Eye-Opening Online Thread Talks About Rich People And The Idea That They’re “Self-Made”
Work hard. Work smart. Work hard and smart. Or just be born rich. Whoever you ask, they’re bound to have their own personal theory about how to achieve success, create a thriving business, and become a self-made millionaire.
Broadly speaking, it’s essential to recognize that your success in life is a combination of luck, good timing, your ability to seize opportunities, how you cooperate with others, and whether you’re able to persevere despite failure. Obviously, it’s far easier to take risks when you have a financial safety net to fall back onto. Meanwhile, people who don’t have access to those kinds of resources are walking on a razor’s edge when they decide to become entrepreneurs. However, that doesn’t automatically mean that your efforts can’t lead to success, whatever your financial standing.
Redditor u/Tiredworker27 went viral on the aptly named r/antiwork subreddit after sharing his opinion that rich people don’t work hard or smart. “They just have the money to throw at competent people that do all the work for them,” he claims that the wealthy aren’t self-made and that they “don’t work at all.”
Scroll down to read his full post, as well as how other members of the r/antiwork community reacted to it. The author of the post started up a real discussion with his post. Do you agree with the OP or do you think his perspective lacks some nuance? What do you think it takes to be successful in life, as well as to create self-made generational wealth? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments, Pandas!
Bored Panda reached out to workplace expert Lynn Taylor for some insights about coming to terms with the fact that others might be wealthier than ourselves, and how to move past envy and resentment. What’s more, she revealed the character traits that lead to success in life. Taylor is the author of ‘Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant’ and the head of the fashion brand ‘Behind the Buckle.’ She also has a popular blog on Psychology Today.
“It’s often a human instinct to envy those who have more, however people define that. But one could argue that jealousy is one of the most destructive human traits. It’s okay to envy people in a healthy way and learn from their successes. But it’s another to become bitter and destroy your precious hours or days. Time is not a renewable resource,” she told us. You’ll find our full interview with her below.
Some individuals believe that the rich are to be emulated. Others think that they don’t ‘deserve’ their success
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
An internet user went on a rant that ended up splitting the readers. Here’s what he had to say about wealthy people
Image credits: energepic.com (not the actual photo)
Image credits:
Image credits: Daniel Oberhaus
Image credits: Startup Stock Photos (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/Tiredworker27
Workplace expert Taylor shared a few tips with Bored Panda on how someone might stop resenting the rich and feeling jealous of what they have all the time.
- “Know what you’re really jealous of. If the person travels a lot, for instance, maybe you can achieve that in your life or even incorporate it into your career—without sacrificing your soul for ‘the mighty dollar.’
- You can’t dissect someone’s wealth from the rest of their life. Do you envy every aspect of that person’s life? You’re likely much happier with many facets of your own.
- People will always have more and less: money, skill sets, looks, corporate status, and so on. It’s the grass is greener fallacy. So try to put things in perspective and become grateful for what do you have. This will keep you in a more grounded space.
- Looks can be deceiving. Realize that happiness doesn’t always come in the form of money. Very often wealthy people constantly worry about how to preserve their assets. Many must also cope with the burden of jealousy and alienation among friends, and even family.”
The workplace expert and the author of ‘Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant’ noted that people who flaunt their wealth, for example on social media, “are typically compensating for other challenging life issues they are facing.” She added that “the happiest people usually don’t boast.”
Feeling envy or jealousy is natural. However, these feelings shouldn’t take over your life. Taylor was kind enough to share a couple of ‘antidotes’ to jealousy. The first one is having gratitude for what you already have. The second is to find a way for the success of others to inspire you. “We live in a country that offers freedom and opportunity, so let the emotion of jealousy shift to aspiration,” she said.
“Try an experiment and research what makes that person such a success. Are they tenacious? Do they work long weeks? Network with ‘the right people?’ It’s easier to defuse jealousy if you can identify with a person; learn about their trajectory to achievement; and apply that to your own life.”
Meanwhile, the expert shared how someone might move past feelings of resentment and that someone who is rich might not ‘deserve’ their success.
“No one really knows what life is like in the totality of someone else’s world, despite what you might see on Instagram or Facebook. For example, someone who inherits a large sum may come to feel inadequate; like they are unable to make it on their own—or become obsessed about losing what they were gifted,” she told Bored Panda.
“Money and success can be fleeting. This doesn’t mean you should wish poor outcomes on successful people! Financial misfortunes happen every day, and are part of life, so basing all your happiness on it can be a fragile proposition. ‘Prosperity’ can also be defined by having cherished loved ones and good health, for example,” Taylor noted.
“No one is getting out of here alive. So you must decide if you want jealousy to ‘rent space in your head’—or create the best existence possible for yourself. Your focus is your choice and will dictate your own level of fulfillment in life.”
Meanwhile, we were curious to get Taylor’s take on what character traits tend to lead to success in life. “Of course, no two people are alike, but there are some common denominators among successful individuals. Some of these ingredients include: tenacity, confidence, hard work, and risk taking,” the author of ‘Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant’ said.
Here is the workplace expert’s advice on this:
- “People who remain determined despite their setbacks are usually successful. It’s easy to take the easy way out or become deterred. Having a vision of what you want to achieve and a solid strategy is a great start.
- Confidence is key because along the path to success, there will be many naysayers and doubters. Have faith in yourself and your goals. Find ways to stay motivated and surround yourself with supportive people who have a positive influence. That will boost your own optimistic outlook.
- While some people seem to hit the lottery metaphorically, this is more the exception than the rule. Hard work is the best way to guarantee success, assuming you’re ‘working smart.’
- Risk-taking is an essential trait. Taking smart chances—based on research, your skill set, financial considerations, and discussions with savvy advisors—can all make a difference in boosting your achievement level.”
In redditor u/Tireworker27’s opinion, upward mobility is extremely limited. He also claims that anyone who’s lucky enough to be born into a rich family can throw money at any business idea that they want until they succeed. Moreover, he believes that rich people lie in surveys where they report that they’re actually self-made millionaires and billionaires.
In other words, the OP shared a general sentiment that some rich people may not ‘deserve’ the wealth that they flaunt. He also seems to be under the impression that wealthy families give their children practically unlimited access to their coffers. Meanwhile, the less well-off are left to bear the brunt of risky financial ventures, with barely anything to fall back on, should they fail.
While wealth and recognition are something that many people strive toward, they are far from the only factors that you should consider. That is, if your goal is to be happy. As we’ve covered on Bored Panda recently, being rich isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Especially if you win the lottery.
Money tends to correlate with happiness only up to around $100k/year. Earning more than that doesn’t necessarily make you significantly happier, though wealthier countries tend to report higher levels of happiness. Instead, having good health, as well as dependable, loving, kind, and loyal people around you are far more important when it comes to life satisfaction.
One major problem that the rich (and especially lottery winners) have to deal with is that they constantly have people hounding them for cash and favors. Meanwhile, their own family and friends might accost them, asking them for money and to pay for their every whim. This can lead to feelings of resentment, on both sides.
While money certainly does open a lot of doors and allows you to try and try again, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee success and further wealth down the line. Diligence, discipline, perseverance, and the ability to collaborate with others are pretty good predictors of adult success. And it’s essential not to forget this.
We might not be able to control every aspect of life, but working hard and applying our talents in a smart way can bring about the desired results. Is everyone going to succeed? Obviously not. But it would be unfair to assume that the very best qualities that humankind has to offer—grit, hope, self-discipline, and the courage to try—can’t lead to financial stability for us, and our loved ones.
Some readers provided real-life examples of rich people who matched the post author’s opinion
Others thought the topic was fascinating and started discussing it in detail
However, not everyone agreed with the original post. Some felt that the author was cherry-picking arguments
At the lowest income range the problems go well beyond just whether your parents can give you money. Is your house safe or full or mold in a dangerous neighbourhood? Did your mother have good nutrition while she was pregnant with you? Did you grow up in a house with books or walking distance from a library? There's so many privileges we don't even think about.
Most people often forget that intellect and mental health are also things you inherit. I detest it when all those "I'm selfmade and so can you" people leave that out
Load More Replies...Regardless of the "guy" being 100% right: its very usefull to the mega rich to promote a "you can make it too, just like me" myth to stop people thinking to much about the fact no single person should have the yearly gross product of a small but prosperous nation in their bank account. It's a variation of the crab mentality I feel. People don't want to face the enormous odds against becoming a "self made millionaire" and will defend the myth so they feel better.
Why is ANY of this news? I mean, if it WAS possible for ANYONE to make it big then wouldn't there be many more rich people than there are now? It is what it is. Since Adam was a lad rich familes hoard their wealth. Poor people will ALWAYS be poor. Some of us work enough to earn a little more than we spend with the hope it our kids have something to inherit but that's sadly getting harder and harder to do. There is no 'Dream', American or otherwise. Just different ways to try and get ahead. I seriously think we need to stop thinking these rich people and to be honest everyone else somehow owe us something. Because it's OURSELVES who should be getting on with our lot as best we can. What else is there?
Aiden, this is news for the newer generations who haven’t realized this yet due to their understandable naivety or to those older who simply forgot because of the countless responsibilities they deal with, so a refresher like this article is appreciated. An article like the one in this page should be part of a course in high school, everywhere.
Load More Replies...Someone who mentioned the difference between successful people and non-successful people is networking got it spot on. I had an example of this with a speech from a CEO that told us he was passed over time and again for work at our company while a firm partner got in right away. The difference was that the partner played golf with one of the employees of the firm and was recommended for the job. Why is this important? Because that CEO was giving the speech after his firm acquired our branch of the company he was rejected from. Sometimes it's networking, sometimes it's sheer luck. Either way, take the opportunities as they come along.
This is a big reason why women don't get promoted--they don't get invited to go out and network with the male bigwigs because it would seem inappropriate or because the men assume women can't golf, etc. Happened to me. My boss had a hockey team and only ever invited men to play with him. Guess who he promoted? Yeah, his hockey buddies.
Load More Replies...The self made millionaire/billionaire is a myth. And that guy trying to defend the system has fallen in love with the monster eating him. Having dealt with more wealthy people than I ever wished let me let you in on the secret: Cheat and con other people. Any and every chance you can. You have no friends or lovers, only marks and trophies. Start with a sham church or charity. There. That's it. It's not hard per se, you just have to not care about anyone or anything else.
I should also mention this is not a thing I practice. I'd much rather be poor and happy then any of the wealthy people I've ever met. They're shockingly miserable.
Load More Replies...Rich are the politicians and they work diligently to ensure there will always be a huge chasm between them and the workers/
Yep need voter and political reforms. To be clear this all went sideways when the feds implemented a tax on the rich in 1861. That's when the rich inserted them into the political process and shifted taxes off of themselves and on to the non-wealthy. The solution is likely held within no/low taxes for all, then the rich will probably stop caring about politics again. Also not all politicians are rich, they just mostly work for the rich, like that Marco Rubio tool who will likely get rich doing their bidding...
Load More Replies...If they didn't convince you it was possible the system would break completely. Y'all keep buying lottery tickets, too, thinking you're special enough to win that one in several million chance. Same thing, only you're selling your time and your life to make someone else rich. Let's build a better system.
Read Adrift by Scott Galloway. Some changes in there I can definitely get behind!
Load More Replies...I always though it‘s common sense that your background will naturally influence your possibilities. Children from well off families usually have access to better education and are raised with a different mindset than children from poor families. That‘s sad, but true. Still this post is quite one- sided and somehow i feel that it‘s point is to fuel hatred against people from different income classes. While most super rich come from upper class families, because they had the funds to start off higher, i believe that life is not about becoming one of these super rich persons. I came from a refugee background. My parents came with nothing in their hands. They managed to build a financially stabil life from nothing, but smart work. No, they never became super rich, but they fullfilled their dreams and have everything they need. So yes, it‘s possible to „make it“ if you come from a poor family and work „smart“. It just depends on what your goals are imo.
It's not about you becoming rich - it's about abolishing the system that makes people rich versus poor in the first place. There should be no ultra rich people. They simply should not exist, and so we should change society to prevent them from existing. Wealth should be a product of labor, not indolence.
Load More Replies...I don't agree with everything OP said. It is more difficult to become a self- made millionaire than in previous generations. Even average workers may have company stock. So, it's not stockholders being overpaid dividends. That's not where the profit is being funnelled. Typical worker wages for the same position have increased 18% since 1970. In the same time, manager salaries have increased 300%. CEO salaries have risen 1300%. It's the 10 member Board sucking hundreds of millions from the company with benefits that an average person can only imagine. They're mostly paid for connections though many have successfully run other companies. It doesn't matter if it were a totally different industry. The Board is willing to pay management for higher worker productivity. They just look at workers as expendable.
I disagree there are far more opportunities today than in the 60's, due to a little thing called: THE INTERNET; it's this thing you may occasionally use that's minted more wealthy people than anything except realestate!!! And now we have crypto which has made more youth million and billionaires than likely anything ever. So no. It's easier today in a connected world where a person on an island with internet can have millions of customers throughout the world. And potentially no employees...
Load More Replies...Not to mention Elon's parents owned an emerald mine in South Africa during apartheid. So they essentially profited from a corrupt, racist system. Colour me unsurprised.
The person who wrote this article's level 1 should have been part of level 3. Their level 1 is still "your family has extra money." Level 1 should be "you cannot go to school or open your own business because you must work as a migrant farmer with your parents to make enough money to get to the next set of crops to harvest. No one has any money to give you. You have no money saved and no chance of saving any." Minimum wage ($7.25/ hr) is $15080 a year at 40 hours a week. That's $80 before taxes more than their "your scrounged $15000".
I worked hard all my life, raised my 3 kids on my own, got my degree and worked as an RN for over 30 years, and aside from a retirement account with very little in it, I live on less than 2k a month. Life is hard. Life is pain. But life is not money. Life is family and love and kindness for others and generosity. I learned to trust in God because He was the only one who stood by me as I struggled. Today I have my children and 15 grandchildren who would die for me because they knew I would die for them. Don't make the mistake of thinking money is all that makes you successful. It's the biggest of lies.
I have a really dumb and impossible dream. I want to have land with about 10 or so ecohomes, suitable for 1 person to live in, each one will be like a live in spa and the only thing thing the renter will need to bring is cloths and food. I want to rent those out at the lowest possible rate to cost + a little extra to hold for maintenance. It would be high quality low cost housing that doesn't follow market trends. each contract would be limited to one year to give as many people as possible a chance. I don't want the focus to be profit, i want it to be giving the people that live there, a highly affordable oasis where they can focus on being the person they aspire to be, where they can focus on themselves. Imagine what people could do with one year of peace and quiet, a home with no one else's expectations but your own, a home where you don't have to share anything not even time.
The application process wouldn't be rent in advance or a credit check . Only a simple essay about how you would use your year. Heck maybe even take the first months rent and split it over the next 11 months so someone between jobs has the chance to change their lives as well. If I had a million dollars, I would be trying to make this work. Maybe I'm crazy but I think there is a viable business in just helping people become better versions of themselves, it won't have overwhelming profits for shareholders but we should rate success on growth alone. Maybe a company can be considered successful just by operating in equilibrium.
Load More Replies...I don't care how rich they are. What I care about is they usually make the money exploiting other humans and the environment. As their wealth grows it is balanced by out by making life harder and more miserable for all. Next time you see the trappings, find out what they did for it. Let that stain be on their soul. Sometimes it is not a bad thing to believe there is a life beyond this physical one.
Ah yes the holier than thou argument. Always a classic. For you I recommend reading about Entropy and Thermodynamics. Then you will really know where the world is heading....
Load More Replies...I guess it’s all about prospective. Someone earning 180k is considered rich to me. But poor to someone earning 600k. I don’t think any current billionaire is self-made. They all just love to say they are.
Or the media loves to say they are. Many I've met are actually quite humble (most billionaires are NOT like politicians, which in the US warps out views) and rarely talk about themselves. Because they don't have anything to prove to you! And likely don't want you to know they are rich! But the media loves to shower attention on the flashy ones - most self made rich people are more akin to Warren Buffett who drives a 2000's pickup truck, and lives in a suburban home. They don't spend like your Mercedes driving, trailer living, liability lovers that many seem to worship! No they are frequently doing it for generational wealth so if things go really really bad their family can up and move to a better place rather than becoming subservient to some dictator, because that is the biggest risk to a family, the govt.
Load More Replies...Just a thought: if you were a millionaire, would you rather spin a "I did it with grit, brilliance and determination" story in interviews or admit mommy and daddy set you up for low risk and success.
I'm conversely surprised how many lead their bio's with "without them this would never have been possible".
Load More Replies...1) it's not 90%, it's about 50% came from money, about 40% from regular middle class, and 10% from poor. NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) did several studies on this. NBER research shows that 1/5 of every economic class came from a different one every 20 years. So every 20 years each percentile group shifts 20% with some moving up and some moving down. And tracking is how they know the 10% of rich half a percent of the 1% come from the bottom quintile. 2) But also this is why the billionaire whose advice I look at the most is Harold Hamm, grew up a dirt poor sharecroppers son, dropped out of HS at 16 to help his family, and today is worth about $25 billion, 100% self made. I value his insights and opinions because he actually knows each step of the process.
Both arguments are right but forgetting one key factor, that rich people are incredibly financially literate and they don't usually even ever *need* to work. They just invest in safe stocks and aquire assets. So no. They don't ever need to "work" but they do need to have a particular skill that needs to be learned and practiced, usually their whole lives, knowing where, when, how, and why to put their money. Yeah it's way easier, but not everyone can do it unless they buckle it down. I'm not defending rich people though. They absolutely should n o t have that much money. Enough to fill warehouses.., ridiculous. You can also inherent assets and stocks and money from said things, that how some middle class grandparents make their kids wealthy, investing is very much the well man's game though. If you can't afford to budget out the $50 a month, like living Pay to pay, it won't be easy for you :( also explaining the "gotta spend m to make m" saying. Wich is also a very true saying.
Also adding, maybe we should take everything everyone says with a grain of salt, yeah? Lol
Load More Replies...This is the type of mindset most people have, which is why they stay poor. Stop focusing on these people, and redirect that energy into you. Who gives a s**t if some people grew up blessed. Not everyone needs to grow up struggling with money. This just seems like a jealous and envious rant about something he knows nothing about.
Of course becoming a billionaire involves a lot of luck. The same would go for becoming an A-list actor or rock star. On the other hand, if someone is willing to put in the work, millionaire is absolutely obtainable. Most of it has to do with showing up to school and doing the work. It has never been easier to be admitted to university, especially for people from "disadvantaged" categories. Pick a state school, and on the first day, tell them that you want to major in medicine. Then just keep doing the work. Expect to be tired and stressed out for several years, but it is reasonable to anticipate a middle age where you can send your kids to good schools, have a small collection of classic cars, and perhaps a nice sailboat or a private plane.
Obviously this is a complex topic in a lot of ways, which delves into everything from financial policy to game theory to epigenetics, bit I do feel like there are sort of three categories of people in the USA: those in or near abject poverty, who might get out of it with enough hard work but will have to be lucky AND probably cheat to get "rich", those who come from what most of us think of as average homes, which could be from 60k to 300k combined income and less than five million in assets, in most of the US, less in some places and more in others who have benefited from privilege but who also had to and have to work hard most of their adult life to maintain or improve their financial position, and then the very rich, who have somehow managed to accumulate more wealth than is possible if you evaluate the wealth and value of people who have similar skills. These people have earned at least some (often most) of their wealth through leveraging their privilege to earn from other's work.
While it is certainly possible to use wealth to facilitate great things, when that wealth then becomes a means for self enrichment disproportionate to any actual work an individual has done and begins to cycle in an expanding loop where the wealth is worth more than the work it facilitates, then the only logical conclusion is that things are broken. For instance, I think that even if you consider Musk or Bezos or Gates to be special people, there is substantial evidence that as humans they are worth a few million at most. The rest of their value is in the value of the assets they have. Given to a farmer with no CEO or engineering formal experience, but some years storing and selling grain or produce, 100 billion dollars would almost certainly create as much "value and opportunity" as it does while managed by current billionaires, and, unfortunately, to be that rich you have to have pretty deliberately gamed the system which arguably makes you less worthy of wealth than most people. Of course you don't have to have billions to be a petty overlord skimming of social inequity, but being one pretty well guarantees the path there was not achieved or achievable through work and skill alone.
Load More Replies...I believe... people do not like to factor in that "luck" is a real thing. You hear a whole lot of "No such thing as luck, you WORK for it, you make your OWN" - and those are people who got lucky. It's difficult for us to really contemplate the odds - when you do, you realize that there is *something* affecting luck. Take the entertainment biz... you hear about actors who are consistently late, abusive to coworkers, rude to fans etc... yet, they happen to catch the director on a good day? I've met actors who are far more talented, are super hardworking and always 'ready' for that opportunity... yet... no Hollywood - why? They just didn't get 'that break'.
You are wrong. I recommend reading Annie Duke - Thinking in bets. Stop doubling down on 12 and "your luck" will change....
Load More Replies...I'm a worker. I do work pretty hard but I enjoy my job and progressively getting into things they will raise my pay. But working smart to me is convenience to myself. Like prevent so much bending. I try to have all tools and parts I may need so I don't have to make the really long trip
Janice - Odds are you will die rich. It's your mentality and "the journey is what matters not the destination" thought process. Most people want to get to instant gratification like blaming your stature in life on rich people. And that's why they will always be poor, they don't delay gratification. Combine that with your work smarter not harder mentality and you are a Billionaire in the making, you just learn finally how to make scalable income and you will be printing $$$$$$$$$.
Load More Replies..."Rich people worry about money too" yes, tho if it is, say, a customized car to help your back, it does feel different stated aloud than the person saying, "I have to budget to buy better tires". Like how being able to slowly pay off a well built expensive mattress is a cost that not everyone thinks about or qualifies for. At the same time: super yachts exist and it pisses me off, so.
The poor also don't think about the cost of their cars being more than the down payment on a house, "but they need to be able to get point to point" they argue, forgetting the city bus exists, along with bicycles, and feet, then they later complain about being unhealthy or fat. And how much debt they have. These rich parents frequently teach their kids how to manage money, where the poor do not. Buy assets not liabilities. Super yachts are definitely a liability, so their grandchildren likely will not have any money, the oligarch was just a blip in their heritage... If the most expensive thing you own is a liability rather than an asset, then your financial problems are definitely being caused by yourself!!!!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!
Load More Replies...I want to know what the "rich" did to hurt the OP. Here in Canada, where a massive proportion of citizens are still only 2nd and 3rd generation Canadians, so many wealthy people are self made. Many families came over with nothing following the second world war. My parents ate ketchup sandwiches growing up, while my grandfather and great uncle busted their a*s to make ends meet. The fact that we're well-off now is not from handouts. It's from creating a business, contribution to society, and bringing a ton of hard working values with them. To imply 90% of wealthy people took handouts just shows how out of touch the OP is. It's easy to cherry pick specific cases about billionaires. But many millionaires and multimillionaires are self made here.
Many rich people get there by exploiting labor - whether it is not paying living wages or really exploiting third world country labor. Many also use tax loopholes thus not contributing back their fair share, forcing less well off to pick up the slack. Lastly hoarding wealth hurts others who can't access that wealth.
Load More Replies...Love how the author talks to a "workplace expert" or whatever, and she infuriatingly proceeds to completely ignore all of the completely valid reasons why "hard work and tenacity" are meaningless in the face of capitalism. Like, did you just ask this rando for just general life advice and *then* stumble across this reddit post? The truth is, the only way to fix this whole issue is to eat the rich and abolish capitalism. It's not about jealousy or envy. It's about fixing something that has gone horribly wrong.
The reason I tend to support Republicans more than Democrats is I never understood why people who work for a living would support a candidate that makes it more difficult for your employer to make money. Forget "Trickle Down Economics". I'm a firm believer in "Dry Well Economics". If your company doesn't make as much money as it used to it's not the board or CEO that are going to suffer it's going to be the employees.
OMG. The Op's stats are so far off base. Along with so many posters. If you want to get ahead in life, begin by not making up BS stats. Do the research. LEARN SOMETHING BEYOND YOUR HOBBY!!! I used to be dejected about rich people too, then I educated myself and learned how to walk that path. Complaining about others is nowhere along that path. What about rich people that became poor again? That happens too. If you want to make it easier for others to get rich or maybe even learn how yourself; books! (I use audio books), and since you clicked the bait let's stick to your favorite: controversial statements: MJ Demarco - unscripted. Scott Galloway - Adrift. Kyosaki - cashflow quadrant. If you want to change something to flatten the playing field lobby to change the capital gains tax rate to equal income tax rate!!!!!!! Oh and add barriers to get social security, so the rich can't claim it .... Be Learned!!!!!! Not whiney and complainey like some spoiled child...
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At the lowest income range the problems go well beyond just whether your parents can give you money. Is your house safe or full or mold in a dangerous neighbourhood? Did your mother have good nutrition while she was pregnant with you? Did you grow up in a house with books or walking distance from a library? There's so many privileges we don't even think about.
Most people often forget that intellect and mental health are also things you inherit. I detest it when all those "I'm selfmade and so can you" people leave that out
Load More Replies...Regardless of the "guy" being 100% right: its very usefull to the mega rich to promote a "you can make it too, just like me" myth to stop people thinking to much about the fact no single person should have the yearly gross product of a small but prosperous nation in their bank account. It's a variation of the crab mentality I feel. People don't want to face the enormous odds against becoming a "self made millionaire" and will defend the myth so they feel better.
Why is ANY of this news? I mean, if it WAS possible for ANYONE to make it big then wouldn't there be many more rich people than there are now? It is what it is. Since Adam was a lad rich familes hoard their wealth. Poor people will ALWAYS be poor. Some of us work enough to earn a little more than we spend with the hope it our kids have something to inherit but that's sadly getting harder and harder to do. There is no 'Dream', American or otherwise. Just different ways to try and get ahead. I seriously think we need to stop thinking these rich people and to be honest everyone else somehow owe us something. Because it's OURSELVES who should be getting on with our lot as best we can. What else is there?
Aiden, this is news for the newer generations who haven’t realized this yet due to their understandable naivety or to those older who simply forgot because of the countless responsibilities they deal with, so a refresher like this article is appreciated. An article like the one in this page should be part of a course in high school, everywhere.
Load More Replies...Someone who mentioned the difference between successful people and non-successful people is networking got it spot on. I had an example of this with a speech from a CEO that told us he was passed over time and again for work at our company while a firm partner got in right away. The difference was that the partner played golf with one of the employees of the firm and was recommended for the job. Why is this important? Because that CEO was giving the speech after his firm acquired our branch of the company he was rejected from. Sometimes it's networking, sometimes it's sheer luck. Either way, take the opportunities as they come along.
This is a big reason why women don't get promoted--they don't get invited to go out and network with the male bigwigs because it would seem inappropriate or because the men assume women can't golf, etc. Happened to me. My boss had a hockey team and only ever invited men to play with him. Guess who he promoted? Yeah, his hockey buddies.
Load More Replies...The self made millionaire/billionaire is a myth. And that guy trying to defend the system has fallen in love with the monster eating him. Having dealt with more wealthy people than I ever wished let me let you in on the secret: Cheat and con other people. Any and every chance you can. You have no friends or lovers, only marks and trophies. Start with a sham church or charity. There. That's it. It's not hard per se, you just have to not care about anyone or anything else.
I should also mention this is not a thing I practice. I'd much rather be poor and happy then any of the wealthy people I've ever met. They're shockingly miserable.
Load More Replies...Rich are the politicians and they work diligently to ensure there will always be a huge chasm between them and the workers/
Yep need voter and political reforms. To be clear this all went sideways when the feds implemented a tax on the rich in 1861. That's when the rich inserted them into the political process and shifted taxes off of themselves and on to the non-wealthy. The solution is likely held within no/low taxes for all, then the rich will probably stop caring about politics again. Also not all politicians are rich, they just mostly work for the rich, like that Marco Rubio tool who will likely get rich doing their bidding...
Load More Replies...If they didn't convince you it was possible the system would break completely. Y'all keep buying lottery tickets, too, thinking you're special enough to win that one in several million chance. Same thing, only you're selling your time and your life to make someone else rich. Let's build a better system.
Read Adrift by Scott Galloway. Some changes in there I can definitely get behind!
Load More Replies...I always though it‘s common sense that your background will naturally influence your possibilities. Children from well off families usually have access to better education and are raised with a different mindset than children from poor families. That‘s sad, but true. Still this post is quite one- sided and somehow i feel that it‘s point is to fuel hatred against people from different income classes. While most super rich come from upper class families, because they had the funds to start off higher, i believe that life is not about becoming one of these super rich persons. I came from a refugee background. My parents came with nothing in their hands. They managed to build a financially stabil life from nothing, but smart work. No, they never became super rich, but they fullfilled their dreams and have everything they need. So yes, it‘s possible to „make it“ if you come from a poor family and work „smart“. It just depends on what your goals are imo.
It's not about you becoming rich - it's about abolishing the system that makes people rich versus poor in the first place. There should be no ultra rich people. They simply should not exist, and so we should change society to prevent them from existing. Wealth should be a product of labor, not indolence.
Load More Replies...I don't agree with everything OP said. It is more difficult to become a self- made millionaire than in previous generations. Even average workers may have company stock. So, it's not stockholders being overpaid dividends. That's not where the profit is being funnelled. Typical worker wages for the same position have increased 18% since 1970. In the same time, manager salaries have increased 300%. CEO salaries have risen 1300%. It's the 10 member Board sucking hundreds of millions from the company with benefits that an average person can only imagine. They're mostly paid for connections though many have successfully run other companies. It doesn't matter if it were a totally different industry. The Board is willing to pay management for higher worker productivity. They just look at workers as expendable.
I disagree there are far more opportunities today than in the 60's, due to a little thing called: THE INTERNET; it's this thing you may occasionally use that's minted more wealthy people than anything except realestate!!! And now we have crypto which has made more youth million and billionaires than likely anything ever. So no. It's easier today in a connected world where a person on an island with internet can have millions of customers throughout the world. And potentially no employees...
Load More Replies...Not to mention Elon's parents owned an emerald mine in South Africa during apartheid. So they essentially profited from a corrupt, racist system. Colour me unsurprised.
The person who wrote this article's level 1 should have been part of level 3. Their level 1 is still "your family has extra money." Level 1 should be "you cannot go to school or open your own business because you must work as a migrant farmer with your parents to make enough money to get to the next set of crops to harvest. No one has any money to give you. You have no money saved and no chance of saving any." Minimum wage ($7.25/ hr) is $15080 a year at 40 hours a week. That's $80 before taxes more than their "your scrounged $15000".
I worked hard all my life, raised my 3 kids on my own, got my degree and worked as an RN for over 30 years, and aside from a retirement account with very little in it, I live on less than 2k a month. Life is hard. Life is pain. But life is not money. Life is family and love and kindness for others and generosity. I learned to trust in God because He was the only one who stood by me as I struggled. Today I have my children and 15 grandchildren who would die for me because they knew I would die for them. Don't make the mistake of thinking money is all that makes you successful. It's the biggest of lies.
I have a really dumb and impossible dream. I want to have land with about 10 or so ecohomes, suitable for 1 person to live in, each one will be like a live in spa and the only thing thing the renter will need to bring is cloths and food. I want to rent those out at the lowest possible rate to cost + a little extra to hold for maintenance. It would be high quality low cost housing that doesn't follow market trends. each contract would be limited to one year to give as many people as possible a chance. I don't want the focus to be profit, i want it to be giving the people that live there, a highly affordable oasis where they can focus on being the person they aspire to be, where they can focus on themselves. Imagine what people could do with one year of peace and quiet, a home with no one else's expectations but your own, a home where you don't have to share anything not even time.
The application process wouldn't be rent in advance or a credit check . Only a simple essay about how you would use your year. Heck maybe even take the first months rent and split it over the next 11 months so someone between jobs has the chance to change their lives as well. If I had a million dollars, I would be trying to make this work. Maybe I'm crazy but I think there is a viable business in just helping people become better versions of themselves, it won't have overwhelming profits for shareholders but we should rate success on growth alone. Maybe a company can be considered successful just by operating in equilibrium.
Load More Replies...I don't care how rich they are. What I care about is they usually make the money exploiting other humans and the environment. As their wealth grows it is balanced by out by making life harder and more miserable for all. Next time you see the trappings, find out what they did for it. Let that stain be on their soul. Sometimes it is not a bad thing to believe there is a life beyond this physical one.
Ah yes the holier than thou argument. Always a classic. For you I recommend reading about Entropy and Thermodynamics. Then you will really know where the world is heading....
Load More Replies...I guess it’s all about prospective. Someone earning 180k is considered rich to me. But poor to someone earning 600k. I don’t think any current billionaire is self-made. They all just love to say they are.
Or the media loves to say they are. Many I've met are actually quite humble (most billionaires are NOT like politicians, which in the US warps out views) and rarely talk about themselves. Because they don't have anything to prove to you! And likely don't want you to know they are rich! But the media loves to shower attention on the flashy ones - most self made rich people are more akin to Warren Buffett who drives a 2000's pickup truck, and lives in a suburban home. They don't spend like your Mercedes driving, trailer living, liability lovers that many seem to worship! No they are frequently doing it for generational wealth so if things go really really bad their family can up and move to a better place rather than becoming subservient to some dictator, because that is the biggest risk to a family, the govt.
Load More Replies...Just a thought: if you were a millionaire, would you rather spin a "I did it with grit, brilliance and determination" story in interviews or admit mommy and daddy set you up for low risk and success.
I'm conversely surprised how many lead their bio's with "without them this would never have been possible".
Load More Replies...1) it's not 90%, it's about 50% came from money, about 40% from regular middle class, and 10% from poor. NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) did several studies on this. NBER research shows that 1/5 of every economic class came from a different one every 20 years. So every 20 years each percentile group shifts 20% with some moving up and some moving down. And tracking is how they know the 10% of rich half a percent of the 1% come from the bottom quintile. 2) But also this is why the billionaire whose advice I look at the most is Harold Hamm, grew up a dirt poor sharecroppers son, dropped out of HS at 16 to help his family, and today is worth about $25 billion, 100% self made. I value his insights and opinions because he actually knows each step of the process.
Both arguments are right but forgetting one key factor, that rich people are incredibly financially literate and they don't usually even ever *need* to work. They just invest in safe stocks and aquire assets. So no. They don't ever need to "work" but they do need to have a particular skill that needs to be learned and practiced, usually their whole lives, knowing where, when, how, and why to put their money. Yeah it's way easier, but not everyone can do it unless they buckle it down. I'm not defending rich people though. They absolutely should n o t have that much money. Enough to fill warehouses.., ridiculous. You can also inherent assets and stocks and money from said things, that how some middle class grandparents make their kids wealthy, investing is very much the well man's game though. If you can't afford to budget out the $50 a month, like living Pay to pay, it won't be easy for you :( also explaining the "gotta spend m to make m" saying. Wich is also a very true saying.
Also adding, maybe we should take everything everyone says with a grain of salt, yeah? Lol
Load More Replies...This is the type of mindset most people have, which is why they stay poor. Stop focusing on these people, and redirect that energy into you. Who gives a s**t if some people grew up blessed. Not everyone needs to grow up struggling with money. This just seems like a jealous and envious rant about something he knows nothing about.
Of course becoming a billionaire involves a lot of luck. The same would go for becoming an A-list actor or rock star. On the other hand, if someone is willing to put in the work, millionaire is absolutely obtainable. Most of it has to do with showing up to school and doing the work. It has never been easier to be admitted to university, especially for people from "disadvantaged" categories. Pick a state school, and on the first day, tell them that you want to major in medicine. Then just keep doing the work. Expect to be tired and stressed out for several years, but it is reasonable to anticipate a middle age where you can send your kids to good schools, have a small collection of classic cars, and perhaps a nice sailboat or a private plane.
Obviously this is a complex topic in a lot of ways, which delves into everything from financial policy to game theory to epigenetics, bit I do feel like there are sort of three categories of people in the USA: those in or near abject poverty, who might get out of it with enough hard work but will have to be lucky AND probably cheat to get "rich", those who come from what most of us think of as average homes, which could be from 60k to 300k combined income and less than five million in assets, in most of the US, less in some places and more in others who have benefited from privilege but who also had to and have to work hard most of their adult life to maintain or improve their financial position, and then the very rich, who have somehow managed to accumulate more wealth than is possible if you evaluate the wealth and value of people who have similar skills. These people have earned at least some (often most) of their wealth through leveraging their privilege to earn from other's work.
While it is certainly possible to use wealth to facilitate great things, when that wealth then becomes a means for self enrichment disproportionate to any actual work an individual has done and begins to cycle in an expanding loop where the wealth is worth more than the work it facilitates, then the only logical conclusion is that things are broken. For instance, I think that even if you consider Musk or Bezos or Gates to be special people, there is substantial evidence that as humans they are worth a few million at most. The rest of their value is in the value of the assets they have. Given to a farmer with no CEO or engineering formal experience, but some years storing and selling grain or produce, 100 billion dollars would almost certainly create as much "value and opportunity" as it does while managed by current billionaires, and, unfortunately, to be that rich you have to have pretty deliberately gamed the system which arguably makes you less worthy of wealth than most people. Of course you don't have to have billions to be a petty overlord skimming of social inequity, but being one pretty well guarantees the path there was not achieved or achievable through work and skill alone.
Load More Replies...I believe... people do not like to factor in that "luck" is a real thing. You hear a whole lot of "No such thing as luck, you WORK for it, you make your OWN" - and those are people who got lucky. It's difficult for us to really contemplate the odds - when you do, you realize that there is *something* affecting luck. Take the entertainment biz... you hear about actors who are consistently late, abusive to coworkers, rude to fans etc... yet, they happen to catch the director on a good day? I've met actors who are far more talented, are super hardworking and always 'ready' for that opportunity... yet... no Hollywood - why? They just didn't get 'that break'.
You are wrong. I recommend reading Annie Duke - Thinking in bets. Stop doubling down on 12 and "your luck" will change....
Load More Replies...I'm a worker. I do work pretty hard but I enjoy my job and progressively getting into things they will raise my pay. But working smart to me is convenience to myself. Like prevent so much bending. I try to have all tools and parts I may need so I don't have to make the really long trip
Janice - Odds are you will die rich. It's your mentality and "the journey is what matters not the destination" thought process. Most people want to get to instant gratification like blaming your stature in life on rich people. And that's why they will always be poor, they don't delay gratification. Combine that with your work smarter not harder mentality and you are a Billionaire in the making, you just learn finally how to make scalable income and you will be printing $$$$$$$$$.
Load More Replies..."Rich people worry about money too" yes, tho if it is, say, a customized car to help your back, it does feel different stated aloud than the person saying, "I have to budget to buy better tires". Like how being able to slowly pay off a well built expensive mattress is a cost that not everyone thinks about or qualifies for. At the same time: super yachts exist and it pisses me off, so.
The poor also don't think about the cost of their cars being more than the down payment on a house, "but they need to be able to get point to point" they argue, forgetting the city bus exists, along with bicycles, and feet, then they later complain about being unhealthy or fat. And how much debt they have. These rich parents frequently teach their kids how to manage money, where the poor do not. Buy assets not liabilities. Super yachts are definitely a liability, so their grandchildren likely will not have any money, the oligarch was just a blip in their heritage... If the most expensive thing you own is a liability rather than an asset, then your financial problems are definitely being caused by yourself!!!!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!
Load More Replies...I want to know what the "rich" did to hurt the OP. Here in Canada, where a massive proportion of citizens are still only 2nd and 3rd generation Canadians, so many wealthy people are self made. Many families came over with nothing following the second world war. My parents ate ketchup sandwiches growing up, while my grandfather and great uncle busted their a*s to make ends meet. The fact that we're well-off now is not from handouts. It's from creating a business, contribution to society, and bringing a ton of hard working values with them. To imply 90% of wealthy people took handouts just shows how out of touch the OP is. It's easy to cherry pick specific cases about billionaires. But many millionaires and multimillionaires are self made here.
Many rich people get there by exploiting labor - whether it is not paying living wages or really exploiting third world country labor. Many also use tax loopholes thus not contributing back their fair share, forcing less well off to pick up the slack. Lastly hoarding wealth hurts others who can't access that wealth.
Load More Replies...Love how the author talks to a "workplace expert" or whatever, and she infuriatingly proceeds to completely ignore all of the completely valid reasons why "hard work and tenacity" are meaningless in the face of capitalism. Like, did you just ask this rando for just general life advice and *then* stumble across this reddit post? The truth is, the only way to fix this whole issue is to eat the rich and abolish capitalism. It's not about jealousy or envy. It's about fixing something that has gone horribly wrong.
The reason I tend to support Republicans more than Democrats is I never understood why people who work for a living would support a candidate that makes it more difficult for your employer to make money. Forget "Trickle Down Economics". I'm a firm believer in "Dry Well Economics". If your company doesn't make as much money as it used to it's not the board or CEO that are going to suffer it's going to be the employees.
OMG. The Op's stats are so far off base. Along with so many posters. If you want to get ahead in life, begin by not making up BS stats. Do the research. LEARN SOMETHING BEYOND YOUR HOBBY!!! I used to be dejected about rich people too, then I educated myself and learned how to walk that path. Complaining about others is nowhere along that path. What about rich people that became poor again? That happens too. If you want to make it easier for others to get rich or maybe even learn how yourself; books! (I use audio books), and since you clicked the bait let's stick to your favorite: controversial statements: MJ Demarco - unscripted. Scott Galloway - Adrift. Kyosaki - cashflow quadrant. If you want to change something to flatten the playing field lobby to change the capital gains tax rate to equal income tax rate!!!!!!! Oh and add barriers to get social security, so the rich can't claim it .... Be Learned!!!!!! Not whiney and complainey like some spoiled child...
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