RESPONSIBLE WEALTH PRESS RELEASE
June 24, 2004
Contact: Bob Keener
(617) 423-2148 x26
It Takes a Village to Make a Millionaire
New Report Blasts Myth of the Self-Made Man
Download the report PDF 280 KB
"I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned."
—Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
A new report, "I Didn't Do It Alone: Society's Contribution to Individual Wealth and Success," spotlights successful entrepreneurs and concludes that the myth of self-made success is destructive to the social and economic infrastructure that fosters wealth creation.
Martin Rothenberg, the son of a housepainter and sales clerk, grew up to become a multimillionaire software entrepreneur.
Investor Warren Buffett is the world's second-wealthiest person.
Ben Cohen co-founded Ben & Jerry's with no business background and walked away with $40 million when the company was sold years later.
While these three seem typical examples of self-made success, they're not. None of them believes they did it on their own. Like others profiled in the report, they attribute their success to many factors, among them public schools and colleges, government investment in research and small business assistance, contributions of employees, and strong legal and financial systems.
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http://www.vendio.com/mesg/read.html?num=28&thread=223184http://www.responsiblewealth.org/press/2004/NotAlone_pr.htmlhttp://www.faireconomy.org/I think these are some great resources to counter the GOP meme that we need to give all our money to the wealthy because only THEY ALONE can create a healthy economy and the meme that there are "self-made men" who owe NOTHING to working class Americans.