The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced significant support for small businesses, particularly those run by minorities. This commitment is evident in several key initiatives:
- $50 Million Allocation through the American Rescue Plan
- Record Lending to Minority Businesses
- Capital Readiness Program catered to Minorities
Most of these programs cater to under-represented entrepreneurial groups (that is to say, respective ethnic groups that while representing a larger share of the overall populace, represent a disproportionately low percentage of entrepreneurs), which largely encompass Black-Americans, Hispanics, and LGBT groups.
As it relates to representation within entrepreneurship-what makes some ethnic groups more likely to be entrepreneurs, or to be successful? I began reflecting on my own experience as a first-generation immigrant and as an entrepreneur. Naturally, these reflections were based on the assumptions that there are some homogeneous traits among ethnic immigrant groups.
In various cultures that reside within my family’s native Caucasus, how people measure a person’s life can be essentially captured in how many people show up to their funeral. In the West, this isn’t the case. In the West (and the USA in particular) we largely ascribe prestige to individuals based on their wealth, pedigree, and philanthropic endeavors (substitute philanthropy for education or bureaucratic standing in Europe and other parts of the West).
In these tight knit immigrant groups on the other hand, there is no cheap virtue-signaling. When someone dies, people go to their funeral, which requires a physical effort. When my late father was in the ICU of Hackensack Hospital, we had several friends and family members waiting with us at the Hospital for several hours a day, every day, for over a week. The individuals that come to the funerals or hospitals feel like they are part of the social fabric of society (it feels good!) and are often respected for doing so. Those who don’t come (but may be expected to) are subsequently regarded with some suspicion and as fair-weather friends. To illustrate this point, an individual that is wealthy, well-educated, and/or titled BUT does not partake in these social exercises loses all credibility in these cultures. Skin in the game is an incredible social alignment tool.
“Gratitude is the least of all virtues but when neglected, it becomes the worst of all vices”
–Shakespeare
However, the traditions that intertwine the social fabric in areas including, but not limited to, the Caucasus, the Mediterranean, Africa, and parts of Asia have been developed over centuries and span across ethnic groups or religions. They are ancient traditions that have withstood the test of time, surviving and thriving across various regions, languages, political allegiances, etc. And what is old is often also what has been tested through time.
“We are always wrong in changing ancient ways” – Livy
What has made these traditions robust is precisely the same element that deters the influences of the “culture wars” in the USA. There is no debate around pronouns or safe spaces and no virtue-signaling on social media. Civility is not expressed through sensitivity to identifiers nor through changing a social media profile picture. Real civility takes place at the ground level and involves partaking in a local community- which in its most basic element- is being physically present for members of the community in times of joy & distress; distress is often hard to predict and thus hard to prepare for- thus making it doubly important for community members to partake in things such as funerals.
The same underlying conditions of this social fabric present within these immigrant groups also help establish a culture of entrepreneurship and wealth-generation that is colloquially dubbed “The American Dream.” Regardless of what mainstream media suggests, it is in fact, real and achievable- though it appears to be selective in a Darwinian way. It also has a snowball effect where success breeds success within specific groups. Immigrants that originate from the same place (that has the social fabric elements we discussed earlier) often bring a strong sense of community and collaboration when they come to the USA, frequently seeking out and working alongside fellow countrymen in professional settings. This mutual support not only strengthens their professional networks but also helps preserve cultural ties, creating a vibrant tapestry of shared experiences, empirical insights, and successes in their new homeland.
I don’t think it is accidental that the same immigrants that share this kind of cultural solidarity and “skin in the game” (frequenting one another’s weddings and funerals regularly) also are the immigrants that create and thrive in the USA and within certain business sub-industries, for example:
- Greeks/Turks in Diners/Restaurants
- Central-Asians/Caucasians in Trucking
- Gujrati Indians in Motels
- Punjabi Indians in Convenience stores/ Dunkin Donuts
And various other parallelisms with groups such as Nigerians, Armenians, Jews, Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Persians, Arabs, and more. It remains true that if you want to get rich, America is still the best place in the world to do so. These immigrant groups certainly believe so. They also happen to believe that if you want to enjoy those riches and to live a meaningful life, their country of origin remains the best place to do so. Therefore many seek to “double-dip”, and while enjoying the financial fruits the USA has to offer themselves and their children, also keep an ethnically homogeneous base both domestically (EG- Astoria in Queens, or Dearborn in Michigan) or abroad back in their country of origin.
These immigrant groups represent a much larger share of entrepreneurs / business owners as it relates to their respective population of the USA at large. So when we juxtapose this to the Biden administration’s effort to incentivize more entrepreneurship among under-represented groups- we should be comparing it to immigrant counterparts to understand where the most significant differences lie, as it extends beyond race or gender. For many, it may be a question of the chicken and egg paradox. For others, a case of confirmation bias. While I doubt these specific government initiatives will have adverse effects on the people they are trying to help, I also doubt they will have any real benefit.
In context of what makes certain ethnic immigrant groups predisposed to success we must look at the programs sponsored by the government as missing the forest for the trees. These cases of entrepreneurial success within immigrant groups serve as a vindication for others within that ethnic group. ‘If person X, who hails from the same remote village in [origin country] can do ‘XYZ’, then so can I”
Perhaps Biden’s efforts will help set up the building blocks of the American dream for many minority groups- but more likely it will fall short as the underlying condition within these groups remains the same. This malady also extends beyond the referenced minority groups and is perhaps most obvious with underprivileged white-American groups in areas such as the Appalachians and parts of the deep South. This subset of America often sees no help from anyone- neither a friend of Biden nor a friend of elitists or the mainstream media.
Those within these American underprivileged groups that somehow escape the rat race also end up living elsewhere, and this mobility is perhaps at the heart of the issue. They have no incentives or sanctions in place to return to their communities and partake in various social affairs. Remember that ostracism and social demotions are often punitive tools used by the immigrant cultures I’ve referenced in this writing for those that self-exile themselves.
In trying to engage more entrepreneurship among these under-represented groups through various government incentives, I can’t help but picture an individual throwing a cup of fresh water into the ocean expecting the saline levels to change. The heart of under-representation within some groups in the entrepreneurial space is a manifestation of many of the cultural initiatives that are levied upon the masses.
- The failure of college to provide real world skills let alone an escape from poverty.
- The reliance on college and higher education as a way out of poverty.
- A growing disdain for capitalism and imperialism, and individuals that participate in that system.
- A growing admiration for academia and theory, and individuals that participate in that system.
- DEI initiatives that encourage minority groups to pursue corporate or bureaucratic careers rather than entrepreneurial ones (DEI naturally finds its place in the corporate realm, where success is very politically driven and was historically unfavorable to blacks).
- The ubiquitous general lack of social fabric that is present American culture (those that have assimilated, regardless of origin, share some part of this malady)
I don’t know what the solution is. I do know that in pushing certain cultural narratives, we do a disservice to our youth and occasionally the folks we look to help are the ones that end up with the short-end of the stick. Those that are left with advantage are the high-EQ, political creatures that thrive in bureaucratic environments absent of risk-taking, and thus absent of the spirit of America.