More uncomfortable-to-hear observations from Yours Unruly:
When people don’t have money, they tend to feel envious, even when they won’t openly admit it to others (or themselves).
If they do have money, they feel guilty… and paranoid about being a target for that envy.
Methinx, deep down, people want to be “filthy” rich because they want that cash money bling.
Why else would shows like Downton Abbey and Made in Chelsea be so popular?
People get to live vicariously through someone else’s money. It don’t matter if it’s a fictional story or “reality TV”.
At the same time, they also don’t feel worthy of having lotsa money, which is why — when they do hit the jackpot — they become obsessed with “giving back” and try to buy their self-esteem through charitable donations and taking up social causes.
And the people who never quite make it? Or the overtly socialist-minded liberals?
They have endless excuses.
The “it’s not my fault”… “I grew up poor… I never had a lucky break… My parents were bad with money…” and so on.
The famous economist Ludwig von Mises wrote about this very thing in The Anti-Capitalist Mentality, where he described how poor folks are usually unwilling to accept the fact that the reason they’re poor might be the result of their own laziness or inadequacies… and instead they prefer to find a scapegoat like… rich people.
Rich people are easy to blame because they’re the “haves” and poor people are the “have nots”.
Once a person buys into that idea, any good-looking data and “hard numbers” can justify those feelings after the fact.
Of course, not ALL poor people think this way, but generally someone who is anti-capitalist does.
And of course not all rich people who give to charities are trying to buy their soul. Sometimes, they’re just nice people who feel bad for other people’s sh*tty situation and want to help them.
Those people feel good about their success but they’re also not stepping on other peoples’ throats to get there.
Which is why, in my not-so-humble-opinion, greed is actually a good thing and something to aspire to.
Meanwhile, feeling guilty about your success is pointless and psychologically destructive.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I do not mean you should be profiting at someone else’s expense. Nor do I mean others should profit at your expense.
Neither of those things are greedy… they’re just self-destructive.
Instead, you should work out a way that your interests are aligned with others and everyone wins.
OK, enough preaching. On to bid’niz.
I can’t make you feel good about having money but… if you want to have nice stuff, then you need to save more money which IS something I can help you with.
OK, enough yammering. If you want more tips and advice, join my email list… now.