I participated in a Veteran’s Day Parade this weekend and found it a little hollow.  As society has tried to overcome its shameful treatment of Vietnam veterans, it has now become almost too effusive.  I listened to a lot of pretty words about service and protecting families back home and making the world “safe for democracy,” whatever that means.  It was all very well-meaning, and I’m very appreciative of the effort it took and the sincerity of the words.  But, I decided there will be no more parades in my future.

Yet, when I returned home to Virginia Beach, I read that 4,243 people become entrepreneurs.  In the face of the worst recession since the Great Depression, over four thousand people decided to start a business in this city last year.  It is not fair to say they were entirely people who couldn’t find a job, so they started a business.  The fact is that it is down only 22% from four years ago.  So far this year, over 3,400 people became entrepreneurs.

That is the America I’m proud of and love!  Fearful but fearless people who take chances . . . God bless’em!

The incredibly important intellectual god-mother behind Republican ideology is Ayn Rand, who extolled the virtue of supermen who were entrepreneurs that changed industries but were persecuted by government.  While the mega-wealthy don’t look persecuted to me, I do share her great respect for entrepreneurs.

Veterans of all countries fight for the wives and children back home.  Maybe, it is only the American veteran who fights for the entrepreneurs back home.  And, I think that is worth fighting for.  Maybe, I will go to another parade one day, but I don’t know.