[NT] Why does so many people fail to get rich?

[Edgar]

Explain

If capitalism favor self interest and equal opportunity for all, why does so many people fail to get rich?

Because world has finite resources and not everyone can be a winner.

 

[EcK]

Because world has finite resources and not everyone can be a winner.

that's what i just said.

 

[Edgar]

that's what i just said.

I didn't bother reading the thread before I answered, but I am happy to know you share my sentiments

 

[EcK]

I didn't bother reading the thread before I answered, but I am happy to know you share my sentiments

Be the mother of my hell spawnschildren.

Most questions have simple answers. Theories start with basic ideas, more complexity is good for the sake of accuracy, but I doubt many economists/sociologists/antropologists participated to this thread.
So half page posts about how unfair life is tell more about one's life and personal issues than actually answering the question.

 

[onemoretime]

I can tell you one thing that I have seen so far that is a barrier to becoming rich. In the industry that I am involved in in order to own the company there is a vast amount of knowledge one must absorb to create a company legally. Beside all of the tax laws, employer rules and regs., environmental laws etc... One must be osha compliant, have a keen understanding of the science of the industry, be on top of mountains of paperwork and documentation to attempt to keep your company safe from lawsuits, be able to sell your services to the clients, find ways to compete with the "big boys" who almost have an unlimited budget. The list really goes on and on. I could work 24 hrs/day just on the legal/compliance side of things and still never take a day off. Of course it would be nice to delegate alot of the work but when your just starting out it is not really feasible.
Reasons like above are a big reason why many fail to get rich. It is not because they lack the intelligence or could not figure out how to do it. Most people just prefer, in the end, to work for someone else, let them live, eat and breathe the company and at the end of the day go home at a reasonable hour with enough pay to live comfortably.

Likewise, society would prefer that those people utilize their economic potential in those locations as well. If you're not willing to go through the regulations it takes to run your own business, what's to say that you're willing to do the rigorous work it takes to make sure your clients are protected from negligence and malfeasance? Wanting to keep their business isn't the only answer, either - information imbalances generally favor the seller.

 

[Verfremdungseffekt]

It's not rocket science: being human is not in itself a character flaw. One of the fallacies of rationalism is in assuming that people should be expected to behave in all ways rationally. Reason is a circumstancial process, not a replacement for emotional and biological needs. Different circumstances have different priorities, and the priorities of the poor aren't the same as the priorities of the wealthy.

When you don't have many resources -- you're not getting the food or rest you need, you're constantly stressed, and you see few opportunities to relieve yourself of these problems -- all your time is consumed either getting by on a basic level, exhausted from the work it takes just to keep a roof over your head, or worring how you're going to make ends meet. Immediate practical concerns, including emotional needs, trump long-term planning even when there are resources to conserve.

Someone with a steely constitution, nothing going on in his life, and boundless self confidence can perhaps plow through the inertia of circumstance -- but as the saying goes, most people work to live, not live to work. Those few moments of respite, you cherish them. Because you don't know when you're going to get another. If things get better, great. One more monkey off the back.

Though I get that the original post is playing devil's advocate, the question is naive to the point of absurdity. It's the application of an abstract standard to a concrete situation. You might as well ask "Why aren't people always nice to each other?" Well, nice thought. There are plenty of reasons. Here, come live with me and I'll show you a few.

 

[Edgar]

It's not rocket science: being human is not in itself a character flaw. One of the fallacies of rationalism is in assuming that people should be expected to behave in all ways rationally.

You'd be surprised how many NTs have a problem accepting that concept.

(Good example: Economy in general)

 

[onemoretime]

You'd be surprised how many NTs have a problem accepting that concept.

(Good example: Economy in general)

Is it so much a lack of acceptance, or a complete frustration with it? It could just be a lack of understanding the rationale of interior logic.

 

[substitute]

in my case, it's unarguably because I don't want to enough. I can make money alright, but I usually give it away as fast as I make it, cos other things are much, much more important to me than being rich. I'm happy really, whatever lifestyle I have, I'm happiest of all the less I have, which has been proven over and over since I've lived all kinds of ways from the lap of luxury to homelessness.

I'm just not willing to make the sacrifices and do the work that's necessary to get rich, hence why I never will be, and it doesn't bother me one bit

 

[Edgar]

Is it so much a lack of acceptance, or a complete frustration with it?

Kind of the same thing isn't it?

If you accept something, you wouldn't be so frustrated with it.

 

[onemoretime]

Kind of the same thing isn't it?

If you accept something, you wouldn't be so frustrated with it.

I accept that I am not a good golfer. It doesn't mean that I don't get frustrated every time I'm at the driving range.

 

[substitute]

Kind of the same thing isn't it?

If you accept something, you wouldn't be so frustrated with it.

The sane man knows that 2 and 2 makes 4, and is happy with that.

The delusional thinks 2 and 2 makes 5, and is happy with that.

The neurotic knows that 2 and 2 makes 4, but he HATES it! :steam:



But then, temporary frustration at an immediate situation isn't the same thing as underlying, longterm frustration at a circumstance that's either unalterable, or difficult to alter without making sacrifices you're not willing to make. The latter I'd say edges towards neuroticism.

 

[Edgar]

The sane man knows that 2 and 2 makes 4, and is happy with that.

The delusional thinks 2 and 2 makes 5, and is happy with that.

The neurotic knows that 2 and 2 makes 4, but he HATES it! :steam:



But then, temporary frustration at an immediate situation isn't the same thing as underlying, longterm frustration at a circumstance that's either unalterable, or difficult to alter without making sacrifices you're not willing to make. The latter I'd say edges towards neuroticism.

Exactly

 

[weminuche]

Easy. It isnt ability....it not doing what is required.

It usually requires taking big risks and the vast majority of people are satisfied with comfortable. Even if THEY are, they have to overcome the pressures of spouses friends family etc to "be responsible" and not take such huge foolish risks. Many friends, peers etc dont really want to see you become rich, bec. it will screw with all the excuses they have for themselves as to why they arent rich....so they will subconsciously deter you.

It almost always requires a shitload of work and personal sacrifice, and most people don't want it bad enough to give that much.

Some of my favorite quotes on this:

Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.
- Albert Einstein

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambition. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. - Mark Twain

Faith that it can be done is essential to any great achievement.
-Thomas N. Carruther

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
- THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
- Steve Jobs. Apple Computer

 

[weminuche]

One other thing. Many people who truly are determined to get rich, and who can deal with the above, end up doing what society, conventional wisdom etc. says they are supposed to do to make it happen, without considering their own strengths and passions.

It's too much work to do it out of discipline. You have to be doing something you love.

...and it has to be something that you are naturally gifted in.


Too many people try too hard to fit their square ass in a round seat. I only found great success after I gave up taking the path that everyone else thought was appropriate, and did what I loved and knew I was good at. I then had to realize my weaknesses and hire people that filled them. As an INTP, without my operations manager and finance guy, nothing much would ever likely get done, and I probably wouldn't ever know if I was making money or not...because I dislike and therefore suck at that stuff.

 

[TSDesigner]

That's right. You should do the work that you enjoy the most and have the most talent for. You can outsource everything or almost everything else, especially now with the internet. When you do what you're the best at, you can run rings around most people.

 

[onemoretime]

That's right. You should do the work that you enjoy the most and have the most talent for. You can outsource everything or almost everything else, especially now with the internet. When you do what you're the best at, you can run rings around most people.

What happens when there is no demand for what you're best at?

 

[substitute]

Easy. It isnt ability....it not doing what is required.

It usually requires taking big risks and the vast majority of people are satisfied with comfortable. Even if THEY are, they have to overcome the pressures of spouses friends family etc to "be responsible" and not take such huge foolish risks. Many friends, peers etc dont really want to see you become rich completely actualized, bec. it will screw with all the excuses they have for themselves as to why they arent rich are still screwed up....so they will subconsciously deter you.

It almost always requires a shitload of work and personal sacrifice, and most people don't want it bad enough to give that much.

Fixed

St Bonaventura said the same thing about becoming a saint, 800 years ago

 

[TSDesigner]

What happens when there is no demand for what you're best at?

Just be creative and find a way to financially exploit what you're best at.
Just assume that there is a way, then find it.
Don't judge demand based on what you see in the classified job ads.

 

[substitute]

Find yourself an ESTP to work for it with. Seriously, they're absolutely AMAZING at keeping going past all the odds. If you thought ENTJ's were driven, you haven't worked with an ESTP with a plan he believes in!

The businesses I set up (got going, then handed over cos I was bored by that stage) wouldn't have got anywhere if it hadn't been for the ESTP, ENTJ and me team working to see round, bulldoze, improvize and generally pwn