The lies behind “building wealth.”

One of the downsides of keeping your email open is the distractions stemming from …. reading email. This email in particular invited me to a virtual online networking event where the topic is about building wealth.

“Meet the right people to further your career or your business. This is your chance to meet influential people for networking. Join us to discuss proven ways to build wealth. We will discuss investing, career growth, home ownership, real estate, business growth etc.”

The email bills itself as a professional network event which signals to me that it will likely be attended by a group made up predominantly of college educated wannabe elites. The topics of discussion, the aforementioned “investing, career growth, home ownership, real estate, business growth etc.”, tells me already that such a meeting will likely be a waste of time, with the possible exception of meeting a good-looking real estate agent who spends her afternoons auditioning for parts in a Tyler Perry movie.

Since I was not surrounded by material wealth, I fell for the narrative of career growth, home investing, real estate, business growth, etc. If those approaches worked, by my estimate over 60% of Americans would not be concerned about running out of money before aged 70. So many of us have fallen for that traditional path to material wealth that cynicism toward professional networking events like these is warranted.

My two adages regarding wealth. First, people engage each other only for the purpose of exchanging value. If I have ten acres of land, can grow and slaughter my own food, and can sew my own clothes, I don’t need to engage very many people for much, except for an occasional game of racquetball on an outdoor court somewhere on those ten acres.

The reality of today’s economy is that we are not growing our own food or sewing our own clothes so we have to transact with others for these items. We are taking currency, the paper receipts that represent credit, and exchanging them for items and services that bring greater value. If we can sustain and grow the positive value of those things we receive in exchange for otherwise valueless pieces of paper, then we can argue that we have created intermediate or long term wealth.

My second adage on wealth is that wealth is slavery. Those who have the most material wealth are those who hold the most bonds. The woman you see floating down the street wearing a big hat and lovely sundress seemingly carefree (we all deserve and could do with some carefree) likely has a portfolio of bonds generating coupon payments that underwrite her almost daily visits to Mickey Dees for breakfast (let’s hope she mixes it up a bit.)

The slavery notion is due to the masses of people (us) who are compelled for whatever reason to keep working and keep transacting. Because half of us never figured life out well enough to get to where the sundress lady is, we bear the dubious honor of continuing to work and generate the taxes, revenues, and profits that sustains her bond portfolio.

The wealth is leveraged by the masses.

In all fairness to the professional networking types, if the discussion at the events is built on getting the career and homeowner types to convert that nine-to-five income into home offices and private banks holding self-sustaining bond portfolios, then maybe I’ll attend.

Alton Drew

7 September 2023

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