14 of the 75 richest human beings in recorded history were all born in the United States
in the 1830s. Paul Allen, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and half a dozen of the biggest names
in the computer industry were all born between 1953 and 1955. These occurrences are
not something to overlook. Being born in the 1830s meant that these future millionaires
were coming of age in an era where the United States was an open book waiting to be
written in, and old paradigms were dying like flies in the fall. Being born in the early
1950s meant that Gates, Jobs and the rest were hitting their learning years just as the first
personal computers were becoming available.
An old proverb suggests that luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Those people
just mentioned had the good fortune of being born at key moments in human history.
Periods of change when paradigms were shifting and new ideas were starting to reshape
our culture.
We currently live in just such a time, and the people coming of age now are the people
who will either seize that opportunity or be buried under it.
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