Wealth, Crime and Smarts
I write on this blog in spurts and while indeed it is connected to my various corporate entities, I would just like to take a few moments to say a few things that have no connection to my companies.
“Smart” is not a degree. It does not matter if you went to the finest ivy league school on the planet, they can not make you “smart”, they can only make you “learned”.
As I have gotten older (tomorrow is my birthday, happy birthday me) what I have discovered is that nobody knows the answers. People make their best guesses and “smart” people tend to be right.
Take for example the Bernard Madoff scandle… thousands of “learned” people lost their entire fortunes through him. Millions of people lost significant money through him because they invested in funds of funds of funds of funds that had holdings with Madoff. The “smart” people said “something is not right here” and refused to invest.
If you thought you were smart and you got bamoozled by Madoff… I’m sorry but you were not as smart as you think you are.
If you define “smart” by IQ points then you might find it fascinating to know that on average people believe their IQ is much higher than 100. Unfortunately 100 is by definition the average. Everybody wants to be smart, few people are smart, and those people who are “smart” know it.
So back to what I know.
The crooks are generally the smart ones. There is more money in stealing than in making an honest living and your chances of getting caught are surprisingly small. Rob a bank, the odds are actually good that you will not get caught. Rob a train.. the odds were largely in your favor in the old west.
The world’s economy is set up predominantly so that wealthy people have the advantage, the economic vacuum favors them, but only if you follow the rules and laws that they influence. Sure there are the Google’s of the world, but they are rare.
From the Kennedy’s to the DuPonts, those who refuse to follow the laws of the economy that they are in are the ones who build great wealth for their bloodline. I just love this quote:
“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”
Honore de Balzac
French realist novelist (1799 – 1850)
G’night.