The Self-Made Myth And the Truth about How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed

This book challenges the by-bootstraps-alone narrative to offer a more holistic view of the success of America's business leaders and entrepreneurs. While acknowledging the importance of hard work, creativity, and leadership, it highlights several crucial, often unrecognized factors, with a particular emphasis on the ways government supports and assists individuals: public education, research and development grants, social services, roads and highways, laws and regulations that establish a stable business environment, and many more. Miller and Lapham explore the historic roots of the self-made myth and offer profiles of business leaders who, in their own words, identify the kinds of support and assistance that were crucial to their success. They also take apart the arguments of individuals like Donald Trump who have tried to perpetuate their own self-made myths. How we view the creation of wealth and individual success shapes our choices on taxes, public investments in schools and vital infrastructure, regulations, the legitimacy of extravagant CEO pay, and more. America can't more forward if we don't have a clear understanding of how wealth is actually produced.

Brian Miller is executive director of United for a Fair Economy (UFE), drawing on nearly twenty years as a community organizer, coalition leader, media spokesperson, writer, and nonprofit director. Mike Lapham is the project director, a cofounder, and a member of UFE's Responsible wealth project, a network of over 700 business leaders and wealthy individuals.