U.S. News & World
Report is fronting another article that purports to tell us how rich people
think. As with other articles of this ilk, “7 Things Rich People Believe”
reduces to a series of ideological beliefs presented as facts. In the article, the writer doesn’t even
attempt to justify his assertions about the minds of rich folks. No studies,
not even an anecdote—just a series of wishes, assumptions and stale advice, all
tinged with the ideology of greed and consumerism.
As it turns out, the writer is Tom Sightings, who I have
chided before for his ideologically tinged and accuracy challenged articles
that advocate that big cities are not good for retirement and
that people should move to avoid paying school taxes once their kids are out of school. Sightings seems to specialize in advocating the politics of selfishness in
cute, homey articles that render general advice that always seems to be the
same pabulum extolling greed, consumerism and the belief that the rich are
better people.
The article opens by asserting that most people both love
and hate money—like it but believe it’s evil to be greedy. Sightings then
exhorts us to “get beyond your mixed
feelings about money and start thinking like a rich person.”
And what does Sightings say a rich person think about
money? That it’s not evil. That there’s
nothing wrong with wanting more of it. And that you (the rich person) deserve
to have it. Those three thoughts proffered by Sightings are all permissions to
be greedy. For example, he never considers that it might be wrong for a
billionaire to want more money or that people should feel ashamed to display
enormous wealth when others are starving or struggling. Consider this statement: “The wealthy are not inherently dishonest; they do not feel
ashamed of their first-class lifestyle or their bulging portfolios. In fact,
most rich people take pride in their accomplishments and enjoy the fruits of
their labors.” What these two sentences are really saying is
that 1) the only sign of success is making money; 2) the only way to take pride
in your accomplishments is to spend money; and 3) all rich people earn their
wealth (meaning they deserve it). These
are all basics principles of the American consumer ideology, hammered into us
daily by the news media, our civic leaders and mass entertainment. But nowhere does Sightings prove that any of
these statements are true.
To
these general ideological beliefs, Sighting adds an out and out lie: that the
way to achieve real wealth is to earn more, not save more. Tell that to all the trust fund babies; the
inexperienced kids who go to the front of the line for jobs because of their
rich parents’ connections; or those born millionaires like Bill Gates, Michael
Dell and Mitt Romney who leveraged their parents’ wealth into multi-millions or
billions. All studies suggest that the
best way to achieve wealth is to be born into wealth. Now maybe Sightings is
right that rich people believe the lie that the road to riches runs through
your job—but I don’t think Sightings ever asked, and it’s convenient that it’s
what rich folk who don’t want to pay a lot of taxes would want us to believe.
Sightings
completes his list of what rich folk think with some of the more common business
success tips that we’ve heard since the days of Dale Carnegie and before: Rely
on brainwork. Live below your means. Spend more on education and less on
entertainment. Like all writers on business success, though, when Sightings
says “education,” he really means vocational training. “Yet these people typically do not put a lot of faith in formal
education or fancy degrees. They focus on useful, practical skills that are
relevant to their career.” In Sightings world, you won’t catch a rich
person reading Plato or Proust, studying environmental science or contemplating
the lessons of Chinese history.
Articles
claiming or inferring that rich people think differently and those giving tips
on how to think like a rich person pop up in the mass business media about
every six weeks. All build their case on assumptions and anecdotes. All happily
support the status quo.
These
lists of what the rich think or how they differ from others always communicate
three hidden messages:
1.
There is one route to success, which, of course, is to buy into
the American ideology of selfishness and consumerism.
2.
Rich people deserve to be rich, and that their wealth does not
depend on luck, connections, prior wealth or the accidents of birth.
3.
Everyone can become rich. All you have to do is think and act
like a rich person.
The
flip side of the third message is that when you don’t become rich, it’s your
fault. You didn’t work as hard as that investment banker (even if you worked as
many hours in your job as a janitor). You didn’t get enough training, or the
wrong kind of training (I guess that associates degree was a mistake—too bad
you didn’t have the bucks for Harvard!). You didn’t have the right attitude or
the right thought process. Maybe you stayed poor because in your heart you
didn’t like yourself enough to get rich.
Whatever, it’s all your own fault.
These
articles purporting to analyze the wealthy thus serve to enforce the American ideology—to
make us like the wealthy and not resent them, to make us want to be like them
and to accept their version of what’s best for society.
Just the kind of stuff that rich people—those who own the media and advertise on it want—want us to believe.
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