Is the entrepreneurialism of theft/deception................defensible/respectable?

[99call]

I am a small business owner, and I have a great respect for employers, entrepreneurs, inventors, philanthropists etc. 

I also have a massive dislike for con artists, husslers, criminals 

I feel as if within the last 10 years these two worlds have morphed together and the stigma of being ripped off or stolen from is weighted greater on the victim as opposed to the con man.  There seems to have been a much greater degree of respect fomenting for product free dickheads that manage to extort old ladies out of their pensions.......are these people entrepreneurs?   am I missing something?

I detest the culture within kids wanting to be influencers making youtube video's about nothing, or watching someone else.........watching someone else.........watching someone else clipping their toe nails.      Someone might say "yeah.... but he's got 23million hits,  and some serious cash of the back of it".   Part of me is genuinely over the moon for the 13 year old that is now a multi millionaire............the other much bigger part wants to make a viral video where I deep fry them alive. 

Influencers are the shallow end of the pool really,   whats much worse are 'entrepreneurs' making fortunes out of poverty.  For example recently in the UK there was a scandal where by power companies were breaking into customers homes, and fitting top up power meters. This is highly illegal, but they have done this all over the country for the last 20yrs.   Poor people in the UK, pay much higher rates for power than the rest of the country.  It's basically daylight robbery but in a white collar. 

In conclusion.  is all 'entrepreneurialism' now respectable?.......or do we still hold distain for con artists/thieves?

[dominattorney]

If the theranos, SBF, SVB, et al crowd being featured on the cover of Forbes is any indication we have lost sight a great deal of what is important in business lately. More when I have time. 

[El Presidente]

I don't like to throw stones at influencers.  Finding a way of getting paid for doing nothing/little will be an essential skill in the AI world to come 

As to the question is all 'entrepreneurialism' now respectable?.

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of starting and launching a business and includes the willingness and ability to take on that business risk. 

Your power company are not entrepreneurs and neither are they practicing entrepreneurialism. Theft possibly. Deception likely.

 

 

[99call]

7 hours ago, El Presidente said:

I don't like to throw stones at influencers.  Finding a way of getting paid for doing nothing/little will be an essential skill in the AI world to come 

As to the question is all 'entrepreneurialism' now respectable?.

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of starting and launching a business and includes the willingness and ability to take on that business risk. 

Your power company are not entrepreneurs and neither are they practicing entrepreneurialism. Theft possibly. Deception likely.

I whole heartedly agree with you on the weight and respect that 'should' (in an ideal world) be placed on the term entrepreneur,  and also the dividing line to me between that and theft is obvious...........but is it increasingly less obvious to generations coming through? 

Terms like "get your hussle on" and disgusting characters like Alex Jones and Andrew Tate.  The perception of whom is to blame in con jobs, I would argue has shifted (in the last 10 years) more and more onto the person conned, than the con man/women themselves.  It's as if when caught their defence is, "why should I be held accountable for other peoples stupidity/gullability?"

I feel like we are coming to the end of this era gladly. I think the boozy painful hangover of the post truth era has commenced, and society is taking a closer look at these bullshit merchants.  Interestingly I think with the AI revolution just around the corner, a new premium 'may' have been placed on truth telling, and its foundational importance to what happens next. 

A centre left wing commentator James O'Brien came up with a phrase for those realising they had been conned over Brexit "Compassion for the conned.......contempt for the con men",  but how far does this go when it comes to tough financial times, and how someone earns a crust.  I think in reality if people are truly desperate they will do anything, and thats where I think it gets interesting and complex as a talking point.          I think over the last 10 years (and obviously it's always been present in society to differing degrees) there has been a blurring of the lines between the idolatry of easy money making, and whats right and wrong.   

For my part I hope we can rediscover the true meaning of an entrepreneur (as you rightly pointed out). Original ideas, products, businesses etc

 

[cnov]

It's expensive to be poor in the UK, I always remember getting charged £25 a time for going over my account balance back when I was a teenager, the thieving bastards could have quite easily just stopped the card working, but where's the fun in that, let's charge a 16 year old £25 for a £2 infraction.

Those electric meters also charge the customer more for their tariff and repay debt at the same time, so electricity gets incredibly more expensive over night.