America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great by M. D. Ben Carson

ways of doing things. Jan Matzeliger, for example, was an African American who invented the shoe-lasting machine, revolutionizing the shoe industry and making shoes affordable by the masses with his 1883 patent. 1
    The establishment and protection of individual rights, woven into the founding values of our nation, extended into our business practices. The knowledge that you could acquire things for yourself and for your family by your own hard work and that those things would not be confiscated by another party was a powerful stimulus to economic activity, which quickly propelled America to the pinnacle of economic power in the world.
    People throughout the world came to envy the American standard of living, and this country became the dream destination for poor immigrants everywhere.
G REED I S A F UNCTION OF THE H UMAN HEART
    If the story ended there, the capitalist economic model would be declared the winner and we would all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, one of the tendencies of human nature, namely greed, often results in excessive profit taking at the expense of others.
    Many years ago, a friend of mine received an academic scholarship to obtain his engineering degree at the City College of New York; however, the scholarship did not include room and board. So he was forced to live on the streets for a while, though he still maintained a healthy grade point average. For several months, he would even sneak into the professor’s lounge in the evening and hide behind one of the couches until the room was locked at night. There he would sleep behind the couch and then sneak out in the morning once the lounge was unlocked. Having access to water and a bathroom helped, but he was even more delighted when snacks were left in the lounge.
    After he finished his engineering degree, he went to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Once while traveling, as the plane was landing, he noticed that the lady sitting next to him was extremely frightened by the plane’s unstable descent. My friend is a very smart and creative young man, and he consequently designed a stabilization system for aircraft landing. For this magnificent invention with wide applications, he was given a $500 bonus by the FAA. Feeling that his talents were unappreciated and certainly not properly compensated, he decided to seek an engineering job in the private sector. On hearing about his experience with the FAA, his new employer assured him that if he came up with another great invention he would receive 20 percent of the profits.
    Well, the young man did come up with another fabulous invention — one, in fact, that resulted in a $300 million profit for the company. To celebrate their success, the company held a ceremony, during which they were going to recognize my friend for his contribution. He invited his parents and many of his friends to be present when he would receive his check for $60 million. During the ceremony, the CEO of the company called him to the stage and presented him with a plaque and a glazed ham. The next day, the young man confronted the CEO in his office and asked about the $60 million. The CEO replied that it had been decided that they would invest that$60 million in the further development of the company and that it would all be made right with him in the long run. My inventor friend tendered his resignation immediately and started to walk away when the CEO stopped him, walked over to his desk, and wrote a check for $75,000, which he handed to him. My friend tore up the check, threw it in the CEO’s face, and walked out with the intention of starting his own company.
    He quickly came to realize that his goal required significant capital, and that as a twenty-two-year-old black man with a bunch of ideas and very little collateral he was going to have a very difficult time realizing his dream. He went to ten different banks seeking a business loan and he was shut out on every occasion; however, he was offered an