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.

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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..

MICHAEL JACKSON, MONEY, AND ME

(That’s not incorrect grammar in the title of this article; it’s literary license!)

Michael Jackson and his siblings grew up as Jehovah’s Witnesses, at least sort of.  So did I.  So I started comparing my life with his.  We started at the same place, and ended up in very different places.  Who did better?  I decided to keep score:

 Tough, authoritarian parenting was the norm.  Michael, one; John, one.

 Michael grew up on music; I grew up without music.  My father was protecting me from people like Michael.  No telling what I might do under their influence:  grow my hair longer??  Michael, 1000; John, zero.

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Why We Believe: The Power of Utopia, Part II

In Part I of this article, I discussed how people are vulnerable to belief when they are unhappy or unsatisfied, and most people are one or the other most of the time.  In times of dramatic change, people are scared, insecure, and eager for anything that promises certainty.  Unsure of themselves, they are quick to follow any Confidence Man or Group who exudes a high level of certainty and self-assurance, whether the facts warrant it or not (and they usually don’t).  When the Confidence Man (or Group) also promises some form of utopia that people want, and if that Utopian suggests that the crowd can have what they want by taking it from someone else, few will resist that temptation.  Such plunder is always camouflaged in language of some form of altruism, of everyone sacrificing or giving up for the common good.  Such behavior is successful because historically, for millennia property existed by permission, not by right, and it was usually acquired by military acquisition, not by trade.  Those who actually produced economic values were viewed as serfs, as socially inferior to those who controlled their products by force.  In addition to this historical emphasis on property acquired by force and kept by permission, feudal society viewed the tribe, not the individual, as the core unit of society.  So when we moved to the Industrial Revolution, property earned was considered the property of the group, or tribe, rather than the individual.  The prevailing philosophy has been one of altruism, meaning that the individual was expected to give up some part of his earnings, without compensation, to the tribe.  Although technology has changed dramatically, we still cling to these ancient paradigms. Read more..