This may be a bold thing to say, but as I've grown a little older I've observed that in short, the world of humans could quickly be described as just:
Smart people, getting other people to do stuff for them.
If you are broke, or dumb, naive, or gullible - it’s easy for smart people to get you to do things for them (like earn them money) using your own time, energy, and money.
Sometimes they will threaten you, but most of the time smart people just have to offer you a few bananas (or a little bit of pay) and you will basically become their slave to do with as they wish whether that is requiring that you sit at a desk in a dingy office all day generating ideas, writing code, pushing pixels, and crunching numbers, or toiling away digging holes on the side of the road or the smart guy’s backyard.
In a sense, you are forced or tricked into allowing them to own you and your time. You may not have to allow this, but the pressure of being broke sure makes you feel like you do and you believe it.
Here’s the thing though - If you can earn enough money, maybe around $100k or $200k a year, especially with your own business, smart people can’t really get to you. You don’t really need them anymore. So why should you do their work for them?
At this point, you can pay for what you need including food, and shelter, and have plenty left over. And the truth is, if you are focused, then earning $100k a year with your own business should not be that difficult.
But the kicker is…
Once you start earning more money, you naturally are able to buy more and nicer things. And as we are human, we naturally desire nicer and more things.
And smart people, they know this and can also see that you hold a power, talent, skills, time, etc. and they want that for their business, team, personal privilege, etc. so they begin to lure you back in.
And to lure you in, smart people invented (and invest oodles of money into) this thing called marketing and advertising where they get teams of people to create words and pictures and stories that convince you that you need stuff that you don’t have.
Smart people also created these things called “financial products” (mortgages, home equity lines, loans, insurance, and credit cards) to make it easier to buy the stuff you dream about, but maybe can’t pay cash for, and likely don’t really need.
So, through channels like tvs, radios, phones, webpages, and social media, the sweet sirens of marketing are constantly singing in the background...
Just think if you could have:
A high paying job, an important title, a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood, that expensive car or truck you always dreamed about, all the latest gadgets, new clothes whenever you wanted to buy them, that vacation twice a year with your family, health insurance, and more…
And if you are a sucker, you will fall for it every time. You start to chase the higher income. But the higher income is not the problem. Personally, I would actually want to earn, save, and invest as much income as I possibly can.
The problem becomes what choices you make or what you sacrifice with earning and spending the higher income. With a higher or “stable” income you also qualify for the loans and the credit cards, you buy the furniture and the vacations. You get the kitchen remodel, the pool, BBQ, and landscape design.
And don't forget the $350,000 vehicles...
I go over a detailed worksheet about this in my post titled:
"Five Levels of Expense Projections"
Basically... you slowly raise your lifestyle standards as high as you can push them.
And at that point you go right back to being a slave.
Except this time you are not just a slave to a boss that pays you a shitty wage, you are slave to the bank that owns your house, interest on credit cards, and everyone or everything else that it takes to keep it all maintained. You now have more payments to pay every month and more time commitments to coordinate it all. More expensive cell phone plans, coaches for your kids private sports clubs, subscriptions, memberships, gardeners, landscapers, contractors, housecleaners, nannies, gadgets that need fixin, expensive car parts, and advanced expensive security systems because you are paranoid that someone will take it all.
Ah, how the shackles get heavier.
At this point, it is no one’s fault but your own if you go back to being a slave, because it’s of your own doing. Even if you have family, friends, a spouse, children, or co-workers and peers who are also being suckers, falling for it, or encouraging you to do it too - you are the one who ultimately allows it.
And it's ok to get mad about it...
