Searching for rewards

Anyone reading the ‘Ragged Trousered Philanthropist’ today might think it was written last year or the year before. It was written in 1911. It was Robert Tressell’s only book. He died in 1914 and never saw its success.

The book it brings conspicuously into sight the rewards attributed to the capitalist theory driven hard by the entrepreneur. It was published over 110 years ago.

Roy Hattersley (deputy leader of the Labour Party 1983-92) said the book ‘was guilty of the sin of despair’ and finished by saying ‘the importance of the book was the emphasis it places on the need to change the whole social system. Its weakness is its assumption that the working class is too craven and corrupt to work towards achieving that end.’ The end being success

A whole host of successful entrepreneurs have come from what we might call working class backgrounds and/or even immigration. The hunger, desire and need to succeed drives this cohort to better their living standards, to try and succeed and most importantly to be mobile sociably not through education nor training but through financial success.

An admirable trait.