4 - Prejudice and Hostility toward Entrepreneurs Is Common

Summary

Hatred for the rich, hatred for business activities, and hatred for entrepreneurs have been common throughout human history. Based on the existing literature, this chapter divides people’s prejudice and hostility towards entrepreneurs into two causes. One is psychological and the other is epistemological. Envy is the psychological cause. A misunderstanding of knowledge is the epistemological cause. Because most people do not understand the importance of soft knowledge, entrepreneurial money making appears to refer to getting “something from nothing.” By combining psychological envy with epistemological ignorance, we get a good understanding of intellectual prejudice towards entrepreneurs. In order to reduce hostility towards entrepreneurs, economists have a responsibility to establish a correct market theory.