| | "... procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue..."
Of all the things that being "American" allows one privilege to enjoy, the ability to make money and keep it is not to be overlooked. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to be secure in your home and papers, all point to the consequence of material prosperity, otherwise, there is no point in having such rights. The left argued long and well in defense of Third World and "national liberation" dictatorships that one could not enjoy abstract political rights while hungry. Point taken. But it means that if your material prosperity is denied, then any other rights such as voting or owning a rifle are hallow.
I therefore filled all the little spaces, that occurred between the remarkable days in the Calendar, with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want to act always honestly, as (to use here one of those proverbs) It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright". -- Benjamin Franklin "The Way to Wealth" here.
“There was no higher goal for a young American male to pursue during this period than to be a ‘self-made man’—to make a great deal of money through dint of his own hard work and ‘pluck.’” -- Naomi R. Lamoraux, “Entrepreneurship in the United States, 1865–1920,” in Landes, Mokyr, et al, The Invention of Enterprise.
The latest Internet boom means there are more newly minted millionaires, and even billionaires, than at any time since the technology bubble a decade ago. Many are brilliant young entrepreneurs and computer engineers. But for all their knowledge, the technology executives, many of whom are fresh out of college, are relatively clueless when it comes to estate planning. “Betting the ranch on building a widget for the Facebook platform is very different than managing a long-term nest egg,” said Jay Backstrand, a vice president at JPMorgan Chase’s private bank.
WSJ - "The Ripe Scent of New Money" - 15Jan2012 (Obviously, JP Morgan Chase is not the only one who can smell new money... Among the many differences is that the investment firm wants 1% for the work of growing that savings and Mr. Geithner and his bosses just want to seize it. - MEM)
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