Not computers. America's largest exports to the rest of the world - 'The New American Dream'

America has always been considered as the land of opportunity seekers where people from all corners of the world settled in the country to earn a decent living with initiative, hard work, smart work, dedication, and perseverance.

America was not discovered, it was built.

It is widely known that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. Now, many historians claim that a Viking explorer might have discovered the country during 1000 AD, while some others state that Asians had discovered the country before them.

But what the country is today is not because who landed there first and who discovered it, but because of the initiatives and foresightedness of a handful of people who built the country to be a global superpower. The country was built by people such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan by their business empires and industrial and technological innovations that revolutionized the modern society.

The initiatives of the leading industrial magnates resulted in the creation of the contemporary financial system, modern railroads, and affordable and accessible vehicles, which in turn helped in shaping up the country in its early days and formulated the concept of the American Dream.

Founded and settled by innovators and risk takers who sought new opportunities, the country has entrepreneurship deeply embedded in its history. From that time, the United States of America became the flag bearer of entrepreneurship and served as an example to the rest of the world.

The rapid growth in the transportation and communication sectors because of the expansion of agriculture and mining enabled entrepreneurs to flourish and find success.

In the late 1970s, the U.S. was the first country to ditch managerial capitalism and embrace entrepreneurial endeavors. It was also helped by its people who had a strong work ethic, valued the dignity of work, aimed to do something of their own, and passed on the value to their future generations.

The premium placed on the dignity of labor is what set the U.S. apart from the rest of the world. Children, from a young age, are encouraged to help parents with the household work. They are told to clean the garage, the backyard, and pitch in with the housework. As they grow up, they try to save money for their college by doing jobs such as delivering newspapers, babysitting, walking dogs for their neighbors, selling lemonade, organizing a garage sale, working in supermarkets, among others.

After the children reach a certain age, they move out of their parents’ home and they have to fend for themselves. Their priority to become independent, to do something of their own, to create something of value, and to lead a great life drive them to get a job, learn how companies work, and eventually start something of their own.

Furthermore, the American education system’s focus on science, mathematics, technology, and business played a vital role in the rise in the tech-based companies. The boom in the tech sector also led to the creation of many notable entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, Bill Gates, the founder and CEO of Microsoft.

That opened the floodgates for many tech founders to work on high technology solutions and products and give birth to the Silicon Valley, a global hub for cutting-edge technology, innovation, research and development. The Silicon Valley is home to several high tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Intel, Cisco, Adobe, eBay, HP Enterprises, NetApp, Netflix, Nvidia, Oracle Corporation, PayPal, Tesla, Visa, Western Digital, among many others.

Filled with entrepreneurs, big multinational corporations, novel startups, and service providers, the U.S. earlier exported high-end home appliances, automobiles, banking services, machinery, equipment, computers, software, among other high-tech products.

However, with the passage of time it exported much more significant and immense thing – that is the idea of the new American Dream. The dream that anyone can be an entrepreneur, anyone can make it big irrespective of their background and the situation they are in, anyone can develop novel ideas and they don’t have to be based on the Silicon Valley.

This new American Dream was espoused by several countries those were shackled by different ideologies ranging from socialism, communism, Marxism, and other ‘-isms’. Countries such as Japan, China, India, Singapore, South Korea, and many others adopted the idea and turned the fortunes of their people for the better.

With its successful entrepreneurs and companies, the U.S. became the flag bearer of entrepreneurship and it became a shining example for many countries to become self-sufficient, independent, and change from being consumers and importers to become producers and exporters.

It is not at all surprising that the U.S. was officially found out to be the most entrepreneurial country in the globe as per the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI). The country has the most favorable conditions for businesses and entrepreneurs to introduce startups and grow new businesses.

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