always baffled me is why certain people hate capitalism so much. They really are missing something.
Ever since I was 18 and co-founded a business by accident, I knew that being an entrepreneur was the most fun you could have with your clothes on - it is the greatest adventure modern life has to offer. And if you're lucky and astute, you might even get rich in the process. Why is that so terrible? Yet all too often capitalism is blamed for many of the ills of modern life, from global warming to poverty.
I remain convinced that many intelligent, ambitious individuals would adopt a self-employed way of life if they could strip away all the cultural bias and realise that building a venture can be a creative, even an heroic, endeavour. In truth, becoming an entrepreneur is a vocation, like fine art or quantum physics or teaching. But intellectual snobbery, prejudice and the comfort blanket of big organisations means business frequently fails to win the moral arguments."
Read on for more. If you are a fan of true capitalism, I'm sure you'll enjoy the piece as much as I did.
While you're at it, check out Luke Johnson's reading list for entrepreneurs, or as he calls it, "A reading list for those who want to succeed".
We'll have more on this tomorrow, as we highlight one of the items of note from Luke's reading list and look at a famous investor who is less known in the US than in his native England.
Until then, enjoy the article and Luke's reading list!