The heroes of our world

Things are good, says Johan Norberg, and there are some special people to thank. "In a very short time, the world has experienced an extreme makeover." This is a good thing.

Just look around at the health, the wealth, the technologies, the opportunities, and the food on your plates. Could any of that have been possible for a king or queen 200 years ago? ... During the last 100 years, we have created more wealth, reduced poverty more, and increased life expectancy more than in the previous 100,000 years.

We? Yes, we. All of us who bring new values into the world, or who keep the hell out of the way of those who do. The world is a much better, much richer place, says Norberg, because of entrepreneurs, thinkers, creators and innovators -- people "who had new ideas, who travelled geographic distances and, more important, mental distances to create new things and who saw to it that old traditions, which would have stopped new creations, would not stop them for long."

Entrepreneurs are the heroes of our world. Despite the risks, the hard work, the hostility from society, the envy from neighbors, and state regulations, they keep on creating, they keep on producing and trading. Without them, nothing would be there.

You can read the whole piece online -- and it's well worth it -- at the Cato site: Entrepreneurs Are the Heroes of the World - Johan Norberg [8-page PDF]