TV: Recipe for Success

If I could collar Karl Marx's ghost and make him watch something, it'd be "Recipe For Success" on the Food Network. This seemingly innocuous semi-reality TV show follows food-based businesses that are just starting out. In the process, it's pretty much a complete rebuttal to every socialist or communist portrayal of the greedy business owner:



To start a business, people often need to sacrifice or put in doubt everything they have - whether it's taking out big loans, tightening budgets, working long hours with little financial reward, or withstanding the embarrassment of having to hawk your wares from shop to shop. Anyone who criticizes the profit that these business owners finally reap probably don't see the massive cost, risk, and hard work involved at the outset.

Bear Naked's story ends well. I can buy their granola at the local supermarket, so they must have survived. And man, they earned that grocery store markup.