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If You're so Smart Why Aren't You Rich?

by The Niche Man
10 replies
That's an age old question. It's an assumption by many that some of the smartest people (maybe even most) are the richest. Not including lottery winners, inheritance babies and of course the Kardashians.

And some of the poorest are the less educated, knowledgeable or laziest. There may be some truth to both schools. But I think the biggest assumption lives in the first example. The second example, is more fluid. Because smart people can have unexpected circumstances such as unexpected expenses, i.e medical expenses, job layoffs, economic downturns, etc. But that should always be temporary, right?

After all smart people are not only supposed to overcome those conditions,but in some cases achieve wealth, right? At least that's the assumption or at least hope many people have.

What's your take ...
- Does smart always = Rich more today, or less?
- Or does it depend on what you're smart at?

What's your personal experience or opinion?

Here's an article I read recently that inspired this post.


As usual I welcome your comments, opinions and criticisms.
#rich #smart
  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Essentially a corrupt and decadent society.

    Bureaucratic inefficiency.

    Lots of things.

    That and the fact that a lot of degrees are not worth the paper they are printed on.

    But it's kind of a dumb question(no offense)

    You could take your ph.d and put him in Chechenya with some dumb peasant with an actual belief and an AK-47 (and not the wishy washy corrupt ideology branded in the West)

    and ask the Ph.D:
    How come now you're dead or how come your side is losing.

    That girl from Young turk probably has a Ph.D in gender relations.
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    there is an increasing number of people every year world wide with degrees ..many from asian countries like china which has both a building spree for higher edducation..and heavy compitition while students leave with lower debt ..

    add in that there is declining demand for long term positions in the corporate world as they us tech to replace jobs as fast as posible or outsource..or use independent contractors ..

    the more educated a person is the more they are trained to be an employee ..and then unless you graduate in the top of your class ..

    the same way the system we currently have subsidizes corn and soy that gets turned into processed food that makes people sick with long term treatable illnesses so ..corperations make huge profits ..and get to blame people for being fat and lazy..when their fed food that causes adictiond to that food and is missing essential minerals so people keep eating ..

    the younger generation had been purposly poorly educated ..devoid of any marketable skills ..the convinced if they pile on huge amounts of debt to get a degree ..they will the have skills employeers want ..but many end up getting trash degrees ..that are worthless ..and pile up as much debt as the started house ..

    because they have this debt many will never be able to own houses for quite a while ..


    don't worry these smart people have also been heavily brainwashed into thinking that if the government takes money from the rich and give to them..all things will be better ..

    don't worry ..150-200 dollars in foodstamps a month doesn't buy much
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  • Profile picture of the author MWatson
    Regardless of "how smart" you are, there's a common trait that all successful people have. Work Ethic is FAR more important than any piece of paper in my opinion. Let's not forget some of the most successful people are dropouts.


    Cheers,
    Mark
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    • Profile picture of the author ElGuapo
      To be fair, there's an awful lot of people who don't aspire to be rich.

      A friend of mine from university, one of the smartest chaps I know, turned down the banking sector to join the foreign service. A low starting salary, but a solid career leading to an above-average salary and good pension. He got to live the life he wanted to lead: being posted around the world, learning languages, being involved with national interests and powerbrokers, a member of some swanky clubs, 'making a difference'.

      The same can be said of most professions which require the grey matter, e.g. law, engineering, academia, science, medicine. Few bring about insane riches.

      I actually think that if you are smart, then you don't measure success by wealth.
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      • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
        Originally Posted by ElGuapo View Post

        To be fair, there's an awful lot of people who don't aspire to be rich.
        You're exactly right, in fact I know many who'll admit they have a passion for their vocation and want to make a difference. The goal is not to get rich doing what they love,.

        For example, a minister, a U.S.C professor and a social service administrator. But what's a bit surprising as the article above and the video describes is the rising numbers of P.H.D recipients who are on welfare, collecting food stamps and literally living in poverty. That's a bit of a surprise.

        Perhaps a better title to this thread would be "If you're so smart why can't you support yourself?"
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  • Profile picture of the author BionicMan40
    I believe you have to implement specialized knowledge on a product or service that can reach out to the masses!
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Pffft.

    Iosef Stalin died with one rubble in his pocket. He was poor as dirt.

    If you're so smart,
    How come you don't have a secret police.

    I know someone who buys and resells commodities.

    Do you know how much this guy struggled with basic if....then...else loops in programming classes in college?You don't nescessarily need to be smart to make money.

    I don't know all the answers but not choosing gender studies as your major is a good start to make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author javrsmith
    Quite an interesting topic, and it hits home. My background is highly technical. While working on really old computer systems, the new stuff passed me by. Now I'm dedicating myself to learning the new technologies. I've mastered WordPress and MySQL already. I just need 3 to 10 years of experience to be taken seriously with them!
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  • Profile picture of the author Zak L.
    In my honest opinion - the smartest person can have no business skills whatsoever, no imagination.

    And the person that dropped out of school - who got F's - can have the biggest imagination, and the most ideas and actually take action with it.

    I'm not saying this is true in all cases - but I've found that the really smart people (smart by 'school standards'), get 9-5 jobs with a decent salary - and are happy with the 'system'.

    Whereas the dropouts - they have a different view. They want to step outside of their comfort zone, and try something new.

    I'm not saying this is true in all cases - but when it comes to whether you've got a PHD or your high school dropout - in running your own business - IT DEFINITELY DOES NOT MATTER.
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  • Profile picture of the author 4thMarshall
    How could you be smart and not support yourself? Then something must have horribly gone wrong since you had a brain that could ask subjective questions and it was non functional. Yes, things may go wrong, but it could be a darn fatal experience if you couldn't support yourself, what freedom would you afford your yourself? What chains bound thee?!
    In the little I have done so far in life I'm proud to have been a shoulder as much as I would have done for eternity!!!
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