Why the poor are poor (and the rich are rich).

I'm not an economist. I'm not as rich as I want. I'm not a millionarie, yet.

Since most everyone in ATS is an arm-chair philosopher, I'll play the role as well and make a theory from my own observation of reality (which is far from the truth) on that forum that is about Psychology.

Here It is:

Poor people basicaly focus how to not lose what they have. They focus on how they can lose less, how they can economize.

"Wow... gas price is 1 cent cheaper on that gas station, yahoo!!11111"

"# those politicians and their taxes always robbing my money...why should I gain... I'll only pay more money to them"

"Always lock the door, we don't know who can enter our home these days..."

"My car is broken, I'll repair It on my own, even though I'm not an expert... I won't waste my money on service that I can do myself... humpf..."

I don't know rich as much as I know poor people yet, so I can basicaly theorize that rich people believe the mirror opposite or the poor.

In other words, rich people focus on how to gain or how to gain more.

PS.: I'm interested in rich people offering their views on that thread. Or people that know rich people.

PSS.: Please don't post diatribes about money. I'm not interested in morals or meanings any other than those that are related to the subject of the thread.

[edit on 30-6-2009 by infobrazil]

you're speaking about the law of attraction, good fello. And you're probably right. Our perpetual negative thoughts that run round at the back of our minds, hold us back from what we could be. So what you gots to do, is think differently. Not as easy as it sounds, unfortunatly.

Actually some of the wealthiest people I know are misers or micro-managers of their money.

However, a good indicator of whether someone will be financially secure or not is whether they are willing to use their money to gain money, taking calculated risks, and recognizing opportunities as they arise. More importantly, no one ever plans to fail, but those that fail are the ones who fail to plan.

I was once asked by a friend of mine who made tens of millions many times over (losing it every couple of years and regaining it yet again) to tell him, without looking in my wallet or checkbook, precisely how much money I had in my pockets and in my bank account. I couldn't even guess, not even within a $100 of what I actually had. He could tell me the precise amount to the penny in his pockets, as well as in his 7 Bank Accounts, and the amount in each of his Funds, as well as those for his two companies he owned!

People who are poor don't think about the money that they have, but spend far more time thinking about the money they wish they could have (and what they would do with it if we had more). Those that are rich spend more time thinking about the money that they already have, and what they are going to do with it, and simply don't focus on what they would do if they had more.

It all comes down to LUST FOR RESULT. If you want something to happen and focus on it happening, then it won't. A watched pot never boils.

reply to post by Acidtastic


You are also speaking about many economic theories, such as "specialization" and so on.

Have you recently read "The Millionaire Next Door" or "The Millionaire Mind" ??????

A lot of what you speak of is addressed in those books. The first one is the best one.

I read once that the average millionaire has filed bankruptcy 2.5 times during their life. That certainly indicates some risk taking! The books I mentioned above would dispute that as a good means of acquiring wealth though.

You have to expect some lecture on seeking wealth, so here you go: Do not sacrifice family, friends, time, etc. I have gone that path, and I harbor a lot of regrets. If you can acquire your million while including all those around you, congrats! Just do not miss a minute with your loved ones, while you earn an extra buck!

Once you speak to poor people about being rich you find out they don't want to be.

To quote a book I am reading at the moment

Money is the root of all evil

There's something dirty or bad about money - and the people who have it.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer

There's never enough

You must control money or it will control you

Money doesn't grow on trees

The book is Busting loose from the money game by Robert Scheinfield.

Poor people fantasise about winning the lottery, but then say
"But I wouldn't want too much"

I think many poor people must like being poor; because they do very little to make themselves rich.

If everyone had the same amount of money today in one hundred years you would have the rich and the poor.I use my money to raise a family,and have fun.so ill never be a millionare. the rich man and the poor man both die .I want a smile on my face ,then worrie about how much this all is going to cost me.
just my 2 cents
Cheers Yahoo

That's a bit simplistic and makes the argument that rich people are rich because they are smarter, have more ambition, etc, etc...

You fail to take into account the economic system that the rich use to maintain their wealth: paying wages too low to allow for any accumulation of wealth to occur because the prices are maintained high enough to absorb all available cash and then some, ensuring that the poor will be eternally in debt to the wealthy. If I can control both wages and prices, I can create a permanent underclass that I can exploit at my whim.

The rich aren't rich because the are better, smarter, wiser, or work harder. They are rich because they are more ruthless, more selfish than anyone else, and have far better access to the rules-making system. I've known quite a few millionaires, and the single most outstanding characteristic was that they lacked any shred of empathy for others. Most bragged about how they were "self-made", despite the fact that they started in a priveleged position, had easy access to capital, had family connections that translated into government contracts on all levels, and were frequently forgiven loans when they crashed and burned.

One guy I knew specialized in finding good little companies and buying them out and reselling them shortly thereafter for a high profit. Sounds like good ol' capitalism at its best, right? Except that he used his political and banking connections to make finances difficult for his targets; it usually took a year to bring it down to where the owner who built it up grew fearful of losing it entirely, wherupon he'd swoop in as a white knight to "save" them. He thought it made him superior to be able to create the conditions allowing him to buy companies cheap. However, he lacked any other ability, so he had to resell quick before he ran it into the ground. Never had an original idea in his life, so far as I could tell, and couldn't maintain a company or a relationship because he was basically a predator who disliked actually woring at anything other than stealing from those with ideas and a work ethic.

[edit on 30-6-2009 by apacheman]

These threads are so stupid. Just like that other thread about rich people!

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS: Here's my rant!

First off not all rich people are smart with money. If you believe this you are a moron. Once you have money it's very easy to make more of it. There are fools born every minute. Just look at how much worthless crap we consume. Rich people are not that smart for the most part. Some are very smart. Rich people are not that much harder working than anyone else either. Some are very hard working. You're acting like rich people are all worthy of being put on a pedestal. That's pathetic and you're right you know VERY LITTLE about being rich and about rich people.

First off let's assume you're talking about the top 1% of rich families in America. You'd be AMAZED at how some of these families actually made their money. In fact most of it has nothing to do with hardwork and intelligence. Most of it has to do with cuthroat business attitudes i.e. ripping people off, lying, deceit, violence, breaking the law. Most of these wealthy families that control a majority of the economy and businesses in the USA have VERY shady pasts.

Out of the 5 VERY wealthy people I know ONLY one was actually self made and worked tooth and nail for everything he has and is more frugal than anyone I know. And he's not as wealthy as the other 4. Out of the others, 2 are trust fund babies living off their families investments. The one recently divorced, an ex cokehead. Another one used his families money to start up his own business, it's not even a great business idea, he was lucky enough to have the capital. The other is somewhere in between all of the others. Rich people live and act like you can't even imagine. Especially the TRULY rich in the USA. Their lifestyle is so far removed from yours and mine it's like they live on another planet.

If you believe rich people are smarter and more hardworking than everyone else it's the same thing as saying everyone in Hollywood is happier and better at relationships than everyone else. Most rich people made their money with their hand in the next guy's pocket, especially nowadays. And as we've seeen most of it is faux wealth. Look at Bernie Madoff if you think he's the minority in the rich people's world you're clueless.

reply to post by apacheman


Rockfeller quoted in a biography that his father used let him jump off the table into his arms. One day his father decided not to catch him and said to young Rockefeller, don't trust ANYONE in life, not even me!

That gives you an idea of the rich person's mindset. I agree with you. Well said.