We Rig the Game Ourselves

Today I was reading a editorial on YAHOO! Finance called "Putting an End to Magical Thinking" by Laura Rowley. It's an interesting essay, and I like the point it makes about the twisted American Dream ("Magical thinking can be defined as a perversion of traditional American optimism. Magical thinking is the can-do attitude without the do.")

You can read it here: http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/136030

I agree that a scary sense of entitlement is one of the roots of the current economic woes. Both at the highest level of corporate America and in the most average Joe Schmoe. You can find it in people of all ages, races, education levels, and social strata. And, yes, it's exacerbated by reality TV shows were contests whine that they "deserve it because they want it so badly" -- as if your just deserts were correlated to your heart's desires.

Don't get me wrong. I grasp that we don't live in a meritocracy (as much as I wish we did). And who you know often trumps what you know. And people do get breaks (good and bad) along the way. At the same time....there is, IMHO, a huge correlation between effort and result. And the fact that someone may have won the lottery (literally or in terms of wealth, beauty, or intelligence) doesn't UNDO the fact that we each have our own lever in this world - our determination and perseverence.

The reason I started this rant is one of the responses that was posted to the YAHOO! essay. Someone's post included: "The game is rigged, and you will never be wealthy if you are at all honest and hard working."

That belief makes my soul ache.

Yes, the game is rigged, but not by "the man" or some power outside of us. This person has rigged his or her own game with a mindset that says "I am broke; therefore, I am honest." Hard-wire that into your brain, and you'll never be anything but broke.

I despise the oft heard "trusim" that anyone with money must have cheated, lied, or stealed to get it. Yes, some people did all those things, and I believe they will find a true reward for their behavior in the end (the very, very end).

On the other hand, many millions of people around the world have money because they worked, planned, saved, and made hard choices rather than using easy-credit to expedite an American Dream built on a rotten foundation.

The self-imposed, self-limiting beliefs we carry with us (some burnt in by our parents, some by culture/media, and some self-rationalizations we created ourselves)... these are the "truths" that stop us from using our innate talents, human creativity, and a dollop of discipine to create the life we want, rather than the life the Visa commercials tell us we deserve.

That's my two cents. And those two cents are in the bank earning a whopping 1.45% interest; does that make me evil?