Gordon Gecko was the Villain

I got around to reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad recently. It’s been sort of on my list for a long time because it’s popular, so I thought that there must be some sort of merit to it.

The first chapter was moderately interesting, but there was a warning sign right away. The rich dad mentioned taxes as something to avoid. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was a narrative. Now, the version I read was older, which was actually amazing. I got to hear some pieces of advice which were terrible because I already knew the long-term outcome. That helped, at least a little.

As I kept going I started to get nauseous.

It’s not that book in particular though, it’s the mindset it represents. There are some good parts to it, but in the end, it’s very heavily focused on gaining wealth at the expense of others. It isn’t presented that way, but that’s the reality of it.

We have embraced the idea of capitalism as the only system that works to the point where we stop questioning it. We have embraced supply-side economics to the point where every proclamation of lower taxes causes growth is met as if it was a fundamental rule of the universe. The truth is that lower taxes don’t cause growth and seem to inhibit it (that is if you do just a tiny bit of regression analysis on economic policy and growth vs. recession). You have to account for a number of factors when you do that analysis, but it’s clear that in many ways higher taxes on the wealthy are the most likely to stimulate the economy.

That’s not the worst thing though. The worst thing is that we have embraced the idea of capitalism to the point where we believe growth (unlimited growth) is not only desirable but inevitable. That the options are growth or failure.

When Gordon Gecko said that greed was good he was saying that greed was what was improving the lives of all. That by coming from a place of greed, of getting yours, you were improving the situation for all. We have tried that for a long time now. Really since the forties, but absolutely since the eighties.

So, have things gotten better for all?

Well, no. It looks, at least on the surface, like they have. We have more stuff, but we also have greater wealth inequality. The people with the most have the most by such a…

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