Have We Built a Society That Knows How to Spend Money, But Has Forgotten How to Create It?

Newton Emerson posed an important question this week, in his Irish News opinion piece. when he asked which political party in Northern Ireland truly represents the self-employed, entrepreneurs and what he described as the “makers and strivers” of society. He used the term petite bourgeoisie, I am sure my old history teacher would have loved that!

It is a timely piece, and as I read it, I felt, this is something I have been thinking about exploring more recently. I admire greatly Newton’s work, let’s just say great minds think alike!

From my perspective however perhaps the bigger issue is not political at all. Perhaps it is cultural.

Because the more I look at Northern Ireland’s economy, education system and political discourse, the more I wonder whether we have unintentionally built a society that has become more comfortable administering wealth than creating it.

For decades, our political conversations have revolved around the allocation of money rather than the generation of it. We debate budgets endlessly. We argue over block grants, public spending settlements and departmental pressures. We discuss how to protect jobs, fund services and secure more Treasury support.

But far less often do we ask deeper questions about how we create a more entrepreneurial, commercially confident and economically dynamic society.

This is not an attack on public services or the people who work within them. My own family, like many in Northern Ireland, includes healthcare professionals and public servants. We need strong public services, and good people working within them.

But strong public services ultimately depend on a strong and productive economy. And that requires people willing to build businesses, take risks, create jobs and generate wealth.

The uncomfortable truth is that Northern Ireland has never fully developed a culture that truly celebrates those things. Mr Emerson, seems to concur and, it would seem do our local politicians, if his OP is to be believed.

That may be partly historical. During the Troubles, stability mattered. Secure employment mattered. A dependable salary mattered. Government spending expanded and the public sector became not simply an employer, but a form of economic stabiliser.

Understandably, many families encouraged their children towards “safe” professions and stable careers. But over time, that mindset became embedded in the culture itself.

Even today, entrepreneurship often feels peripheral to how we educate young people or discuss economic success.

I wrote previously about the lack of meaningful entrepreneurship within careers guidance in our schools. Too often, young people are still funnelled towards established pathways while self-employment, business creation and commercial skills are treated as secondary considerations rather than serious career options. This piece was published on Slugger, and the comments were revealing, if not in line with my thoughts on the overall mindset!

One of the most overlooked skills of all is sales.

I have often stated— only half jokingly, that sales training should be part of the school curriculum in Northern Ireland. Because sales is not simply about selling products. It is about communication, persuasion, confidence, relationship-building and the ability to turn ideas into reality.

Every entrepreneur sells.
Every business owner sells.
Every charity leader sells.
Every consultant sells.
Even politicians, fundraisers and civic leaders are fundamentally engaged in persuasion.

Yet “sales” still carries an oddly negative perception in parts of our culture, as though commercial ambition is somehow less respectable than administrative or professional achievement.

That mindset matters more than we realise.

Because societies that undervalue enterprise eventually struggle to generate enough growth to sustain the very public services they cherish.

Northern Ireland now finds itself trapped in a cycle where we increasingly debate how to divide limited resources while paying insufficient attention to how we expand the economy itself.

We see the consequences everywhere:
low productivity,
weak indigenous business growth,
an overreliance on public spending,
and too few scalable local enterprises.

At the same time, many people, particularly younger generations, increasingly realise that traditional career structures no longer offer the security they once did. Home ownership feels further away. Career ladders feel less certain. Many workers now expect to have multiple careers across their lifetime.

Ironically, some of the people adapting most successfully to this new reality are those over 50 (this writer included) who are reinventing themselves through consultancy, mentoring, self-employment and portfolio careers.

But that adaptability is still not sufficiently reflected in how we prepare people for the future economy.

We continue to educate many young people primarily to enter systems rather than create opportunities.

And perhaps that is the real issue Newton Emerson was circling around in his piece.

The question is not simply which political party speaks for entrepreneurs and the self-employed.

The deeper question is whether Northern Ireland, culturally and politically, truly values them at all.

Because until we start celebrating the people who build businesses, develop ideas, create jobs and generate opportunity, we will continue to struggle economically — no matter how many times Stormont asks London for more money.

A society cannot endlessly consume prosperity it does not create.