Industriousness and self-reliance run through the veins and arteries of our great country.

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy should be required reading for all High School students.

Porkoplis' favorite economist, Walter Williams, provides another tour-de-force piece (Only in America) that offers emperical evidence on our economy's ability to create wealth and motivation:

...Here's my question for you: What are we to make of people who preach pessimism and doom to people -- telling them that they're poor because others are rich or telling blacks that they'll never make it because of societal racism? What are we to make of politicians, media pundits and college professors who preach the politics of envy -- telling people lies that the rich became rich off the backs of the poor? I grew up poor in a housing project in North Philadelphia, and those weren't the lessons prevalent a half-century ago. My mother used to preach that "We have a beer pocketbook but champagne tastes." And my stepfather used to admonish, "If you want to make it in this world, you have to come early and stay late." Those messages are far more beneficial to a poor person than those of victimhood and pity. Personally, I like evangelical minister Reverend Ike's response when asked what should we do about the poor. He said, "The best thing you can do for the poor is not become one."

Porkopolis offers a corollary to Reverend Ike's recommendation. Simply setting and working towards a goal of self-reliance is a reward on to itself. Savor the journey over the destination.