News & Analysis
You're Not Rich Because You're a Loser
The reason why you aren't a millionaire (or on your way to becoming one) is really quite simple. You probably assume it's because you aren't earning enough money, but the truth is that for most people, whether or not you become a millionaire has very little to do with the amount of money you make. It's the way that you treat money in your daily life. – The Street
Dominant Social Theme: It's your fault you are not rich. The system is just fine and plenty of people are well off because they planned and you didn't.
Free-Market Analysis: This article is in line with a larger dominant social theme promoted by the power elite: Whatever is wrong with your world is YOUR fault. Here are the 10 points along with brief responses, and then a further summary below.
"You Care What Your Neighbors Think." Our response: Do adults really spend their hard-earned money on items designed to one-up those who live nearby?
"You Aren't Patient ... If you have credit card debt it's because you couldn't wait until you had enough money to purchase something in cash, you are making others wealthy while keeping yourself in debt." Our response: Sometimes when there is little cash and a big need, credit may be helpful.
"You Have Bad Habits... Whether it's smoking, drinking, gambling or some other bad habit, the habit is using up a lot of money that could go toward building wealth." Our response: Is smoking really going to prevent millionaire status? Don't some millionaires smoke?
"You Have No Goals ... It's difficult to build wealth if you haven't taken the time to know what you want. You need to take the time to set saving and investing goals on a yearly basis and come up with a plan for how to achieve those goals." Our response: Planning is helpful, but a high-paying job doesn't hurt either.
"You Haven't Prepared ... Bad things happen to the best of people from time to time, and if you haven't prepared for such a thing to happen to you through insurance, any wealth that you might have built can be gone in an instant." Our response: This assumes the insurance company is not going to try to devalue or even refuse to honor your claim, thanks to the "fine print."
"You Try to Make a Quick Buck .... For the vast majority of us, wealth doesn't come instantly. You may believe that people winning the lottery are a dime a dozen, but the truth is you're far more likely to get struck by lightning than win the lottery." Our response: Even getting rich slowly is difficult in a high-inflation and high-tax environment. The ones that seem to do the best overall are those involved with government-sanctioned organizations such as teachers unions and public service unions.
"You Rely on Others to Take Care of Your Money ...You believe that others have more knowledge about money matters, and you rely exclusively on their judgment when deciding where you should invest your money." Our response: This is not surprising given the massive bombardment of advertising virtually demanding that people hand over their life savings to those who can invest it "professionally."
"You Invest in Things You Don't Understand ... You hear that Bob has made a lot of money doing it, and you want to get in on the gravy train" Our response: Again, this is hardly surprising given the amount of publicity that various investment alternatives are afforded, depending on the business cycle.
"You're Financially Afraid ... You are so scared of risk that you keep all your money in a savings account that is actually losing money when inflation is put into the equation, yet you refuse to move it to a place where higher rates of return are possible because you're afraid that you will lose money." Our response: Given the volatility of the investment world in the past few years, this seems to us a logical fear.
"You Ignore Your Finances ... You take the attitude that if you make enough, the finances will take care of themselves. If you currently have debt, it will somehow resolve itself in the future." Our response: This, too, is a logical response to what has occurred in the past few years. People tend to feel that their investments and even their future are controlled by powerful forces beyond them.
The article ends by concluding that if a person wants to be a millionaire it is "within your power." But the individual will have to "face the issues that are currently keeping you from creating that wealth before you will have a chance to call yourself one."
As regular viewers and feedbackers will surely have guessed by now, we have problems with this article that go beyond the above responses. We have hypothesized the system has been deliberately constructed to provide the promise of prosperity but not, necessarily, the reality. The following, then, is a summary of facts and informed speculation ...
The emergence of central banking and the graduated income tax has made it difficult for many to save enough for old age. When one adds up the real inflation rate plus the entire gamut of taxes that local, state and federal agencies demand, the result may be upwards of 50 percent of one's real income.
But this isn't the only problem. The gyrations of the value of financial markets are often so extreme that they are frightening to many. Given what people have seen of the markets in the past two years, it's easy to understand why someone would be reluctant to keep his or her life savings in various touted investment vehicles, certainly in the larger stock market.
Of course, these days, no investment option is especially palatable (with the exception, perhaps, of precious metals). With interest rates held artificially, low, less volatile investments pay next-to-nothing. But the bigger issue is whether the system itself is viable and how it has been constructed.
We've argued in these pages that starting after the American Civil War, a system of "investing" was constructed that was aimed at parting people from their savings and in a sense making them dependent on government for their old age. This system was refined considerably in 20th century.
The advent around the world of high-tax, high-price inflation environments thanks to central banking and the graduated income tax virtually forced people into the stock market. At the same time precious metals markets were manipulated to keep the price of gold and silver down. Finally, as a finishing touch, a fiat money, dollar-reserve system was foisted on the world. It was backed my American military might, which made its imposition irresistible.
An entire resource base of media touts and professional advisors gradually emerged in the 20th century. Computer technology only added to the frenzy. But behind it all was an immensely wealthy Anglosphere power elite that was organizing and reorganizing the financial system to best suit its purposes.
The Anglosphere elites tend to bank in Switzerland; for the most part they do so secretly. Switzerland and its private banking services are part of this larger system. One could even suggest that Switzerland would not exist without the breathtaking flows of elite money – trillions we would estimate over time, much of it invested in gold bullion.
These elites own the spectrum of the investment supply chain. They control the financial markets through the business cycle (artificially created by central banking) and they control the world's industrial base, including farming and transportation. They are involved in the entire spectrum of business growth.
The effort is increasingly meticulous and begins with the selection of certain individuals at a very early age who are groomed through elite schools that then funnel them into elite colleges. These individuals are further channeled into elite scholarship programs such as Rhodes, or Fabian facilities such as the London School for Economics.
It is no coincidence that some of the world's largest companies have been formed by youngsters attending institutions such as Harvard and Oxford. Mysteriously, funding is available to them immediately and market acceptance is enhanced by a variety of advertising and public relation methodologies. At this point in time – unlike in past epochs – one could speculate that no company grows to a size of any significance without the imprimatur of the Anglosphere elite and the subsequent or initial involvement of Intel agencies.
The life cycle of these companies is rigorously cultivated. The elites have an enormous stake in them from the beginning. They are nourished throughout a given business cycle while the larger hysteria builds and listings occur at the big exchanges at the top of market. Investors think they are "getting in at the bottom" when they are actually only facilitating an elite cash out.
The cycle is repeated over and over again through decades. It eventually comes to represent a form of taxation. Most people buy at the top and sell at the bottom. It does not seem to us that it is entirely an individual's fault if he or she has difficulty making ends meet in the modern era. The system is not conducive to winning.
The economic crisis that started in 2008 has not subsided in our view. The dollar reserve system essentially ended and nothing has yet been put in its place. This may be by design as the elites have signaled clearly their intention to move toward global governance and a global economy including a one-world currency. To do this, they will need to inflict upon the Western world especially a maximum amount of chaos. (Out of chaos, order.)
Conclusion: The Western economic system – one deliberately created by the powers that be after World War II – is in a kind of free fall. Within this context, the idea that people's problems mostly stem from the way they "treat money in their personal life" is questionable indeed.
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Posted by injun1 on 07/25/11 03:09 PM
Thank you for your input. I have had the fortunate opportunity to personally visit and account firsthand many different countries and citizens of the world.
As I traveled throughout the old Soviet block countries and Europe I found those qualities and views you have mentioned. I was not surprised. Hidden but not seen by the authoritarian was the simple belief of tribalism. It is the common man, for common ground, for common good. Thank you for your reply!
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Posted by cat writer on 07/24/11 06:44 PM
I second your statement, David.
To be successful in the United States means that you have to be a criminal, a racketeer, or be an accessory to or enabler of such.
An active conscience in America is a disability.
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Posted by cat writer on 07/24/11 06:36 PM
The proportion of psychopathy in a population is actually from 1 to 4% according to Lobaczewski. These are primary psychopaths who became that way by congenital or acquired defect.
The secondary psychopaths are those who chose to disengage their conscience or perhaps never learned to exercise it while growing up. Lobaczewski estimates that to be 12-16%. In the United States, I would estimate that proportion to be much, much higher--an overwhelming majority of the population. Otherwise, Anthony would have to find something else to do with his time than to operate this website.
DB, the reason for so many "Indians" being impoverished has to do with the Puritan or Yankee invasion beginning in Boston in 1630. This righteous vermin, to the best of my knowledge, created the concentration camp, Deer Island, Massachusetts during King Philip's War in the winter of 1675-76 for the natives that the Puritans converted to Christianity.
They were never stopped.
I have often declared on these pages that the Puritans and other psychopathic Protestant cults are what made America what it is today. DB, you have hit one of the major memes of the past 40 years and the recurrent meme of the evil Puritan set of the past 400. It is designed to invalidate, demoralize and defeat competitors.
I recall the New Age movement that started in the 1970's. There were themes within it that espoused freedom and responsibility, especially with and through organizations like est and Actualizations. However, those running these organizations churned through its employees and customers, transforming employees' and customers' energy and money into fat profits and luxuries. Scientology and much of Christianity as practiced in America are similar scams.
If these organizations ever came close to delivering on their promises to help, America would have descended on them as did the Chinese with the Falun Gong, except that the Americans would have trumped up the charges.
At the end of the day, we have to conclude that a successful human being, a live person, is a deadly threat to the typical American, and that the memes herein described are used to disable and eliminate that threat to such people's ranking with the Divine.
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Posted by cat writer on 07/24/11 06:04 PM
Injun, great stuff!
The Native American nations are just as valid as the French, Kazakhs, Basques, Zulu, Jews and Red Sox. I do not feel comfortable calling them "Indian nations" or referring to the people as "Indians". I would prefer using terms like "Cherokee" or "Miami".
How can you maintain quality control, to ensure that the pathological do not gain control over your public affairs? What will you do to preserve public mental and spiritual health? How will you combat American irresponsibility?
I suggest that you investigate nations like the Czech which has several qualities and view the world in ways similar to Native Americans. Furthermore, the Czechs need allies to help them recover from the centuries of authoritarianism, let alone the 1939-89 period.
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Posted by Bischoff on 07/23/11 09:59 PM
@ EntropyAnn
The Daily Bell has allowed spirited thoughts and words. I can atest to it. The staff rarely agrees with me, however their motivation to get people to think and reason are the same as mine. While the DB and I rarely agree, the readers are afforded an opportunity to make up their own mind as regards our arguments.
Ingo
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Posted by EntropyAnn on 07/23/11 12:13 AM
While it is true that blaming the individual entirely for their failings is fallacious on its head, the fact that these people allow themselves to become victims time and again cannot be denied; in fact, the personal habits and beliefs of individuals is the only area we can effectively affect at the present time. This is why such publications as the Daily Bell and LewRockwell are more crucial now than they've ever been.
Bold and accessible, these opines, articles and editorials represent a vast departure from the degeneracy contributed to by the parasite class and are indispensable in the fight for liberty for our own and future generations. As the Power Elite have taught us through their own missteps and errors, violence is an imperfect tool, useful only in particular applications.
Any meaningful changes, as Ghandi and MLK expressed, will be affected through spirited thoughts and words. We can only hope that we can appeal to all of the victims of the current establishment through our own, and convince them to affect a peaceful and meaningful exchange of our yokes, shackles and chains for the wages of liberty.
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Posted by Bischoff on 07/22/11 06:18 PM
John,
Yes, I know, but then I qualified my remarks somewhat. Yes, you can still thrive on industriousness, inventiveness and integrity, but at what cost?
Is it even moral to pull a lot of people on the sled behind you? I don't think so. I believe all humans are condemned to "work". They only need be afforded an equal opportunity to do so. That's why I am an advocate of the "land value tax" and a "redeemable currency system". These two systems provide equal opportunity to all the people to make a living. I love competition, but let's have it on an even playing field without dragging a sled full of people behind you.
I have had the fortune to operate a commercial printing business for 28 years. The printing business as such is unique in that it involves the application of physical labor as well as the provision of services. Every customer has a unique requirement. The scheduling of production is a constant effort in the quest to fully use the capacity of the printing equipment. There are no dull moments in the printing business. Yet, it allowed me to make a living without feeling that I was taking advantage of people.
You are quite right, it is your work which sustains the monetary elites and makes them "rich". It is their challenge to you to emulate them which presents the problem. Then, you have to chose whether you want "riches" or whether you want to keep your soul.
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Posted by JQ on 07/22/11 01:44 PM
Good one John Danforth..indeed, the over 85% of Detroiters that have been sucking at the teet of the gov't welfare scam since the sixties, makes the pimp poster child of Detroit show just how 'gov't helping people' turns people into slugs.
You are right on with your "puts Detroiters into a protected class"Click to view link is a class all right, a class of misfits, of entitlement mentaliites, a class of thieves who love the fact that their gov't has TAUGHT them how to lie, cheat and steal...THINK ABOUT IT DAN...what bigger professional welfare agency abounds than the US government? But the roosters are soon coming home to roost as both gov't employees, those living on the dole, and alas, even congressmen, who think that they are above it all, find themselves all in dire straits...I guess we just have to sit it out while they suck the rest of us dry and when all the money is gone, they too, will LOSE EVERY RED CENT THEY HAVE RECEIVED BY ILL GOTTEN GAIN! I dare anyone to show me a tree whose branches are bigger than its truck..and it remained standing. No one can point to such a thing..so too, the gov't branches have far exceeded the trunk, so much in fact, that one can expect none other than the financial equivalent of the black plague and that elizabethen ditty of "ring around the rosy". 'The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies'. Today the dead bodies are those living in greed/corruption/entitlements.
"Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
"Ashes, Ashes"
We all fall down!"
No thanks to all the greedy ones from gov't to crooked banksters to the PE who pull strings divining themselves as masters of the universe. Funny isn't it, that just yesterday that NASA closed its doors at the same time that BORDERS BOOKSTORES
shuttered their doors as well...almost like a foretelling of both the outer space and inner space collapsing in many societies around the world, not just the US.
For indeed, the outer public space of mankind has crumbled in no small part to the dead inner landscape of morality, common decency, values and the pursuit of love, liberty, truth, goodness and beauty. Both spheres/inner and outer disappeared.
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Posted by JQ on 07/22/11 01:14 PM
@back at you Zen on points six to ten.
6) Try to Make a Quick Buck
You could have subtitled this one, 'Dream on little dreamer' or 'someday over the rainbow' a la Judy Garland. Still believe in the tooth fairy...this one will bite!
Good luck at the lottery. How often I am standing in a line where some dimwit in front of me is blowing thirty bucks on lottery tickets and the cancer sticks we call cigarettes. Then said moron with eventual gaping hole in his throat gasping for air, expects me to pay for his disease via the healthcare program. More often than not these bozos look like they need a decent set of clothes, a haircut or toothbrush or a decent diet. But all to sad, some adult/children think the magic fairy will make them a winner. Clue Bud, only one in a zillion wins at gambling. Fatter chance of meeting the tooth fairy!But this tooth fairy takes your teeth out!
7) Rely on Others to Take Care of Your Money.
Truer words were never spoken. It amazes me that people work so hard for their money and then just entrust it to a total stranger. No one but no one has control over my money...I can invest it just as good as the next guy and I needn't pay a commission for the chance that I will be screwed by some less than honest broker seeking his interests. My brother went to his broker a couple years ago and wanted to put down 20 grand on Ford stock. Broker berated him,told him he was absolutely nuts so my brother left dejected and didn't implement his intuition, and viola in a few months that $2 a share went up past $100..so much for broker's!
8) Invest in Things You Don't Understand.
Guess what, your broker and no one else can explain to you what derivatives and credit default swaps are, so why do they trade them? Simply put, they are hugh scams guaranteeing a choice few make money, in particular, PE scam artists.
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Posted by JQ on 07/22/11 12:50 PM
@ Zenbillionaire-Thank you Zen for pointing out the obvious.
1) Don't Care What Your Neighbors Think.
The US is in tragic trouble not just because of scam mortgage companies, but as well, moron americans who bought that 4,000 sq ft home replete with granite countertops/entertainment, room/3 car garage and more when their wallet could only afford 2,000 sq ft. Then doomsday arrives when a parent loses a job and they cry foul.. so my heart does not go out to all the fools who cared what their neighbors thought, by attempting to 'keep up with the joneses". It's called capital G GREED!
2) Aren't Patient.
That old Tortoise and Turtle fable has much to offer here-it's called compounding. If you aren't patient and do your homework, don't blame others. I see people all around me that were not patient enough to wait and buy whatever, and overspent credit cards to the max. Fools who have maxed out fifteen cards don't get my sympathy. Don't look to me to pick up the tab for your adolescent wish list and your "I want my maypo now"--take your 3 year old thumb sucking ways and begone!
3) Have Bad Habits.
This is a no brainer. All the successful people I know have developed good habits.
The reason is simple. By having GOOD habits, you save eons of energy. When you do what you know must be done to achieve your goals,and do it religiously, then you
don't waste time hemming and hawwing..you just do it automatically...save energy!
4) Have No Goals.
Again, another no brainer. How anyone thinks that they will get from Point A to Point B without a game plan is beyond me. Setting goals is not really the hugh problem most think it is. It's called taking a bite out of the elephant each day. Often things look overwhelming, but taking a few bites each day moves you along.
By not doing this, you have already set as your goal, NOT TO DO ANYTHING...so you really have set your goal,for you made that YOUR CHOICE to not have goals. Put simply, those who fail to plan, plan TO FAIL. Blame only yourself my friend!
5) Haven't Prepared.
So whose fault is that big boy? Any good boy scout knows that you must 'always be prepared.' You might also read in scripture of the good virgin who does prepare for any exigencies that might throw a curve ball. She is also smart in that by preparing she can tell her non-preparers to take a flying leap when they refuse to not take responsiblity for preparing for whatever life throws them. Not to prepare is your choice. I say, ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. Life throws curves--THINK!
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Posted by John Danforth on 07/22/11 07:18 AM
Ha! Brilliant.
Obviously, you aren't from Detroit, where Zen's 10 commandments put you into a protected class.
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Posted by elray on 07/22/11 05:01 AM
If money is what you want, then make money the easy way:
Gaze into your crystal ball, see what the future holds and place yourself in front of the wave, allowing it to wash over you.
Waves are pretty big things, they are hard to miss, just look at the Gold wave.
Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focard have started a new wave with their E-Cat, Defkalion Green Technologies power cell.
Right now E-Cat is just a ripple on the pond but my crystal ball see's a tsunami in the making.
2012 will be a whole new world as this wave starts breaking on the shores of every nation in the world.
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Posted by speedygonzales on 07/22/11 02:27 AM
There is another theme on TV which blows my brain out of my skull: In capitalism sometimes you win sometimes you loose.
Somehow some win always while majority loose always. No corruption for military-indistrial complex or no false flag operations mentioned there.. We are just not smart enough to win anytime and they are smart enough to win always.
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Posted by injun1 on 07/21/11 10:44 PM
If one faithfully follows those ten points, the only phrase in life that one needs to learn in any language is, Sir, would you like to have fries with that?
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Posted by Zenbillionaire on 07/21/11 10:00 PM
Know what? I'm pretty sure that if you:
1) Don't Care What Your Neighbors Think.
2) Aren't Patient.
3) Have Bad Habits.
4) Have No Goals.
5) Haven't Prepared.
6) Try to Make a Quick Buck
7) Rely on Others to Take Care of Your Money.
8) Invest in Things You Don't Understand.
9) Are Financially Afraid.
and
10) Ignore Your Finances.
You're pretty much lunch meat, an idiot, food of the gods, no help coming, screwed, toast, history, selected out of the gene pool, yesterday, today, tomorrow.
Why are you arguing against this?
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Posted by John Danforth on 07/21/11 08:25 PM
Not entirely true, Ingo. You can still thrive on industriousness, inventiveness and integrity. But you will be pulling a lot of people on the sled behind you who are just along for the ride. And eventually you realize that the wealth being taken from you is what feeds the whole beast. You are punished for your qualities, any it is your work that sustains them. You never have to sell your soul.
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Posted by Bischoff on 07/21/11 06:25 PM
" The Western economic system - one deliberately created by the powers that be after World War II - is in a kind of free fall. Within this context, the idea that people's problems mostly stem from the way they "treat money in their personal life" is questionable indeed."
A the Fed central banking system is a Ponzi-Scheme. It is not straight forward and has little to do with honest dealings. The sad part lies in the fact that it is supported knowingly and deliberately by the U.S. Senate and unwittingly by the U.S. House of Representatives.
If you want to take advantage of people and their hard work, the Fed central banking system is made for you. On the other hand, if you understand the system and you have scrouples, there is a problem. If your heart doesn't let you do what your mind tells you, namely take advantage of people, all you can do under the Fed central banking system is get by.
It's all a question of how much it will take to sell your soul.
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Posted by David_Robertson on 07/21/11 03:17 PM
I appreciate your comment and confirm that I share a similar respect for you.
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Posted by injun1 on 07/21/11 03:08 PM
Sir,
We come here as a concerned group to try and make a better world with the exchange of concepts, ideas and individual thoughts and beliefs. I have the excitement of reading and perhaps to a very small degree to participate with those who think.
The forums presented by DB provide the platforms for that thought process. All the participants and yes that includes you Mr. Robertson have earned a respect that I reserve for very few.
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Posted by josejoe on 07/21/11 03:02 PM
merle haggard said it for the elites in his song 'rainbow stew' years ago. if we just hang in there 'we'll all be drinkin' that free bubble-up and eatin' that rainbow stew. find a copy, listen and enjoy! really, it's all in there!
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