Blame the Rich!

. . . Or Learn from Them

So should you blame the rich? Or should you learn from them?

On Friday, Septermber 14, 2012, CNBC posted an article about how Quantitative Easing has mainly benefited the wealthy.

Not much of a surprise there. To quote from the article:

The reason is simple. QE drives up the prices of assets, especially financial assets. And most of the financial assets in America are owned by the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans.

Judging by the comments on the article, there are a lot of people who know exactly who to blame for their financial dissatisfaction and struggles (the story was also reprinted on Yahoo, where the results were amplified and, since it's Yahoo we're talking about, much more vitriolic and ugly).

The False Economic Dichotomy

But I found something insidious in both the article and many of the comments - mainly the cynical assumption that you're either super rich or you're a victim.

Instead of complaining that the wealthy have an unfair advantage because the bastards all have the audacity to own cash producing assets, I would think that a more empowering response would be to recognize that ownership just might be the key to financial independence - and then to actively pursue the acquisition of cash-producing assets oneself.

Don't get me wrong - I recognize that maintaining wealth is a lot simpler than building it in the first place. And I understand that there are plenty of people who are struggling.

But sometimes you have to be a hero to yourself (and your loved ones) and embrace reality and the path that success requires - if you want to be better off financially, at some level you're going to have to be an OWNER.

The Two Forms of Ownership

And ownership basically takes two forms - purchasing cash-producing assets (investing), or creating cash-producing assets (entrepreneurship).

I'm fortunate, because I've benefited from both forms of ownership - both my own personal investing results as well as my efforts to share the way I invest with others.

And here's the irony - I'm nowhere close to being part of that "wealthiest 5 percent of Americans" who supposedly own everything, and yet, it's been ownership (and a semi-frugal lifestyle up to this point), that freed me from the tyranny of having to have a job three and a half years ago.

Instead of resenting the wealthy, I learned from them.

And although I live a pretty modest lifestyle (at least for now), that lifestyle is completely my own. And I wouldn't trade this sense of liberation and independence for anything.

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