It is something one just gets used to. The rallying war cry against the rich as some evil force out to starve the poor and gain control and power over the common man. But it doesn't mean that just because one gets used to it that it makes it any less disconcerting or disheartening to hear the constant cry.
Because when you happen to be rich, you know who you are, and who you are not. You know how you got there, and how you did not. You know what your intent is, and what it is not.
There are bad people in all walks of life. Rich or poor or middle class. It doesn't matter how much anyone has in their bank account. Penny less or penny rich doesn't define a person.
I can no more sit here and make a blanket statement that anyone who is poor is uneducated and lazy than I can make a blanket statement that anyone who is rich is an unruly and unscrupulous tyrant wielding his mighty whip.
In this world we all really need each other. We all have a place in this world, and we all have a role. People are important no matter what their financial status happens to be.
We all also have to start somewhere. And for most of us that starting place is at the bottom. And most of us start exactly there. The thing that is often missed for some who stay at the bottom or who never get remotely close to the top is the opportunity we all have to succeed and rise with the tide, so to speak.
Many people simply look at the rich and see the now. They see the riches that the rich have today. But they can't see where the rich came from or all of the struggles and sacrifices that they endured to get there.
Do you want to know the truth? Getting rich is not easy. In fact, it's damn hard. It requires deep motivation. It requires tests, trials, and tribulations. It requires the ability to stomach enormous amounts of risk.
Luck can be a part of riches for some. But for the vast majority of the world's wealthy, it does not come easy. There is no luck at all involved in the process.
My mother's uncle, Archie Meinerz, was a determined man. He and his brother inherited a dairy farm from his father, and Archie simply saw something his father did not. In fact, he also saw something his brother did not. And so he grew that farm, and he expanded it, and eventually started Meinerz Creamery. He grew it enough that when the big food company at the time, Beatrice, was fast growing, they bought the creamery and Archie became a very rich man.
His brother bailed on the business long before Beatrice came along. He spent too much, and at some point he needed the money to sell off his share of the business more than he needed what that business would eventually become.
Archie was willing to make the sacrifices, and take on the risk, and do the work while his brother chose instead to take the quick buck.
Again, this is not to say that Archie's brother was lazy. It is simply to say that Archie's brother lacked the vision. He lacked realizing the opportunity. Nothing that Archie's brother failed to achieve was a product of the system. It was directly a product of the choices he made. And nothing of Archie's success or future riches was a product of thievery or greed or any desire to begrudge anyone. It was not his desire to amass great wealth just so that he could have more. His basis was the same as anyone else's who creates a business.
To provide something of value to people. Not take something away from them.
I think a lot of the time we tend to forget what the rich actually provide to the world at large. We tend to forget the massive contribution they make to our lives, to the world, to the way we live, and even how we live.
Nearly all of our creature comforts in life are because of the rich.
The rich invent things, innovate things, produce things, and make the process of producing things more efficient so that more people can enjoy them. And when they create these things, businesses emerge. And businesses of course create jobs which allow us to feed our families and live our lives, and to enjoy our lives.
What's more, those businesses are also open to the masses to participate in the success of them. Anyone can invest in these businesses. One does not need to be the captain of the ship to enjoy their ride on the boat, so to speak. But of course the captain will have better quarters.
And if one has the vision, and realizes the opportunity, and puts in the hard work, takes on the risk, and makes certain sacrifices, it is not at all impossible for the rider to one day captain his own ship.
Rallying against the rich is not an honorable thing. It is simply a cry of envy and one's recognition and affirmation of defeat disguised by the definition of unfairness and a rigged system.
The thing is that I know how I got what I have. I did not steal it from anyone. And I know what my intent is. To use my own wealth to provide an opportunity for others to also become wealthy
Greed for me is not so much defined as simply wanting more. To me, greed is wanting more for nothing. Wanting more just because. Greed is wanting more at any cost, and at anyone's expense. Greed is not simply the desire to obtain wealth.
As I made my own rise to the top, and as I have done throughout my life, I never once begrudged the wealthy of their riches. I asked questions, and I read their stories, I tried to understand their plight and their secrets, and I used all of what I learned to carve out my own path to my own goal that they were able to achieve.
More than that I also continue to understand my position in the food chain. Am I rich like a Jeff Bezos? No. Am I a millionaire many times over? No. Am I wealthy? Sure. But even as I sit where I am, very comfortably, I also know why I am not a Jeff Bezos. I maintain an honesty with myself. I understand my own limitations and I understand the extent of the opportunities that I have capitalized on, and those that I missed.
I do not have a war cry against the rich. I respect them. I admire them. And I want to learn their secrets.
And more than that, I also appreciate them. Not for what they can give me. But for what I can learn from them, and for the opportunities they offered me throughout my life to be at least a part of the club.
An opportunity that would not exist if the rich did not exist to make it possible.
Lead image courtesy of Pixabay, user Maklay62. Money Dollars Success - Free photo on Pixabay
"I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better." 😊 There's nothing WRONG with being rich. There's nothing WRONG with being poor. But Jesus painted a very graphic picture when He told the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. I thought it interesting that the poor man is named. He is identified and his name noted for future generations. But the rich man is just ... some cold-hearted guy with a lot of money. The moral of the story is plain. If you have been blessed with wealth, don't be like that "generic rich man". A rich person without human compassion is a spawn of Satan. 😊 😊