Entrepreneurs like Yu can let a thousand flowers bloom
CAPITALISM is often defended on the basis that it’s the least bad system, that it’s the system that allocates scarce resources in the most efficient way. It’s little wonder that so many young people dabble with the more emotionally appealing – but catastrophic – ideas of Marx. Defenders of capitalism need a better sales pitch: roll out the entrepreneurs.
Naibo Yu – a 27 year-old from China – has just won Youth Business International’s entrepreneur of the year award. Yu is the founder of the innovative educational software company HowLang, which he says “aims to improve the quality of education for students by applying individual learning strategies – providing teachers with modern tools, resources and communication platforms.”
You would be hard-pressed to find a politician of any stripe who isn’t passionate about education. But despite the best-laid plans of education secretaries, the gulf in quality of education between private and state schools remains as large as ever. Thankfully, we don’t need to rely solely on Whitehall’s mandarins to close the gap. Yu and other edtech entrepreneurs will revolutionise the way Britain’s children are taught – entrepreneurs like Yu are developing bespoke computer-based teaching tools that will deliver on the goal of meritocracy.
And Yu’s business isn’t woolly social entrepreneurialism – years before his thirtieth birthday, Yu is running a company employing 200 people and turning over $20m (£12m). Yu’s success is a shining example of how capitalism – even China’s restricted experiment – trumps Communism’s great leap into poverty.
Capitalism isn’t the least bad system – capitalism is freedom and prosperity.
Twitter: @Philip_Salter