I don't know enough about Al, many crime figures are mentored in and then "take over" ....Not too many home study courses for crime.
What's interesting to me about my list is how short it is - almost every other succesfully American figure in politics and high tech had one or several of -
1) an upper middle class upbringing, usually with private schools or very good public schools
2) Some amount of inherited money, maybe 90,000 instead of half a million, but still a leg up.
3) Personal mentoring, instruction, and/or introductions.
4) Belonging to a group which well connected in their field, usually by being born into it, or going to the right high school / prep school / church etc.
5) A successful relative who could be supportive, or let you sleep on the couch (more likely stay in the guest house) to keep costs down
6) A spouse with connections, drive and smarts - maybe someone who could make $100,000 on a single commodity trade.
The Beatles came from a working class background, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were at least middle class.
Bruce Springsteen had a period where he was funded by venture capitalists - some of the same ones who financed Rolling Stone Magazine. I don't think his parents were especially poor.
I think about 80% of self made success stories leave out a whole bunch of details - like where did the inital funding come from, how did you support yourself the first two years, why did the big customers buy your product and not your competitiors, etc.
So I am acutually questioning the idea of social mobility, certainly in the US.
There's a comment about GWB using a baseball analogy I like :
"He was born on third base and thinks he made a triple"
I think today most successful people were born on first base at least. |
