Hitting the books

I'm taking an Introduction to Business course through my local community college.

Some "gems" from my textbook:

What is so amazing about Dudley’s success is that he started a manufacturing business in his own kitchen, with his wife and children serving as the new firm’s only employees. He went on to develop his own line of hair-care products and to open a chain of beauty schools and beauty supply stores…While many people would say that Joe Dudley was just lucky or happened to be in the right place at the right time, the truth is that he became a success because he had a dream and worked hard to turn his dream into a reality.
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Business is the organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, the goods and services that satisfy society’s needs.
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(emphasis mine)
Business, 9th Edition
Authors: Pride, Hughes, Kapoor
(c) 2006

It's full-on "American Dream, Inc." with the none-too-subtle blurring of the distinction between wants and needs. I almost laughed out loud as I read each of those passages.

Then I remembered that people actually believe this stuff.