How It's Made: Founding Fathers

Have you ever watched the show "How it's Made?" It is about... well... how things are made. The channel shows us in a factory setting the precise way an item is mass produced. Each product turns out perfectly identical or is tossed out with the reject pile. Some people are like this. They want to 'fit in' and be able to relate to everyone else rather than risk being different and going above the bare minimum amount of effort required of them (ahem... like me with some of my blogs). But those who are 'normal' rarely accomplish admirable feats because they lack persistence.

Villainous Business clearly shows us that Alexander Hamilton fits in any other description than 'perfect'. His upbringing was far from cushy. Alexander's mother, Rachel Fawcett Lavien, was pressured into wedding her first husband, John Lavien, who was abusive to her even when she was only a teenager. Sadly, Rachel was not blameless herself. It is recorded that Mr. Lavien had Rachel imprisoned for several months at a time for adultery. When her sentence was up, instead of returning to her husband she fled to St. Kitts where she met James Hamilton. Just a few years later, James abandoned Rachel and a young Alexander, leaving them in debt and poverty.

This is when Alexander made the choice to work tirelessly. At the young age of 11, he got a job to support what was left of his family. His mother also worked laboriously which led to her falling ill in 1768 when she died at age 38.

However, Alexander was not the product one would expect from such a tragic upbringing. His employers described him as "bright and ambitious". In fact, Hamilton was so impressive that his boss, Nicolas Cruger, and others helped gather enough money to send Alexander to America to get an education!

Hamilton did enroll into King's College but when he heard talk of the American Revolution he made the better economic decision to fight in the war for America's independence rather than finish up school. He even excelled in his military career where he was promoted to lieutenant of the Continental Army in 1777. This dedicated young man then earned the interest of THE general George Washington and was asked to be his number one assistant!

In 1800, Hamilton left the honorable position of Washington's assistant in order to study law and eventually became a lawyer. After becoming one of the most prestigious attorneys in Manhattan, Alexander was drawn further into government. He then made it his goal to establish a stronger federal government under the constitution- which caused him to butt heads with MANY people.

When Washington was elected president in 1786, Hamilton was appointed the first secretary of state in America. By the time Hamilton stepped down from his position in politics in 1795, he left the economy in a far more secure state then he found it.

Remember how I mentioned that Alexander tended to butt heads with other cabinet members? I was not exaggerating. Aaron Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel that ended his life in 1804.

Hamilton was far from perfect. His upbringing was woefully inadequate. He was stubborn and made some risky decisions. He is even famous for one of the first sex scandals in our nation's history. Yet, this makes him even more of an intriguing person when one considers his wonderful accomplishments in the constant uphill battle that was his life. Hamilton proves that there is no such thing as a 'cookie cutter' mold for a founding father or an influential person. He was persistent enough to flourish no matter what the circumstances were.

Smith, Newton, and Human Flourishing

I would like for you to read the lengthy definition of economics according to Investopedia and visualize what is involved in economics. Perhaps you are thinking of income, wealth, numbers, business and government. Now I will tell you about the economic giant known as the "founding father of capitalism".

Adam Smith was not famous for the reasons in association to economics you would think of at first. His book titled The Wealth of Nations focused primarily on a less expected subject than usual: public policy. His book focuses on that of human flourishing and is more philosophical than the average approach to economics which is that of practicality and number crunching. In his book, Adam Smith provides a good argument as to why philosophy is just as important to policy in regards to economics and defends economic liberty by focusing on individuals rather than numbers.

Adam Smith's definition of economics in accordance to human flourishing can be summed up in three categories: economic flourishing, political flourishing, and moral flourishing.

Smith refused to give into the mentality of an economic hierarchy in which only a minority has the opportunity of becoming prosperous while the 'lower class' is left in poverty. His reality of successful economic flourishing is a non-ranked system where the thriving of the multitudes allows the blooming of the minority to be far greater than it would be without a content majority. To be collectively prosperous is essential because a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. 

Are you willing to invest more time, money and energy into a pet you have grown fond of and named or a feral cat on the side of the road? Most would NOT go with the latter. In the same way, citizens of an economy are more prone to successful exchanges when they not only are assets to each other but an amity to each other as well. The combination of a utility and an allay is the perfect tool to build political flourishing.

According to The Huffington Post "We tend to mimic the smiles or frowns of others because it helps us better understand what other people are feeling, allowing us to respond appropriately". Our mimicry of body language can be compared to our tendency to thrive when others are succeeding in an economy. In regards to moral flourishing, man is inherently more likely to do well in a group of successful people than a group of unsuccessful people.

Most are familiar with Issac Newton's first law of motion stating that 'objects in motion tend to stay in motion while objects at rest tend to stay at rest'. The same can be said about Adam Smith's philosophy that the economy will boost in the event of individual flourishing. 

Pretend you have a task to complete while you and your whole family is on the couch watching TV and eating junk. Now picture just yourself doing that while the rest of your family is eating healthy, exercising and getting work done. You'll most likely be more motivated to finish your work when everyone else is being active. Collective success and happiness is the bridge for the people to reach individual flourishing in an economy.