The Editor,
Re. "We must educate kids about entrepreneurship" (Opinion, The Tri-City News, Jan. 18).
I had to chuckle about Laura Jones' column on teaching kids entrepreneurship. I guess it's human nature for each generation to think they invented something that has in reality been around for a long time.
Kids being interested in business is nothing new or startling. I remember playing "store" as a child. I didn't think I was preparing myself for a career on Wall Street and neither did my mother - it was simply one of many childhood games.
The recent snowfall brought out a number of kids with snow shovels, ready to clear driveways for a fee.And I'm sure there is not one neighbourhood in our country that has never had a lemonade stand.
I'm wondering if Ms. Jones and her mom had any discussion with the kids where those goodies they were "selling" came from. The literal translation of "entrepreneur" is "between buyers" - i.e., the middle person who is neither the producer nor the end consumer.
Entrepreneurs would not exist without the producers of goods and services - the farmers, the workers. There would be nothing to buy or sell. Stores would look pretty unappealing without roads, water and electricity to serve them. Production of goods and services also requires natural resources, some of which are non-renewable within our lifetime and therefore need to be used wisely.
No discussion or education on entrepreneurship would be complete or even useful without this understanding.
Hanne Gidora, Coquitlam
