FT A Thank You Note

A Thank-You Note for my Prosperity

Josh Yelon

I am a prosperous American. I have an advanced degree in computer science; enough to earn me a substantial salary. I own my own software company. If I were a conservative, I would proclaim that I made my money entirely by myself, that the government had nothing to do with it, and that I don’t owe anything to anyone. I would be very, very wrong. Fortunately, as a liberal, I recognize that I owe a great deal of my success to the support of my fellow Americans. For that, I thank you all.

I’m not saying that I’ve received any sort of welfare. In fact, as far as I recall, I have received no social security benefits, no Medicare payments, no temporary assistance, no unemployment benefits, and no housing assistance. But it doesn’t matter – even if I never received a dime, I received a large number of intangible gifts. I can understand why conservatives might make the mistake of thinking that they did it all themselves, that they had no help at all. The intangible gifts we receive are so subtle that they glide under the radar; we take these gifts entirely for granted. That’s why I need to write a thank-you note: to remind myself how much I have received. So let me begin listing.

My college education was very expensive, but I received a number of student loans to help pay for it. My credit rating at the time was not nearly good enough to borrow that much money. My fellow Americans loaned me money, no questions asked, at a time when no bank would have done the same. I did not receive a gift of money – the money was not a gift, it was merely a loan – the real gift was the unconditional faith that my fellow Americans placed in me. They were willing to hand me a big pile of money, and simply trust me to pay it back for no reason other than that I was an American.

I find that incredible. Unconditional faith is something that one rarely receives in any circumstance. That Americans are willing to give unconditional faith to each other is a big part of what makes this nation great, and I recognize that I owe my own prosperity to my fellow Americans’ willingness to trust in each other.

My area of study was software. I never liked working with computer hardware; every time I built a circuit, it inevitably shorted out, started smoking, or otherwise attempted to humiliate me. I am incredibly grateful that those who came before me built working computers; I never could have done it myself. In fact, it occurs to me that my success in the software field depends upon layer after layer of technology invented by Americans before me.

Two hundred years ago, the founders codified generosity into the patent system by limiting the duration of patents. As a result, I have been given, free of charge, a thousand useful inventions. Without such a gift, my software company would not exist. My software is built upon inventions created by others, yet my fellow Americans do not begrudge me any of it. Rather, they are happy that I have become prosperous by leveraging their ideas; they wish me only the best. To that gift of open sharing, and its codification into patent law, I owe my prosperity.

When I started my software company, I knew that it was likely that I would fail. It was common knowledge that 9 out of 10 startups never break even. It didn’t matter to me: I started the company without hesitation, without fear.

If you think about it, it’s remarkable that I had no fear. Why wasn’t I afraid of starving? Why wasn’t I afraid of homelessness? The answer is simple: I knew that even if everything went wrong, my fellow Americans would help me out, somehow or another. I knew that at some point, I might not be able to pay the rent. I have no idea what kind of assistance is available to people in that situation. But I do know that Americans are a good, caring people with a strong commitment to taking care of the downtrodden. Because of this, I never worried about destitution. I knew that no matter what happened, I had an entire nation backing me up. Had I not had this gift of a safety net from my fellow Americans, I would never have dared to start a company, and I would not be as happy as I am now.

Our nation has a mix-n-match economy: a lot of small businesses, a number of mega-corporations, some taxes, some social programs, some unions, some free trade, some regulated trade, some non-unionized workers, and some government regulation. It is a patchwork, ad-hoc system, but despite its chaotic nature, it is one of the best economic systems on Earth. Not only has it generated a lot of wealth, but it did something that few other systems have accomplished: it ensured that the wealth was shared by all. Instead of promoting the welfare of the top 10%, as so many economic systems do, our system promotes the general welfare.

I must thank the nation for providing me with such a subtle gift. My software company sells computer games, which are a luxury. Yet I have plenty of customers, because in America, almost everyone has a little extra spending money. Were it not for the economic system that serves the general welfare, I would not have a customer base today.

When I was first starting my company, I went without health insurance for a while. Unfortunately, I eventually found myself in the hospital. I remember vividly what the doctor said about my lack of insurance: “Don’t worry, in this hospital, you’ll get the best care no matter what.” The second doctor in the room nodded. I remember, at that moment, feeling that I was in the presence of great men and women. They were true to their word: they gave me excellent care.

But afterwards, I realized that even though I had been awed by their attitude, I was not surprised by their actions. Many doctors in America believe in the Hippocratic Oath. I believe that is a direct result of our national character: Americans simply care too much about their fellow men; they are constitutionally unable to allow the sick to suffer when the need is truly pressing. In other words, when I opted to go without insurance, I knew that even though the US pretends not to have universal health care, we really do, in a sense. Without this gift of universal health care, I would never have dared to go without insurance, and I would have been much less able to afford to start a business.

I have not forgotten my free elementary school education. I have not forgotten that if there were no such thing as bankruptcy protection, I would never have dared to borrow money while starting my business. I have not forgotten the research grants that helped fund my graduate education. I have no idea how many even subtler gifts there are that I have forgotten, but I have no doubt that they exist, and for those, I give my thanks as well.

A gift does not need to have a dollar denomination to be valuable. To those readers who, like me, have received subtle gifts: do not take them for granted. Our predecessors worked hard to ensure that we had the support we needed to achieve prosperity. We have a moral obligation to provide that same support to the next generation.