Horatio Alger (1832-1899) was a prolific storyteller who’s books were typically about Americans overcoming obstacles and rising from adversity. The stories were optimistic depictions of America as the land of opportunity for those who work hard and do things right. The idea of picking oneself up by the bootstraps has often been disparaged as the Horatio Alger myth, suggesting that it is impossible with the caste system and class conflict built into American society.

There are certainly some societies in the world where birth formally relegates one to a station in life. It is certainly not so in America. Many of the notable companies and people of our day had humble beginnings. Ford Motor Company, Microsoft Corporation, Hewlett Packard, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a long list of other household names are the stories of inventive people who started with little but a dream, persistence, and borrowed money. Many experienced multiple failures, rejection of their ideas, and even ridicule.

Other organizations and individuals may not have name recognition, but represent the same kind of success story. David L. Steward was the son of an African-American mechanic and farmer who went on to start World Wide Technologies, now a three billion dollar company. Robert Kyosaki is the native Hawaiian son of a small contractor. He is now a major real estate investor and consultant known throughout the world. The list can go on and on, but becoming a millionaire is not, of itself, the definition of success.
The American dream is about living one’s own life and taking responsibility for the results. It is being proud of accomplishment and not being afraid of failure. It is about reaping the benefits of hard work, risk taking, and doing the right things. It lies in opposition to the socialist concepts of leveling and equality of results, and to Marxist class struggle. All of us can look to everyday life and point to those who have done the right things and have succeeded in spite of obstacles.

I know of a young man who dreamed of becoming a fireman since childhood. He joined the junior firemen when he was 15, took every training session and EMT course that he could. He went to the Fire Academy, knowing that firefighting jobs were few and far between. He had frustrations, disappointments, and letdowns. He took jobs that he hated just to earn some money, but he didn’t give up. He now has the job he dreamed of since he was young. That is success through hard work, perseverance, and character.

I know of an older man who’s father died before he was born. He grew up in Harlem and dropped out of high school at age 17 to work so he could support himself. He ultimately graduated from Harvard and Columbia and is now an eminent economist, through hard work, perseverance, and character.

Successful people in every walk of life are, in large part, not born with silver spoons in their mouths. The greats in any endeavor become great because they do the things that unsuccessful people don’t like to do. Lebron James or Tiger Woods didn’t pick up a basketball or golf club one day and decide they wanted to be stars. They, like virtually every professional in any arena, invested thousands of hours and developed those skills which made them valuable.

Horatio Alger spent a great deal of time in the slums of New York City and donated a large amount of his earnings, working to make a better life for the desperate children he found there in the late 1800s. He recognized that personal character makes a difference in people’s lives. Luck surely enters into the picture for most people, but being in the right place at the right time often entails working hard to be the right kind of person. Diligence is the mother of good luck, as Benjamin Franklin noted.

Young Americans need the hope that is embodied in the original conception of America, an excitement toward the future because it is full of potential. Freedom to follow their dreams will keep them dreaming. Freedom to reap the rewards of their efforts is the incentive to make those efforts, to endure the pain and frustration, and to take the risks which are vital to innovation, progress, and prosperity.

Americans need a rebirth of freedom and the incentive to shoot for the stars, to fall down and to try again. They need the hope that comes from real opportunity, not just convenient political slogans.