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No Such Thing as the Self-Made Rich?
CNBC.com | July 16, 2012 | 10:14 AM EDT

America prides itself on its individualism when it comes to wealth.

The majority of U.S. millionaires and billionaires made their wealth themselves rather than inheriting it from their parents. It’s all about bootstraps and Horatio Alger and Steve Jobs — guys who worked hard, had great ideas and never gave up.

But the presidential election is casting wealth creation in a new light. In a speech on Saturday, President Barack Obama said that government, rather than self-determinism, creates the foundation of large wealth in America.

Here is the line that will no doubt become the flashpoint and anger many entrepreneurs:

“If you’ve got a businessyou didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

And here is the full excerpt:

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with mebecause they want to give something back. They know they didn’tlook, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you somethingthere are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)

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