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Personally I don't think people are resentful to entrepreneurs but it isn't glorified the way it is elsewhere. If I told an American friend I ran my own busines

Personally I don't think people are resentful to entrepreneurs but it isn't glorified the way it is elsewhere. If I told an American friend I ran my own business they would usually be very interested and tell me how great that is. Most of the people I know (Europeans) tend to think of it as 'not a real job' and regular tell me 'I should get a real job'. These aren't people trying to hurt me, they legitimately believe that I need a real job. I don't think entrepreneurship is celebrated less here, I think that is it only celebrated when you are either incredibly successful or have something to show for it i.e. you have a store you run. It's hard for a lot of people to understand software development and that I can work from my house with nothing but a laptop, meet clients online, and only talk with them via the internet.

aes256 14y ago
Certainly, in British culture, hard work carries a certain amount of respect, and those who are perceived to have obtained wealth without putting the work in (as applies to many 'entrepreneurs') are absolutely resented. Perhaps related is the fact ostentatious displays of wealth are generally frowned upon. In the US it seems fashionable for entrepreneurs to become fabulously wealthy, then flaunt their wealth as 'inspiration' to other would-be entrepreneurs. In Britain, if not the rest of Europe, this draws resentment more so than admiration.
- walshemj 14y ago
  Not sure id agree with you "old" money will look down on new money. Apparently some old money Sloanes used look down Kate Mideltons parents self made millionaires. Her Mum as an ex Air hostess was refered to as ‘doors to manual'
rtpg 14y ago
to be fair I don't think that being a telecommuting software developer is glorified anywhere really. From France, the view seems to be that small businesses are mainly for artisanal things. People don't really have this idea of working your life away because our culture believes (rightly so? I imagine here the opinion might be opposite) more in that work is not the meaning of life, and so the idea of spending so many hours toiling away (especially in something like software eng, where there are 10000s of consultancies you could work for and probably be beter paid) seems counterintuitive. That or you're just greedy. I'd also like to point out that Europe is not a country, talking about "Europeans" is silly outside of the context of "people who have access to affordable healthcare", and that mentalities change enormously across borders.
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  >> "Europe is not a country" I completely agree. I was just referring to it as the article referred to it. I was talking specifically about the UK & Ireland.

aes256 14y ago

Certainly, in British culture, hard work carries a certain amount of respect, and those who are perceived to have obtained wealth without putting the work in (as applies to many 'entrepreneurs') are absolutely resented. Perhaps related is the fact ostentatious displays of wealth are generally frowned upon. In the US it seems fashionable for entrepreneurs to become fabulously wealthy, then flaunt their wealth as 'inspiration' to other would-be entrepreneurs. In Britain, if not the rest of Europe, this draws resentment more so than admiration.

walshemj 14y ago
Not sure id agree with you "old" money will look down on new money. Apparently some old money Sloanes used look down Kate Mideltons parents self made millionaires. Her Mum as an ex Air hostess was refered to as ‘doors to manual'

rtpg 14y ago

to be fair I don't think that being a telecommuting software developer is glorified anywhere really. From France, the view seems to be that small businesses are mainly for artisanal things. People don't really have this idea of working your life away because our culture believes (rightly so? I imagine here the opinion might be opposite) more in that work is not the meaning of life, and so the idea of spending so many hours toiling away (especially in something like software eng, where there are 10000s of consultancies you could work for and probably be beter paid) seems counterintuitive. That or you're just greedy. I'd also like to point out that Europe is not a country, talking about "Europeans" is silly outside of the context of "people who have access to affordable healthcare", and that mentalities change enormously across borders.

k-mcgrady 14y ago
>> "Europe is not a country" I completely agree. I was just referring to it as the article referred to it. I was talking specifically about the UK & Ireland.