In case you missed it over the weekend, President Obama said the following about entrepreneurs: “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Now I am the first to say that entrepreneurs do not build a business alone. They need help from employees, customers, investors, suppliers, family members, and the broader community.
That being said, entrepreneurs are the ones who take the risk to launch the business. They are the ones who do not get paid if money is tight. They are the ones who personally guarantee the business’s loans.
NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner nailed it today when he said, “His unfortunate remarks over the weekend show an utter lack of understanding and appreciation for the people who take a huge personal risk and work endless hours to start a business and create jobs. “I’m sure every small-business owner who took a second mortgage on their home, maxed out their credit cards or borrowed money from their own retirement savings to start their business disagrees strongly with President Obama’s claim.”
Entrepreneurs do not owe any of their success to what politicians do in Washington. They do not owe their good fortune to government.
It is the government that owes its successes to the entrepreneurs who built our once mighty economy through the pursuit of free enterprise.
Amy Payne at the Foundry put it this way: “The slap in the face to hard-working Americans conveyed Obama’s belief that it takes a village—a heavily subsidized village—to create that venture you’re profiting from.”
As a blogger that gets published by the CSM, I would expect you to do enough due diligence to at least research the full quote, which clarifies the “that” in the quote is not the persons business, bu the infrastructure that helps it be successful. Here’s the full quote:
“OBAMA: If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”
Without the context, the quote you give becomes extremely misleading. I expect this from FOX News (who is also using this quote out of context, as is Romney and many more), but to see this misuse pop-up on the fairly unbiased CSM is very disappointing.
While we are fortunate to have been born in the United States or to have come here, as the case were, we must still take advantage of the opportunity. There are many more who do not take advantage of what they have put in front of them than who do. Yes, we may stand on the shoulders of giants, but we had to climb on their backs to get there in the first place.
Wasn’t expecting such type of remarks from President Obama, but after knowing in what context he said… I’d like to praise him.
All depends upon in which context any statement is given and who/how interpret’s.