QUORA: ‘What do libertarians think of the "You didn't build that" argument?’
I posted this answer:
First, let me say that I speak not as a “libertarian”, whatever that means, but as an independent, thinking individual.
The basic argument reads something like this: You inherit the achievements of others that came before you, therefore anything you build owes to those prior achievements, not your own efforts.
But this is self-evidently false. True, prior achievements are your starting point. But what you make of those is key. I am a plumber. The knowledge I acquired in trade school, and the teachers who shared that knowledge, all came before me. The tools of the plumbing trade were invented and produced before me. The plumbing materials such as the pipe, fittings, and fixtures I install all came before me. Does this mean my entire 46-year career amounted to nothing? Does this mean that every dollar I earned; every dollar I saved; the life I built for myself and my family; all of that is effectively a handout?
Hardly. Millions inherited the same starting point. It was I who made the effort to absorb and learn that trade knowledge. It was I who responsibly set my alarm every morning so I could get to my job on time. It was I who initiated the effort to put those tools to use rearranging and assembling the pipe, fittings, and fixtures in such a way as to result in functionally useful bathrooms and the like. It’s true I inherited and took advantage of certain “gifts” from those who preceded me. But that’s not what I was paid for. I was paid for what I built from them. Without my personal self-motivated, self-directed effort, the knowledge, the teacher skills, the tools, the materials would all remain unuseful industrial raw materials.
The same goes at all levels of achievement. Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet built huge businesses and fortunes. Could they have done that 300 years ago? Of course not. But at the time they were born, so were millions upon millions of others, each inheriting the same starting point and accumulated advantages. But those millions didn't build what Bezos and Buffet built. Ask yourself why? The answer is obvious.
The "You didn't build that" argument is utterly false—and unjust. True, our industrial civilization was not built by any one person. But neither is it some mystical tribal product. It is the sum of the individual efforts of productive individuals. The productive contribution varies greatly among individuals. But to the extent any individual contributed his productive efforts, and improved on that massive inheritance in support and furtherance of his own life, he most certainly did build that. If "You didn't build that"—if I didn’t build that—then neither did any of those who built the inheritance before me “build that” since they too inherited the achievements of those who came before them. Progress is hierarchical. It is a constant process of building upon what was built before.
But according to “You didn’t build that,” we’re left with the absurd notion that man rose from the cave to this wonderful advanced industrial civilization without anyone building anything! How absurd. Yes, productive individuals, on whatever level of ability, personal circumstances, and effort, did build that to the extent of their contribution to the productive process. And to anyone who has ever done an honest day’s work—Yes, you did build that, for the same reasons I explained above. Don’t let anyone take that pride away from you.
We modern humans are the most privileged humans who have ever lived. We inherit the gifts of industrial civilization. We have a starting point in life that primitive hunter-gatherers could not imagine. But we are paid not for that inheritance, but for what we make of it. We take that gift and build from there. What we build from this amazingly advanced starting point--we, each as unique autonomous individuals--that’s what we build. Yes, your unique personal contribution, You Did Build That.
When you think about it, it is self-evident: You Did Build That. So why, then, would anyone claim you didn’t? Why would anyone want to degrade your achievement? Ignorance, maybe, for some. But the originators of that false concept have a motive; a sinister motive—hatred of achievement, and the related motive to strip achievers of the recognition and pride they deserve.
Related Reading:
From ‘You Didn’t Build That’ to ‘The Nation's Wealth’
Ayn Rand Anticipated Obama's "You Didn't Build That" Outrage
Obama’s Way vs. The American Way —My essay for The Objective Standard
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