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Anyone Can Be ‘Successful’, But Not Everyone Will
The Problem With Opportunity
One of the fundamental tenets of today’s society is that anyone can become successful. No matter your background, race, or where you’re from you can be a success.
Want to be an entrepreneur? Of course, you can do it! Want to become a prolific and well-known writer? Sure, go for it! If you browse the internet long enough, you see these kinds of messages everywhere.
In essence, they boil to down this: if I can do it anyone can do it. On the surface, this seems to make sense. What marks one person out as destined for success, while another languishes in mediocrity?
While it’s true that, given the opportunity, most of us could become successful entrepreneurs, this line of thinking misses one key point. Everyone can’t be successful entrepreneurs.
Everyone cannot found a Fortune 500 company. Everyone cannot become a successful lawyer. Sure any of us can make it, but not all of us. This is a key distinction that a lot of commentators miss, particularly those who preach the virtues of a lifestyle of self-sufficiency.
If we take a step back and imagine a society where almost everyone is an entrepreneur. It’s hard to see how this society would function. Who would collect our trash? Who would work…
