The value that the Founders placed on self-reliance and entrepreneurship can be seen in the way that they lived their lives. Benjamin Franklin — the original self-made man — attributed his success chiefly to his own initiative. “Energy and persistence,” he wrote, “conquer all things.”
The Founding Fathers understood liberty as the right of each individual to pursue his or her own desires, ambitions, and interests, so long as they did violate the rights of other individuals in the process. Thomas Jefferson enshrined liberty as a natural right in the Declaration of Independence.
Individualism is on trial. Its proponents claim that it encourages social progress and generates economic opportunity. Its accusers contend that it breeds selfishness and economic injustice. But what does the evidence show?
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