Statism Divides; Capitalism Unites

For 25 years in my high school Economics classes we have focused upon the heroic stories of dozens of American entrepreneurs and how they transformed society. Here is an amazing article from The Washington Post, “Sears’s ‘radical’ past: How mail-order catalogues subverted the racial hierarchy of Jim Crow,” which will provide LRC readers with even further historical evidence of how capitalism fosters a more harmonious, pluralistic society based upon free exchange; while statism engenders racial and ethnocultural division, hostility, animosity, and intolerance.

Each year my students view a wonderful six part series of documentary films, The Entrepreneurs: An American Adventure, hosted by Robert Mitchum, which brings a living history into the classroom and creates a visual journey to educate and inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs. (Unfortunately this series is not available online.) In addition we focus upon other innovators and entrepreneurs who dramatically impacted the information and communications industries such as Mary Pickford, Lucille Ball, David Sarnoff, Ted Turner, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

HT to my colleague Ryan C. Underwood for making me aware of this powerful article on Sears.

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3:59 pm on October 18, 2018