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THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AND REBELLION
> The distinction you raise between rebellion and revolution is a subtle but > important one, and I thank you for pointing it out to me. As it turns out, > with their references to rebellion rather than revolution, the quotations > you provide fit my purpose even better. > > In writing about venture capital -- the funding of new, entrepreneurial > company's possessing new technologies that challenge the corporate status > quo -- I make the point that, without necessarily intending to be, the > activity is subversive. As such, it is patently American, since subversion > of the existing order, and the renewal that accompanies it (". . . like a > storm in the atmosphere"), is a founding principle of the United States. > That's where the quotation from Jefferson is intended: as a quick, > supporting statement of our roots in rebelliousness. > > I found all five of the quotations you provided very stirring, and I intend > to print and display them. Similarly, I consider the entire website a > valuable and enjoyable service, and I am grateful to you for your role in > providing it. This is a learning experience for us both. Rebellion and revolution have quite different meanings when speaking of government, but their meaning tends to blend together in the terms that you describe. Indeed, entrepreneurial activity has its origin in a kind of subversive spirit of rebellion, but the result of this rebellion is then a kind of revolution -- a change in the existing order -- in the industrial world. And here's the beautiful part: Yes, this kind of rebellion/revolution derives from the founding principles of this nation. But even more: this rebellious spirit is the natural fruit of a free society! As wild and unpredictable -- and scary, sometimes -- as it might be, free, rebellious entrepreneurial activity is the natural product of a free people. As Jefferson says again, "The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave." --Thomas Jefferson to Richard Rush, 1820. ME 15:283 Isn't that great? Our Founding Fathers gave us not only our personal liberties, but also the fertile soil in which can grow the entrepreneurial spirit. This is what has made America the greatest, most productive nation in the history of the world. This is where it all came from. In my view, the role of government is to maintain a delicate balance that nurtures the rebellious entrepreneurial spirit, but at the same time controls it and prevents it from destroying the equal rights of all other members of society, both individual and corporate, to freely participate in this creative rebellion. [I had to throw that in, because I do believe in the necessity of anti-trust laws that will allow corporate entities to compete with one another without any one of them being able to crush the rebellious spirit that gives meaning to entrepreneurship.]