An Open Letter to Robert Kiyosaki

 

In case you don’t know, Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the Rich Dad series of books on financial literacy, and he and his beautiful wife Kim are the creators of the board game called Cash Flow, a marvelous financial learning tool for young and old alike.  I am a fan of Robert Kiyosaki.  I met him and his wife in a bar in Pittsburgh, PA.  They are very genuine, down-to-earth, and friendly people.  They are for-profit educators, and they clearly have a passion for their subject.  And yes, I really believe Robert’s story about his rich dad and his poor dad.  I don’t think Rich Dad is a figment of Kiyosaki’s imagination.  So I am a believer.  I don’t make statements like that very often.  I have something to say to Mr. Kiyosaki, a disagreement I want to air with him.

Dear Mr. Kiyosaki:

If you are reading this, you already know we are kindred spirits and I admire what you do and share your commitment to financial education.  In a recent article you wrote that some of your best financial advice is to not be average.  That comment was the source of considerable outrage on the part of your readers, judging by their comments.  Perhaps they wanted your message gift-wrapped in softer language, but I couldn’t agree with you more. 

Very few people truly comprehend the mind-numbing reach and power of their government, and its insatiable appetite for their earnings and its religious zeal to dumb them down and control their lives.  Therefore they do not understand how much the odds are stacked against them in their endeavor to break free from the rat race.  They do not understand that to be average is to have no chance.

Read more..

Why the Bank Always Wins

The BIG BANKS, that is.  The Big Banks always win.  And Big Money.  R-e-a-l-l-y BIG Money always wins.  Money so big it moves around the globe swiftly and silently and at the speed of light, and you can’t even attach a name to its owners.  We’re not talking about the neighbor down the street with the new Mercedes that he is so proud of.  We are talking about money so big it can bring down governments, and prop up governments, dictate terms to governments.  We are not talking about the millionaire next door.  Nor am I talking about your lovely neighborhood bank, or even the biggest bank in your state.  I am talking about the people who decide which banks fail and which ones don’t.  I am talking about the people who allow some banks to fail so that  THEY can buy up the failed bank’s  assets with pennies on the dollar—oh, and that’s pennies on YOUR (tax) dollar, not THEIR dollar.  The politicians are their pawns, who are rewarded and punished according to their compliance and cooperation.  The only thing these people fear is, well, YOU.  You are part of the herd, and they fear the herd.  These people don’t like democracy, they don’t like the light, and they only pretend at transparency.

To read about what you can do NOW

to improve your financial literacy

and put money in your wallet

continue to the end of this article, or click here:

http://www.phoenixlogistical.com/education.html

 

Empires have always been about the control of the many by the few.  It was said that the sun never set on the British Empire, and the most amazing feat of the British Empire is that it controlled so much of the earth’s surface with the tiniest of military garrisons and outposts scattered around the globe.  In most of those places, if the local populace had risen up against them, the tiny British garrisons would easily have been overrun and sent packing.  They had the greatest navy in the history of the world, but no navy could have kept them safe everywhere, and especially inland.  The secret of their superiority was the quality of their information.  They knew the value of information; they knew that information was power.  The maintenance of power required keeping the masses in ignorance.  And as long as the masses could be fed, amused, and kept poor, nothing would ever change.  It was important to keep the masses poor, because that kept them too busy and too tired to interest themselves in anything other than the tyranny of survival.  And the purpose of empire was to extract wealth from far flung lands and bring it home to a privileged few.

Read more..

The Global Poker Playoffs: a short story about Money Supply

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the godfather of modern banking, purportedly said “Give me control of a nations money supply and I care not who makes the laws.”  What did he mean by that?  Is it true?  Since the Federal Reserve Bank controls the money supply of the United States as the world’s largest and most influential Central Bank, does this mean that this institution is more powerful than Congress, more powerful than the Executive Branch of the government, that it operates above and beyond the control of the Republicans or Democrats?  Is the Federal Reserve above the law?  Was Rothschild right?  What exactly is the money supply, anyway?

Read more..

Financial Literacy: Deflation: When an Economy Implodes on Itself

As I have discussed in other posts, every good, service, and commodity has a value, and that value is denominated, or measured in terms of the national currency; in our case the value of anything is measured in dollars.  (Go to Billionaires Who Can’t Afford a Loaf of Bread:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGfsQimC0mw)  Even money has a value that fluctuates, and there are events that trigger changes in the value of money.  Money is measured by it’s purchasing power, and economists spell this with capital letters Purchasing Power (PP).  Money by itself has no value; it is only a symbol and a medium of exchange, so the real question is how much of anything can you exchange a dollar for??  I have covered what happens during a period of inflation, and the costs of everything as measured in dollars goes up, which means the value of the dollar (or its purchasing power) goes down.  People think they are better off with rising wages, but factoring in the decreased ability of those wages to purchase, they are actually worse off. 

Read more..

Financial Literacy: The Origins of Banking

Financial Literacy: The Origins of Banking

Financial Literacy: The Money Supply and Inflation

Financial Literacy: The Money Supply and Inflation

Financial Literacy: Good Money, Bad Money

Financial Literacy: Good Money, Bad Money

Financial Literacy: How Big is a Trillion?

Financial Literacy: How Big is a Trillion?

Financial Literacy: Your 401K and the Next Stock Market Crash

Financial Literacy: Your 401K and the Next Stock Market Crash

SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

I have decided that we humans are fundamentally lazy, that is, we travel with the herd and we will do what we have to for our own survival, but for the most part we will ride on the efforts of others as much as possible.  It is best and safest to be in the middle of the herd, for those who travel on the periphery are far more likely to be picked off by predators or somehow get separated from the herd, to their destruction.  Basically, all we want is what the members of any herd want, the freedom and safety to graze and reproduce.  Now what, exactly, does this have to do with financial literacy?  Everything, dear Reader, everything.  Read more..

Next Page »