American Innovation Is Key for Our Future

In times of crisis, people are inclined to return to their roots and cling to some sort of constant. In this financial crisis, I turn to the annual hallmark of the financial world: Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans.

If there is any worry that America is losing its wealth, let the Forbes list remind us that there are still enormous amounts wealth in this exclusive club of billionaires. The threshold to make the exclusive list this year was a net worth of over $1.3 billion.

This is not that surprising, as our culture has always been fascinated with wealth, praising it as our ultimate ambition. One of the greatest illustrations of this is Jay Gatsby, a fictionalized legend that invokes a 1920s Forbes list style. He epitomized the American dream of having the liberty and opportunity to succeed. Ultimately, Gatsby became intoxicated with his wealth, and the world of money surrounding him corrupted his character. In the past few decades, we, too, have collectively become drunk off our monetary successes.

But many people may cite some of the rich men and women of the Forbes list as part of the cause for our current financial woes. A striking number of the 400 made their billions as investors, venture capitalists and hedge fund managers, all of whom played and won the financial risk-taking game. Some say these Wall Street professionals have hijacked the American style of free-market capitalism.

This is not meant completely to discredit investors, lenders and the financial world. In fact, our bustling financial sector is extremely important and healthy for our economy. But it is important to distinguish this as just one aspect of our economy, and should not be misunderstood as the grounding of our financial apparatus. Instead, I see the real foundation of our economy — what really sets us apart from any other large economy — as our commitment to creativity, hard work and, most importantly, innovation.

If we are going to return to our roots, we must return to the right roots: the distinguishing American originality. This innovative spirit our founding fathers fostered comes to light with a certain few members of the Forbes list. Look at Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon.com, Pierre Omidyar of eBay, and the youngest member of the list, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Their creative minds, adapting to modern notions of the Internet, are living proof of the original advancements which are essential to our American identity and economy. Their stories show us that innovation and invention not only better our society but can create enough wealth for the Forbes list.

Gatsby was killed because of a string of events stemming from his obsession with Daisy, a girlfriend from the rosy past. The corruption of money added to the desire for an unattainable past led to his demise. Let us not follow the same path. We must stop grieving the passing of an era of a certain financial order and position ourselves to face the future.

In the 21st century, the future is in technology. The revolutionary internet gave us eBay and Facebook, but technological progress can continue in other spheres, namely the green economy.

Mixed in Forbes’ typical and imposing advertisements for luxury jets, Maseratis and Middle East investment prospects, there are small glimmers of hope. When I thumbed through them there was a special advertising section telling us to “believe in the wind,” an energy-efficient construction company reminding us that “tomorrow begins today” and a firm promoting “home, sweet hybrid home.” Like the technological inventors, these eco-friendly ads are hard to find in a sea of ads for luxury products. But these pioneering ideas should be highlights and encouraged because investing in climate-conscious projects is where we are headed.

Another Forbes list member, T. Boone Pickens, represents our needed transformation. He is described: “Became a billionaire betting big on black gold; now promoting U.S. energy independence.” It is to this climate-friendly and climate-saving cause we should devote our wealth of money and wealth of ideas.

To regain our financial footing, we have to encourage innovative thought, not innovative profiteering. If we don’t, I fear that there will be little economic prosperity in the future for my generation to rave about.

Dean Lieberman is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service. He can be reached at lieberman@thehoya.com. RAVING ABOUT MY GENERATION appears every other Tuesday.