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My friend, this is a negative viewpoint. I see much, much more evidence that creating lasting value is the far more "tried and true" way of getting rich. Your

My friend, this is a negative viewpoint. I see much, much more evidence that creating lasting value is the far more "tried and true" way of getting rich. Your beliefs matter. If you believe that you have to screw over people, lie, etc. to make money, you're going to be broke. (edit: softened the language a little)

gnosis 16y ago
"My friend, this is a negative viewpoint. I see much, much more evidence that creating lasting value is the far more "tried and true" way of getting rich." Some people believe that property is theft. Creating something of lasting value, while laudable, would not excuse that theft. But even rejecting that principle, just because you may have created something of lasting value doesn't necessarily translate in to riches. In fact, history is full of examples of people who created quite valuable things and yet died in abject poverty. They've often been cheated of their creation, and someone else took the credit (and the money). Some even argue that that's how the capitalist system works overall. The people at the top are the ones who profit most from the rest. While it is the rest who are the ones doing the really valuable work (and make a pittance in comparison). But even if we set that aside and assume that you've both made something of lasting value and have not had it stolen or cheated from you, or sold it to someone for a pittance of its actual worth, there's still the problem of converting it to wealth. Some people are just plain horrible at doing this, and when they are good at it, what will getting rich from that product actually entail? Will getting the product to succeed in the marketplace always (or even mostly) involve doing nothing immoral or illegal? Considering how many shady, anticompetitive, or just plain illegal business practices that are revealed in our newspapers every day, I have my doubts.

gnosis 16y ago

"My friend, this is a negative viewpoint. I see much, much more evidence that creating lasting value is the far more "tried and true" way of getting rich." Some people believe that property is theft. Creating something of lasting value, while laudable, would not excuse that theft. But even rejecting that principle, just because you may have created something of lasting value doesn't necessarily translate in to riches. In fact, history is full of examples of people who created quite valuable things and yet died in abject poverty. They've often been cheated of their creation, and someone else took the credit (and the money). Some even argue that that's how the capitalist system works overall. The people at the top are the ones who profit most from the rest. While it is the rest who are the ones doing the really valuable work (and make a pittance in comparison). But even if we set that aside and assume that you've both made something of lasting value and have not had it stolen or cheated from you, or sold it to someone for a pittance of its actual worth, there's still the problem of converting it to wealth. Some people are just plain horrible at doing this, and when they are good at it, what will getting rich from that product actually entail? Will getting the product to succeed in the marketplace always (or even mostly) involve doing nothing immoral or illegal? Considering how many shady, anticompetitive, or just plain illegal business practices that are revealed in our newspapers every day, I have my doubts.