If You Want to be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go to School Summary - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Who Causes Poverty?

1.      The belief in scarcity instead of abundance, protection from competition and the lack of creativity, are the sources of poverty.

2.      Every time our leaders legislate for protecting a business from competitors so that they can keep prices high, we press our people further into poverty. This occurs because such protectionism puts necessary products and services out of reach of more people, increasing poverty.

3.      As individuals, each time we ask for a raise without a corresponding increase in quality or productivity, we add to the poverty of our own people because ultimately those kinds of demands will push up the price of the product or service we help deliver.

4.      So what can you do today if you want to be wealthy? I would say this. If you are working for a company that is not seeking new ideas, get out now. If you work with people who want little more than their paycheck and raises, get out now. If your company raises its prices without any improvement in the product or service, get out now. The reason I say get out now is because you will probably have to get out sooner or later anyway, or suffer a slow economic decline just as our automakers are doing.

5.      If you want to enjoy more of the good life, activate your brain and ask yourself: “How can I give more of what I have to offer for less time and money?” If you give, you shall receive. If you don’t find a way, you can count on eventually being replaced by someone who can. It’s simply a matter of principle.

6.      When we only ask the question, “What’s in it for me?” life gets hard. True wealth comes by giving personal attention to how we can each make life easier for as many of our fellow humans as we can.

7.      Never forget the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” For me, that means working at my gift so that I can make life better for as many people as I can. It is a principle that works as well on an economic level as on an ethical one – and when it is followed sincerely, it ends poverty for individuals as well as whole communities. 

Chapter 22: Unlearning the Lessons That Keep You Down