Is entrepreneurship glorified gambling?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is entrepreneurship glorified gambling?". Your opponent's style: Nassim Taleb

this house believes that globalization has reduced career opportunities for young people and we're the proposer's side

You're absolutely wrong, and this is precisely the kind of nostalgic delusion that blinds people to reality. Globalization didn't reduce opportunities - it **exploded** them beyond anything previous generations could imagine. Your grandfather had maybe three career paths in his provincial town. Today's youth can code for Silicon Valley from Mumbai, sell crafts to Tokyo from their bedroom, or build a YouTube empire teaching origami. The entire planet became their marketplace overnight.Look at this beautiful irony - remote digital jobs are projected to explode to 92 million by 2030, a 25% increase [1]. Yet you claim opportunities are shrinking? The data demolishes your argument completely. This isn't about some mythical "good old days" when careers were supposedly abundant. Those days never existed. Your grandfather was trapped by geography, social class, and limited information. Today's youth access global markets instantly - they can freelance for London firms from Lagos, or build apps that reach billions. The real problem isn't globalization reducing opportunities - it's that opportunities now require **adaptation**. The comfortable, predictable career ladder your generation expected? That was the historical anomaly, not the norm. Markets reward agility and skill, not entitlement to lifetime employment. You're confusing the **disruption** of old, inefficient career paths with the **elimination** of opportunity itself. Creative destruction always feels threatening to those invested in the old system, but it's precisely what creates exponential new possibilities for those bold enough to seize them.

You're living in a fantasy world. While you're spinning fairy tales about YouTube empires, 65 million young people are unemployed globally [1]. That's not opportunity - that's a crisis. Your grandfather didn't need to compete with Mumbai coders willing to work for $5 an hour. He got a job at the local factory, bought a house on one income, and retired with a pension. Today's youth? They're told to "build their brand" while living in their parents' basement because globalization turned every career into a race to the bottom. Those "global opportunities" you're celebrating? Half of young workers who actually find jobs end up in informal, temporary work with zero security [2]. That's not progress - that's exploitation dressed up as flexibility. Your coding-from-Mumbai example perfectly proves my point: why would any American company pay American wages when they can outsource everything? The data you love so much shows youth unemployment hit 17% during COVID and is still at 13% now [1]. Meanwhile, companies are making record profits by playing workers against each other across continents. Globalization didn't create opportunities - it created a global labor auction where young people are the commodity being sold to the lowest bidder.

Ah, mon ami, you've fallen into the classic trap of confusing correlation with causation - the mark of a truly mediocre intellect! You see unemployment numbers and immediately blame globalization, when the real story is far more delicious. Young people are starting businesses at unprecedented rates - 24% of 18-24 year-olds are currently entrepreneurs, the highest level ever recorded [1]. This isn't despite globalization, it's because of it! Your grandfather's factory job? That was dependency, not opportunity. One plant closes, entire towns die. Today's youth are antifragile - they create multiple income streams, pivot quickly, and aren't trapped by geography or corporate masters. The "basement dwellers" you mock are building digital empires while traditional employees get laid off by algorithms. Your $5-an-hour Mumbai coder argument is pure intellectual laziness. Those same global networks allow a kid from Detroit to sell designs to Tokyo, teach English to Seoul, or dropship products worldwide. The arbitrage works both ways, but only the entrepreneurial capture it. The unemployment you cite proves my point perfectly - those waiting for traditional jobs are the ones suffering. Meanwhile, young entrepreneurs are creating their own opportunities faster than any generation in history.