Sunday, January 13, 2013

Who are the Unsung Heroes?

The Entrepreneur: America's Great Unsung HeroThe Entrepreneur: America's Great Unsung Hero by Robert Ringer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was disappointed when Robert Ringer re-titled the revised edition from "Winning Through Intimidation" to "To Be or Not to Be Intimidated," even though I witnessed how the book was misrepresented - mostly by people who had never read it - based simply on the title. I liked his explanation of the original title that likened his attitude to Ayn Rand's when she said that the reason she used the title "The Virtue of Selfishness" was to make people think. I was similarly sad when some of his later works, when listing "also by the author" titles, often omitted "How You Can Find Happiness During the Collapse of Western Civilization." I found that one to be extremely thought provoking. I don't agree with everything he says, and would love the opportunity to discuss some day with Ringer my "barn raising" concept about the value of public enterprises such as the public library ( http://harrythelibrarian.blogspot.com... ) peacefully coexisting with private enterprise for most endeavors. In the meantime I always enjoy reading his thoughts and words. This one is pretty quick reading for such a thoughtful subject. A clue to his valueing of the Entrepreneur's approach to life can be found on page 43: "The Entrepreneur embraces failure, because he understands that each failure brings him one step closer to success. And it goes without saying that the honest Entrepreneur does not want government help when he fails. On the contrary, what he wants is for the government to leave him alone." Near the end, on page 275 he says "It is the entrepreneurial spirit that has always moved America forward, which is why I believe it is the Entrepreneur who is most capable of leading the charge to resurrect the American way of life that our parents and grandparents experienced. And if he can accomplish that gargantuan feat, he will rightly deserve to take his place alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other giants of the American Revolution.

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