As I’m typing this, a rather loud argument concerning the economy and politics and government just passed upstairs, between the three people who live in this house who are not me.
I left the room feeling mostly like they were acting like children, and I wanted no part in it. Which is ironic, I suppose, me being the youngest and everything.
In this current state of the economy, I am a capitalist and an individualist.
If you define capitalist as explained near the end of this post, as someone who provides a lot of value, then I will always be a capitalist – and it doesn’t matter whether or not money is a part of that equation.
My brother has seen the Zeitgeist movie, the first one, and is absolutely pissed that the world looks the way it does, and that we should live in the utopian world of the Venus Project instead. (links at the end of this post)
I am all for that reality. They make a good case for it. We have the resources. And the world would certainly be a more enjoyable place for everyone. All that’s left is some elbow grease and real hustle to make it happen.
I would certainly think it preferable.
But I do not think the current state of the world is wrong, because I don’t understand what it means to not accept what is.
I think the current state of the economy is the best it possibly could be. I mean… what else? Everyone complains that it’s so horrible and bad and awful… compared to what, exactly?
It just is, and there’s nothing more to it than that.
The way I see it, this is what we got, so let’s make the most of it.
You can either sit on your butt and conjure up complaints about how the world is so shitty, and excuses for why not to be a “part of the system” … or you can accept that the world is what it is, and start hustling.
Even if you want to spread a message and a plea for a currency-free economy, a resource-based society… awesome!
You’re still gonna need money to do it.
Ultimately, everyone’s personal goal is their own personal satisfaction. Most acts of selflessness are acts of selfishness. There are about 50 people on the planet for whom this is not true.
Yet almost no one is willing to put in the work.
And this, by the way, has nothing to do with the infrastructure of society or the state of the economy.
The people who work the hardest toward worthy goals will always be the most fulfilled, regardless of what the external world looks like.
The external world is an illusion. So stop worrying, or even caring about it.
Start caring about YOU.
Everything you feel about the external world stems from what you are on the inside.
The fundamental principle of economy is the exchange of value.
Person A gives person B something person B finds valuable, in exchange for something person A finds valuable.
People who can provide a consistent output of value to other human beings will always be better off, and more happy, than those who can’t.
And this applies, once again, regardless of whether or not the economy is based on money.
If you cannot provide any value… it is a skill that can be learned.
That’s what education is supposed to be for.
The reason why education is messed up is because no one is actually being taught truly valuable things.
And that is why self-education is so important.
The fact that you’re reading this newsletter says a lot about you. You’re a self-educator… which means you’re way ahead of the curve.
This has been a mostly unedited rambling on what I think about the economy, and I’d like to end off with some words from Robert Kiyosaki, from the closing chapter of his book “Unfair Advantage”:
“Capitalism has come under severe attack during this financial crisis. Many people believe capitalists are greedy, corrupt, and evil. Granted, many are.
Yet, if you look at what true capitalists do, true capitalists only profit if and when they make life better, often saving us time and money. For example, the Wright Brothers were the first to fly, but it took capitalists to build an airline industry, making flying safe and affordable for the masses. Today, I am happy to pay for an airline ticket because flying is easier, faster, and a lot less painful than walking, which we all would be doing if not for capitalists.”
“… While it is true that there are greedy, crooked, lazy people who exploit the capitalist system, they are not true capitalists. They are simply greedy, crooked, and lazy people.”
“This financial crisis was caused by corruption at the highest levels of government and business. Like a cancer, legalized corruption eats away at the moral fiber of the world. Men and women of power, craving more power, sell their souls to glorify their egos, destroying lives and bleeding the wealth from people they are supposed to serve.
In world governments, we have too many professional politicians. Many “public servants” serve without any real-world business experience, running the biggest business in the world—the business of government. No wonder government is corrupt.”
And, notice his focus on assets (value):
“While corrupt and incompetent business and political leaders have damaged the economy, I believe one of the biggest reasons for this financial crisis is an obsolete educational system. In the United States, the more we spend on education, the worse the system gets.
One problem with the school system is the failure to focus on true capitalism. Hence, we have corrupted capitalism and corrupted governments running the world. In schools, there is a subtle socialist agenda, a subtle undercurrent implying “the rich are greedy.”
In Marxist theory, the proletariat is a class of capitalist society that does not have ownership of the means of production. All they have to sell is their labor for a wage or salary. Proletarians are wage-workers, trained—like Pavlov trained his dogs—to work for money.
Our school system produces this class of capitalism, the proletariat class, a wage earner, a person who leaves school looking for a job. Many will never own anything of value, and many will die with nothing, simply because our schools, while resenting the rich, produce the workers they claim the rich exploit.
A job is not an asset. You cannot own a job. You cannot pass your job on to your kids.
Money is not an asset. Today, money is debt and is rapidly being devalued with more national debt.
Your home is not an asset. You are the asset. Every month, homeowners send checks to the bank, tax department, insurance, and utility companies.
Your retirement plan is not an asset. It is an unfunded liability. Your retirement savings go to the rich who use your money to acquire their assets—real assets.
Students who leave school, looking for a high-paying job, soon fly into the web of capitalism, not because capitalism is necessarily evil, but because the educational system fails to prepare students for the real world. Without financial education, students are trained to be the victims of capitalism. The school system’s belief that “the rich are greedy” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As I’ve often stated, true capitalists are generous. They produce a lot and receive a lot. Could it be the school system that is really the greedy party?
Marx envisioned a war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the capitalist class, since workers naturally wish their wages to be as high as possible, while the bourgeoisie, the capitalists, wish for wages to be as low as possible.
In the brave new world of the new economy, in the ongoing war for high wages versus low wages, the capitalist class is winning. The capitalists win because it is easy to move production to lower-wage nations. Technology also reduces the number of workers needed to run a business. Production goes up, labor costs go down, and capitalists win.
The world is changing rapidly. The school systems are not. Schools continue to teach people to be proletarians, to leave school in search of a high-paying job. This is financial suicide.”
And to Mr. Kiyosaki – you rock, and I hope you don’t mind me copying & pasting some words out of your book. I think they are important words.
To you, the reader, I hope you’ve gotten something out of this post, even though these are just my thoughts. They may or may not be aligned with yours. I don’t know, and I don’t really care either. Just expressing.
Here are a couple of resources you might find interesting:
Unfair Advantage, Robert Kiyosaki
I’ll talk to ya soon…
Linus
P.S. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
