7 ms·

In a wider social- and group-context it is sometimes best to maintain the view that you are a victim being manipulated by outside forces. In a strictly persona

by Dewie3 11y ago

In a wider social- and group-context it is sometimes best to maintain the view that you are a victim being manipulated by outside forces. In a strictly personal context it is often better to maintain the view that you are a fully empowered actor.

fredkbloggs 11y ago
It's really quite important to maintain both. Becoming wealthy without manipulating the system (or, put another way, becoming wealthy while creating a similar amount of value) requires both prudence and either a great deal of luck or a lot of hard work and reasonably good luck. Many people work hard; most do not become wealthy. Sometimes that's due to their own choices, but not always. It's something of a disservice to teach a child that he or she is a fully empowered actor; the reality is very different. In the real world, you are competent, professional, and hardworking but your employer goes under during a bust. During the 2 years you're out of work, you drain your savings and have to start over from scratch. 5 to 10 years of earning, saving, and investing go down the crapper. In the real world, you work hard, draw good pay, and invest wisely. Unfortunately, due to monetary policy established by unelected officials, you are faced with a choice of losing money to inflation every day or paying wildly inflated prices for any asset available to you. As a result, you never achieve financial independence no matter what you do. In the real world, you may be faced with a choice between working a job that will never enable you to become financially independent and engaging a crooked physician to help you collect disability benefits from the government for the rest of your life. You find it impossible to accept that you should have to work for what others are given for nothing. A child who grows up believing he or she is fully empowered is likely to respond poorly when encountering these situations later in life. It would be reasonable to interpret them (incorrectly, of course) as evidence of one's own failure, inadequacy, or even bad character. The reality is that the game is rigged, and badly so. The industrious good behavior the Calvinist work ethic endorses makes success a little more likely, but it's nothing close to a guarantee. Better to learn these lessons young, even if it encourages "cheating" later in life. Sadly, cheaters usually do prosper; the choice to be "honest" or not should be made from moral principles, not a misguided belief that it will lead to success/happiness/financial independence.
- WalterBright 11y ago
  Read the book "The Millionaire Next Door". It is entire possible, and in fact commonplace, to become wealthy by quite ordinary and predictable means. It isn't really about working hard, either. That's a myth. It's about working effectively, and making prudent, common sense choices about what to do with your income. Of course, life can hand you a lot of bad luck that can derail your plans. But this is simply not the usual experience.
  - mistermann 11y ago
    The "Millionaire's Next Door" in that book were working in an environment different than the current, that's a fact. Now whether the current environment is "less honest and merit-based" (as I happen to believe), or not, it is certainly different. Bubbles come and go, some are long, some are short, some are consequential, some are not. For example, real estate bubbles: these are most dangerous because it is usually the most substantial asset purchase an individual ever makes, and it is typically 90% leverage. If you fall ass-backwards into the right spot on the development curve, you can literally turn $50k (down payment) into a million++ dollars - if you guess wrong, you're bankrupt and you pray that you have a non-recourse loan.
    - branchless 11y ago
      Ok - downpayment on a house of 50k, 90% LTV. Must be 500K. Doubles in price to $1mm. Let's say it does this in 10 years. Wages haven't appreciated much. Where does that 500k come from? The next generation. Zero sum game. Rampant inequality. Crashing social mobility. As you say it's not merit based. How many people can save 500k in 10 years? Leveraged mortgage debt then becomes the only game in town. Game set and match the banks.
      - mistermann 11y ago
        > Where does that 500k come from? It comes from two places (at least): 1. Debt - someone pushes a few buttons on a computer keyboard and "poof", you've conjured a million dollars out of thin air 2. China - this is real money, but if it gets pointed at one geographical region, it can cause major distortions, especially if that real money can be confiscated at the whim of the politician who happens to be in power at the moment
brc 11y ago
I would disagree with that. If in a social context where being a victim works, then a new social context is needed. Even pretending to play at a victim is corrosive to a proper attitude of being in control and responsible for your life outcomes.

by Dewie3 11y ago

fredkbloggs 11y ago

It's really quite important to maintain both. Becoming wealthy without manipulating the system (or, put another way, becoming wealthy while creating a similar amount of value) requires both prudence and either a great deal of luck or a lot of hard work and reasonably good luck. Many people work hard; most do not become wealthy. Sometimes that's due to their own choices, but not always. It's something of a disservice to teach a child that he or she is a fully empowered actor; the reality is very different. In the real world, you are competent, professional, and hardworking but your employer goes under during a bust. During the 2 years you're out of work, you drain your savings and have to start over from scratch. 5 to 10 years of earning, saving, and investing go down the crapper. In the real world, you work hard, draw good pay, and invest wisely. Unfortunately, due to monetary policy established by unelected officials, you are faced with a choice of losing money to inflation every day or paying wildly inflated prices for any asset available to you. As a result, you never achieve financial independence no matter what you do. In the real world, you may be faced with a choice between working a job that will never enable you to become financially independent and engaging a crooked physician to help you collect disability benefits from the government for the rest of your life. You find it impossible to accept that you should have to work for what others are given for nothing. A child who grows up believing he or she is fully empowered is likely to respond poorly when encountering these situations later in life. It would be reasonable to interpret them (incorrectly, of course) as evidence of one's own failure, inadequacy, or even bad character. The reality is that the game is rigged, and badly so. The industrious good behavior the Calvinist work ethic endorses makes success a little more likely, but it's nothing close to a guarantee. Better to learn these lessons young, even if it encourages "cheating" later in life. Sadly, cheaters usually do prosper; the choice to be "honest" or not should be made from moral principles, not a misguided belief that it will lead to success/happiness/financial independence.

WalterBright 11y ago
Read the book "The Millionaire Next Door". It is entire possible, and in fact commonplace, to become wealthy by quite ordinary and predictable means. It isn't really about working hard, either. That's a myth. It's about working effectively, and making prudent, common sense choices about what to do with your income. Of course, life can hand you a lot of bad luck that can derail your plans. But this is simply not the usual experience.
- mistermann 11y ago
  The "Millionaire's Next Door" in that book were working in an environment different than the current, that's a fact. Now whether the current environment is "less honest and merit-based" (as I happen to believe), or not, it is certainly different. Bubbles come and go, some are long, some are short, some are consequential, some are not. For example, real estate bubbles: these are most dangerous because it is usually the most substantial asset purchase an individual ever makes, and it is typically 90% leverage. If you fall ass-backwards into the right spot on the development curve, you can literally turn $50k (down payment) into a million++ dollars - if you guess wrong, you're bankrupt and you pray that you have a non-recourse loan.
  - branchless 11y ago
    Ok - downpayment on a house of 50k, 90% LTV. Must be 500K. Doubles in price to $1mm. Let's say it does this in 10 years. Wages haven't appreciated much. Where does that 500k come from? The next generation. Zero sum game. Rampant inequality. Crashing social mobility. As you say it's not merit based. How many people can save 500k in 10 years? Leveraged mortgage debt then becomes the only game in town. Game set and match the banks.
    - mistermann 11y ago
      > Where does that 500k come from? It comes from two places (at least): 1. Debt - someone pushes a few buttons on a computer keyboard and "poof", you've conjured a million dollars out of thin air 2. China - this is real money, but if it gets pointed at one geographical region, it can cause major distortions, especially if that real money can be confiscated at the whim of the politician who happens to be in power at the moment

brc 11y ago

I would disagree with that. If in a social context where being a victim works, then a new social context is needed. Even pretending to play at a victim is corrosive to a proper attitude of being in control and responsible for your life outcomes.