When did it become a problem to be a small businessman and become successful? The small businessman - like my father, or like me?

Beck frames entrepreneurial success—especially on a small scale—as a traditional, morally legitimate path to prosperity, and he casts suspicion on cultural or political narratives that treat profit or business growth as inherently problematic. By invoking his father and himself, he personalizes the issue and appeals to a lineage of self-reliance, suggesting that criticism of “small businessmen” is not merely economic policy debate but an attack on ordinary strivers and family legacies. The rhetorical question implies a perceived shift in public attitudes: success that once signified hard work is now, in his view, treated with resentment or regulatory hostility. The quote functions as a populist defense of capitalism rooted in personal identity and grievance.