PBS celebrates free market capitalism!

Recently came across a TV show featuring Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS called “Faces of America.” In the show he researches the ancestry of famous American’s, then meets with them to enlighten them about their family history.  If features such folks as Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols and Queen Noor.  One segment I saw concerned the great Italian chef Mario Batali. Who commented on hearing some of the troubles that his ancestors had gone thru by saying: “I would have gone back to Italy.”  Gates then asked him, would you be here today talking to me if they had gone back to Italy, and he responded “no.”

This was true in many of the histories, families that had endured great hardships, but had survived and prospered within a system that offered no help, just opportunity and reward for intelligence and hard work.  In the case of champion skater Kristi Yamaguchi, her ancestors had been interned during WWII and all their property confiscated!  While this was not stated, most of the stories I heard were profound testaments to classic free market capitalism, not 1 family (that I heard) had benefited from any government programs, entitlements, preferential treatment, quotas, aid or any other form of help.  They came to America for opportunity; their work ethic, ambition and intelligence was the only other ingredient needed to succeed.