Something From Nothing or Nothing from Something?

What do you believe is more powerful long term; man’s ability to create or his ability to destroy? I believe newfound freedom around the globe is poised to launch us on the greatest economic expansion mankind has ever experienced.

Thomas Friedman in his great book “The World is Flat” discusses the growing power of small groups of individuals to impact the world for good or evil. He discusses the world of 9/11 and 11/9. The impact on the world by a small group of thugs on 9/11 is understood by all.

Few people remember why the date 11/9 matters because its impact has been so profound and so benign. The ripples of 11/9 continue to impact us all.

photo credit: Frederik Ramm

On November 9^th, 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. It was an amazing symbol. A wall created not to protect people but to keep them in. Berlin was a symbol to the world. It was a capitalist island in the Soviet sea of East Germany. In 1948, the communists tried to starve it out of existence, starting a blockade of supplies into the city. The western allies began the famous airlift, flying in 8,000 tons of food and other necessities of life to the 2.5 million residents of West Berlin. The airlift works and in May 1949 the blockade is lifted.

The Berlin Wall forced thousands to risk their lives to escape. Over the 28 year history of the Wall, 5000 brave souls managed to escape but 246 failed and were killed by East German border guards. The Wall also prompted some of the most memorable statements by American Presidents like “Ich bin ein Berliner!” by John F. Kennedy and “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall!” by Ronald Reagan.

Then it happened. A unexpected rambling speech by a senior East German official says people can now cross into West Berlin. No one knows what it means. No orders have been given to the border guards. Complete confusion reigns. That night and for days later people take hammers and sledge hammers and tear down the Wall.

The impact of the Wall coming down released a flood of immigration, capital and reunited families. It unleashed Eastern Europe from communism. The impact on the world’s human capital was immense. It allowed millions of individuals to seek their own destiny instead of one dictated by the state. It is easy to lose perspective on how the world has been impacted by 11/9. I believe we have not yet seen the full positive impact from the fall of the Berlin Wall.

A hundred brushstrokes and a palette of paint. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. An MP3 player and a music download website. Apple’s iPod. Something from nothing.

How is something made from nothing? The magic of incentives, risk, imagination and hard work is called human capital. The individual is smarter than the State. The swarm is smarter than the Queen bee.

Are you amazed by the success of the Apple iPod? There had been the Sony Walkman. There were MP3 players aplenty before the iPod. You could illegally download thousands of free songs before you had to pay for them at the iTunes store. The genius of the iPod was the imagination and ingenuity to create the system, infuse it with coolness through great design and build an easy to use website and sell music cheap enough so people would buy instead of steal.

You can be distraught by war in the Middle East and Islamic terrorists. It is more fun to realize that never in the history of the world have so many people been free from Europe to India and China to express their creativity and prosper than ever before. If you want to fight terrorism help spread global prosperity by starting or funding a business, develop new products that make life better and fund micro-finance projects in third world countries that promote peace.

I believe the future belongs to those who create something from nothing. We are out of control. The border guards have no orders. Fasten your seat belt and grab a sledgehammer.