The power of entrepreneurship and liberty
Speaking of America’s founding in “The Fortune of the Republic” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “We began with freedom.”
Indeed. But that freedom didn’t become useful until the Founders converted it into liberty and lasts only as long as the stewards of each generation protect and maintain it.
Freedom is a state of mind anyone can assume. But liberty is a contract we bestow upon and expect from each other. And from that contract, American entrepreneurship was born as the child of liberty.
Liberty and entrepreneurship have an interesting symbiotic relationship: You can have liberty without entrepreneurship, but you can’t have entrepreneurship without at least tacit liberty. But while liberty as a human ideal is more primordial than entrepreneurship, the latter has a political advantage that comes in handy in some places on planet Earth.
In China, for example, to pursue liberty as a foundation to entrepreneurship might be difficult – even dangerous. But since it is not typically seen as a political statement, engaging in entrepreneurship, even as a veiled precursor to liberty, is more practical and safer.
Consequently, outside of America it is possible – sometimes necessary – for the child, entrepreneurship, to precede and flourish ahead of the parent, liberty. Such is the case in Afghanistan, but only for women.
Recently, at IEEW’s “Peace through Business” conference, in Washington, D.C., I met and interviewed an Afghan woman who is a wife and mother of three small children, and an entrepreneur. Freshta Hazeq founded the only woman-owned printing company in the capital city of Kabul. In America, Freshta would be celebrated; in Afghanistan, her business has been sabotaged and her life threatened because she competes against men.
The entrepreneurial desire to create a business that could provide a living for a family actually promotes liberty without a political declaration. Over time, in countries like Afghanistan, as the ideals and values of entrepreneurship acquire critical mass, it will be discovered that liberty has flourished on the foundation of entrepreneurship.
In America we began with freedom and forged it into liberty, which gave birth to entrepreneurship. In Afghanistan, especially if you’re a woman, entrepreneurship will give birth to liberty. But, like America’s revolution, it comes at a high price.
Why is Freshta willing to pay this price? Because she has a daughter.
Write this on a rock ...Liberty and entrepreneurship - powerful and symbiotic.
Jim Blasingame is creator and host of the Small Business Advocate Show. Copyright 2012, author retains ownership. All Rights Reserved.
