The elite wealthy rulers of any culture tend to define its heroes. These legends may contain a germ of truth, but they are mostly bins of sawdust. Their purpose is usually justification of the way things are, presented as the way things are meant to be.
The Greeks and Romans had a male oriented warrior ideology, which justified their entire power structure. European aristocracy similarly claimed to defend its people from barbarians. Chinese Emperors relied on simple “mandate of heaven” _ possibly the most honest of all _ as was similarly espoused by later day French kings.
Today is no different. Those in power have preached the glory of entrepreneurship, of those who _ like knights of old _ take on risk and endure harsh trials for a noble cause.
It is less important whether this is true or not than that lots of people who are not entrepreneurs believe it. Just as an ancient peasant knew he could never be Sir Lancelot, modern simple wage earners and artisans blame their own deficiencies for their own failures in this system.
It’s a clever way to promote the stability of society. I’d be the first to admit it has certain advantages over the mandate of heaven. But there is always the danger that the masses take it too seriously. Not to mention the rulers.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 