There are a lot of Nobel Prize winning Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve won the Nobel Prize, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American education system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in high schools and universities. If you’ve got the Nobel Prize-- you didn’t earn that. Somebody else made that happen. All these physics labs didn’t build themselves. Government research created those labs so that all the scientists could use them to do their research.
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American education system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in high schools and universities. If you’ve got the Nobel Prize-- you didn’t earn that. Somebody else made that happen. All these physics labs didn’t build themselves. Government research created those labs so that all the scientists could use them to do their research.
Well, you don't inherit noble prizes, so i'm not entirely sure the analogy works.
ReplyDeleteObama's mean-spirited remarks were clearly not directed at people who inherited their businesses, but at those who created them. Also, you can inherit a Nobel Prize, but that's off-topic.
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