Why ‘The Crowd’ Likes to Regulate Success
About 3 weeks ago here, I threw out my appeal for thinking straight — for being the person who doesn’t sit back, ponder about life, and produce little of substance.
I talked about how “talk” (in the form of the Washington-infused word HOPE) means nothing when it comes to increasing your monetary value (the post is here if you missed it).
Sure, it’s all well and good to FEEL like things can, and will, work out in your life, because… well… the BIG boys and girls in big places “have your back.” But it’s still the equivalent of waiting around for some forgotten rich relative to bestow an inheritance on your lap.
Instead of picking up the latest issue of Entrepreneur magazine — looking for inspiring ideas that can spark something unique in their own mind — the majority of North Americans would rather sit for extended hours in front of the Electronic Income reducer.
And I’ve had several conversations lately with subscribers, customers, and even some distant family members who use the TV to see “what new plans Mr. Obama has in store for us.”
Ouch! As in, can you say “poor-me-itis”?! Yup, the foundation behind this take-care-of-me mindset stems from several key things…
– Cont’d –
And, I’m sure I could go on a soap box about it, if I was in the mood. But I’m not… because I’m not going to give any more energy (than I already have) to the absurd thinking out there that “I’m a victim of the economy.”
Or, the perverted idea that there’s a savior in D.C. looking to set all excessive wrongs right, giving equality and balance to the world.
Sorta makes me nauseous just typing that.
But, what I will highlight and give some passion to is this:
If you’re a business man or woman; or, if you’re in a revenue-generating role in any business (even if you aren’t directly responsible for its growth and longevity); ask yourself this rhetorical question:
“Do I really think that my success, as extremely far-reaching and wildly massive as it can be, will keep others from having it too?”
Well, as crazy as that question is, it’s worth noting that a grand percentage of Americans believe that your personal desire for wealth (er, “greed” in their little heads) is great and all… but ONLY as long as they get some of it!
They actually believe we’re in this deleveraging period (i.e. this slowdown in economic activity) because the super-wealthy, or bankers, or crazy Wall-Streeters, got us there.
And Obama is gonna make it right, ain’t he?… Well, come on now… he’s promised:
On the 2008 campaign trail…
Plumber to Obama: “Your new tax plan is going to tax me more. Isn’t it?”
Obama: “It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too. I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”
So, here’s my idea for you:
Tell the next person you hear wondering about the next new entitlement program they can get their hands on to GET THEIR ASS off the couch.
Now, don’t get me wrong here. Even some victims can be self reliant and all. Heather just pointed that out in her latest post (“A Grimm Ending to America’s Got Talent“). After all, the winner did put his foot in the game and compete.
Yet, as my wise-cracking partner-in-fun did also point out: He’s what America loves… ’cause, they resonate with him.
A somewhat down-on-his-luck, church-going boy who… well… just wanted to help his grandparents out. Ah, just a nice lad. An underdog with heart. Uhmmm, he had it won before he first set foot on the stage, with that label.
There’s more to say about that too, of course… yet, in the end, I wonder if America will ever again appreciate, adore, and vote for outside-the-box creativity, extreme hard work, radical ingenuity, and personal responsibility.
Holding my breath…
♦
Filed under: Critical-Thinking, Personal Achievement, Prosperity Mind / Wealth Creation
Why do many people think if someone is wealthy, they gained their wealth by dishonest means? I have found that most wealthy people I know gained their money by hard work, and wise money management.
It seems like our country has a welfare mentality. I think our educational and political system teaches it. Our children are taught a lot of useless book knowledge, but are not taught about wise money management.
There is a vast difference between knowledge and wisdom. As my dad would say, knowledge is knowing, wisdom is knowing how…
So true!
Thanks for posting these articles!!!
Oh…. I read this post and being a beautiful nearly Autumn morning in the Pacific Northwest, the windows open…I’m sure all my neighbors heard my resounding yell of “Yes, Thank You!!!”
I want zero to do with the mind-numbing, fire-in-the-belly quenching ‘group think’ of redistribution, scarcity mentality, and nanny state victimization.
If you have a billion pies you can’t take away from me because I know how to make my OWN pies!
Hooray Barry!
Great Read. There is a boiling point where the people who contribute to society decide they are not getting a good return on their “investment”. A society whereby the contributors are not happy will rapidly become a society without contributors to that society.
While I get the point you were TRYING to make, this website always seems to over simplify or create it’s own meaning of the ideas being challenged.
I believe that there are those who are destined to be a worker, and THANK GOODNESS for them or how would YOU get the work your own business requires done??? And then, tell me please, WHY do they have to pay the same percentage of taxes as YOU who make money hands over fist above them?
You forgot that it’s not about redistribution so much as keeping the middle class from completely disappearing until there are only the rich and the poor.
There is no substitute for hard work and being driven to create your dreams…but some folks (I know because they are paraded by me almost daily where I work) are simply “trust fund” brats who have no idea WHERE the money came from or how to put it to the best use.
At some point, those with a lot of money have forgotten how to raise their children with wholesome values. It’s all about what material possessions you have and how many of them. The most interesting part of that picture is, all those possessions must be gifts because most of the trust fund kiddies here will leave the change they drop on the ground rather than picking it up.
I was never one who “had” but I did always have enough to raise my son who, I am certain, has the values, talent, skills, drive and creativity to create his own fortune…but that fortune is being redefined as I type this. Most folks are looking for creating a fortune in memories of time spent with loved ones. Materialism is going by the wayside. People are waking up to finding their fortune in what’s meaningful to them as individuals.
Try being middle-aged and unemployed right now. It’s not impossible, but it’s damned hard to find work…attitude helps a bunch but everyone falls on a hard time and needs a little help to find their way again, EVERYONE does.
It is the worship of the Almighty Dollar that is going to be the end of this country. I’m not saying having abundance is a bad thing, but abundance JUST FOR ABUNDANCE sure is.
The ME generation needs to wake up and realize there’s a WE generation right behind them that is rocking the boat and doing good things for themselves AND the world around them.
You said: “yet, in the end, I wonder if America will ever again appreciate, adore, and vote for outside-the-box creativity, extreme hard work, radical ingenuity, and personal responsibility.” We did, his name is Barack Obama.
Some days, you’re posts just chap my hide.
[ Barry’s reply ] — I’m pretty sure, LizardBreath (the comical name you call yourself), that my point WAS made… and made clearly. And I’m pretty sure complicated is not what this needs to be: Quit sitting around HOPING that Komrade Obama is going to be your savior.
Simple and straight-up directive, actually. What, in that message, seems to be confusing for you?
And, if we’re chapping some hides — i.e.. causing some readers to get perturbed at how we see things and add our ounce of perspective on — then that let’s us know we’re doing what we set out to do.
And, in regards to the timing of when I saw your comment come in, I was just reading something one of our renegade-writing counterparts at The S&A Digest was saying about Obama and taxes.
For my departure with you today, I’ll leave you in the fair hands of Dan Ferris:
” I’m not half stupid enough to deny that too many people are suffering in genuine, dire poverty in the U.S. And I admit I don’t have a good feel for how many true poverty cases are suffering due to poor attitudes about money, work, and telling the truth versus those suffering through no fault of their own.
“If we weren’t so overburdened with taxes that hinder us from making a living, we could do so much more to help those desperately in need and unable to help themselves. I figure Komrade Obama sees true indigents as sacrificial lambs in his quest to conquer the world.
“Crazy political leaders always think that way. They kiss or kill babies with equal zeal and purely for effect, as required by the ignoramuses who vote for them. Anyway, get used to these reports. The more new laws and taxes they pass inside the Beltway, the poorer people get out here in the real world.”
[…] Heather Vale Goss Last week, Barry wrote a post talking about victimitis-thinking and how some people expect a handout when things are bad for […]