Week 14 Reflection - Understanding the Differences Between Political and Market Entrepreneurs

History Professor Burt Fulsom spoke at Young America’s Conservative Foundation Student Conference. Fulsom discussed to students his ideas on America’s free economy and the massive debt that the United States is in. He also went into depth about the misperception that the United States is a world superpower in terms of economy.

In my opinion, Fulsom answered all of the questions in an extremely wise manner. I agree with the majority of the things he said. Another thing I learned during the presentation was that the United States wasn’t the first country to have free enterprise. They actually copied it from England. The landscape of America and the world has never been the same because of this decision.

There has been a history of doing what you’ve always done and what you’ve always been comfortable with doing in America. However, over the past hundred and fifty years or so there has been backlash from this. Cornelius Vanderbilt is a very good example of this backlash. Nicknamed the commodore Vanderbilt was a very successful businessman who built his wealth on the railroad, shipping, food production, and other various businesses. Collins was another railroad tycoon. Collins started out in this business earlier than Vanderbilt. He had a deal with the United States, but his railroad wasn’t working as well and as fast as Vanderbilt’s. The United States ultimately chose to stick with what they’ve always been comfortable with by keeping Collins. Collins eventually went broke and Vanderbilt became the most successful railroad tycoon of all time. Let this be a lesson to you to never settle and to never get comfortable with where you currently are. Have dreams and have goals.

Free enterprise in the United States has allowed our economy to skyrocket. We have been able to produce the top and most successful companies in the entire world. There’s nothing more important in the history of the United States of America than signing off on free enterprise. It allows any and all of its citizens to compete in the open market. Free enterprise gives everyone the freedom to be the best of the best. The United States government can’t be and shouldn’t be more profitable than the non-government affiliated companies around the United States. The transcontinental railroad basically introduced this idea to the United States. After they saw the success that happened through this they knew they had to have it all over the country.

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