This morning, Larry read part of David Brooks’ column on the driving economic force of grandiose entrepreneurs. Of course, Steve Jobs would be a prime example, but Brooks focused on Elon Musk, whose serial entrepreneurship has made him a billionaire. While still in college (or maybe graduate school) he identified three areas that he felt would most transform humanity: the Internet, sustainable energy, and space exploration. He’s proceeded to create hugely successful enterprises in all three.
Brooks asks if maybe some reader will think “What grand transformational process do I want to be a part of?” Of course, Brooks is talking in terms of economics, of the forces that create opportunities, jobs, and progress, but whether consciously or not, doesn’t each of us transform the world we live in?
I’ve done my bit in the world of commerce. Now my process includes working to create a few insightful and moving poems, a flourishing organic garden, as much humanely coexisting livestock as my neighbors will allow (I’m still thinking about a pig), and taking my grandchildren camping for as many days a year as I can. I want to live fearlessly and honorably in the natural and social world in which I find myself. That seems like a practice worth the effort.
In any case, it’s an interesting question to ask–how am I affecting the world? I often think about that, especially while driving, when one’s true inner self tends to be visible to all in the way one maneuvers through traffic. And you have to love a guy like Brooks who can use “temerity” correctly in a sentence.