All Rich People Are Greedy! Debunked

Those rich people. Don’t you get sick and tired of them? All they care about is money! They’re such greedy people!

I’m telling you, I grew up believing all this crazy stuff. I literally grew up despising rich people.

I grew up in a low-income family. We never lived in a house or had a back yard. We always lived in an apartment. After coming to the States, my parents got a divorce. I joined the Army, and after getting out of the Army, I worked at Bally Total Fitness. It was there that a guy recommended a book to me. A quote in the book by Bill Gates stood out to me: “If you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it’s your mistake.”

I said, “Wait a minute! What do you mean if I’m born poor that it’s not my mistake, but if I die poor it’s my mistake? Are you trying to say that if I don’t die rich, it’s my fault, and it’s all because of me?

Yes!

Why? Because you control your choices. You control your friendships, what you feed your mind, what you read, how much T.V. you watch, how hard you work, how much you’re improving, and your industry. These are all your choices.

When that got into my brain, I realized one thing. I had a choice to think that all rich people were greedy and bad people. And you and I never become what we hate. And I couldn’t stand rich people. I had to shift that mindset. And let me tell you that it’s not easy. But when I did, I realized that all these rich people stereotypes are myths, and debunked them. I then started thinking in a completely different way.

So here are 12 rich people myths debunked.

#1: Rich People Are Unhappy

The first rich people myth is that rich people are unhappy. That they are so miserable.

Here's what I learned about rich people. They're not unhappy. They're absolutely very happy. But they're not content.

Let me elaborate. The New England Patriots just won the Super Bowl. Jimmy Fallon interviewed the coaches, Belichick and Edelman. He asked, "Hey Bill. When I look at you, you look unhappy. Are you ever happy?" Belichick replied, "I'm happy. It's just that life to me is football. So it's always about how we can make the team better."

And that comes across as not being happy. But all it is is that they're not content. They always want to do better.

#2: Rich People Are Selfish

The next rich people myth is that rich people are selfish. They constantly say, "It's mine!"

First of all, what's wrong with wanting what's yours? Back in the day, around 1989 or 1990, Gorbachev from Russia asked President Reagan to visit him. Gorbachev asked what he could to do make the Russian economy more like America. Reagan pointed out that in Russia everyone drove the same care, lived in the same kind of house, ate the same food, and wore the same clothing. He explain that you have to give people an opportunity. If someone wants to work hard and drive a nicer car, let them do it. If someone wants to work hard and get a bigger house, let them do it.

Russia then switched to capitalism. Fast forward 25 years later. Today the number one country in the world for immigration is the United States, with 40-something million. Do you know who number two is? Russia, with 11 million. Why? Maybe capitalism attracted people. Is it a perfect country? Of course not. Nowhere near it. But it attracts people because people can finally say, "It's mine."

#3: Take Advantage of People

The next rich people myth is that they take advantage of people. Listen in here for my thoughts.

#4: Money is Their God

The next rich people myth is that money is their god, and that all they care about is money.

Why don't we break down what people mean when they say, "their god." Is it because they spend most of their time trying to get more money? If that's the case, for most people. T.V. is their god. For others it may be video games or sex. We can say that a lot of things are people's god.

But I can tell you one thing for a fact. When you make more money, you can do more with the money and create jobs with it. If you're a good person and reading this, let me ask you a question. Let's just say that you work very hard over the next five to ten years, and all of a sudden you're worth $100 million. Would you do good for the world with that $100 million? Yes? Okay, can you do better for the world with $100 million over $200,00? If you can do more good with $100 million, can we help you go out there and make $100 million so you can do more good? What's wrong with making more money? It's a lot better than if you just sit there and watch T.V. and play video games.

#5: All Billionaires Made Their Money Off Real Estate

The next rich people myth is that all billionaires made their money off real estate. It's actually not true. A few do, but not everybody does.

#6: They Don't Give Back

The next rich people myth is that they don't give back. Here's an interesting stat. According to CNBC, the average ultra-high net worth person gives $25 million back to charities during their lifetime. The average ultra-high net worth person gives $25 million back to charities. Here's the crazy one. The average billionaire, during their lifetime, gives $100 million back to charity. So this whole thing about rich people don't give money back isn't true. Who do you think funds most charities? It's not the $5 donations. No, it's people that come in and write big checks.

#7:All They Do is Play Golf

Next, all they do is play golf. A lot of them do. And some love the game. But most of the time when rich people play golf it's not that they're trying to be professional golfers. They're on the golf course to do business.

#8: They Have Expensive Toys

Next rich people myth is that they have expensive toys like yachts and private jets. Sure, some billionaires have yachts and private jets. Now why do they have private jets? The other day I had a business meeting to go to. A flight was cancelled, and the airline took six hours to find a replacement. Then the next one took four hours. I was late to my appointment and couldn't do the business deal. It could have been a good deal, but never happened. These are the types of experiences that make someone say, "It's time to buy a private jet." So it's not necessarily about the lifestyle. It's more about time.

#9: All Rich People Are Republicans

The next myth is that every rich person's a Republican. If you're rich, you must be a Republican, and voted for Trump!

Believe it or not, a lot of millionaires are not Republicans. I lived in California for many years, and most people in Silicon Valley are liberals. They're mostly Democrats. There are a lot of wealthy people in Hollywood, and most of them are Democrats. There are a lot of liberals in New York as well. In California and New York, there are a lot of millionaires and a lot of them are liberals.

Now how is that even possible? Well, being a millionaire or billionaire doesn't necessarily mean you have to become a Republican. They just economically believe in capitalism instead of communism. But just because someone's rich doesn't make them a Republican.

#10: They're Narcissistic

Another rich people myth is that they're narcissistic. All they want to do is look themselves in the mirror and just say, "I'm so pretty. I'm so beautiful and amazing."

One thing I noticed is typically when someone lacks confidence, they don't like people with a lot of confidence. So they say they must be narcissistic. Now this is not everybody. I'm not putting a blanket over everybody. But what I am telling you is just because someone's extremely confident doesn't necessarily mean they're narcissistic. It's a strength. They believe in themselves. I wish everybody believed in themselves more because if they did, they'd go better in life.

Now are there some narcissistic ones out there? Of course. But just because someone's rich doesn't mean they're narcissistic.

#11: They Don't Pay Their Taxes

The next myth about rich people is that they don't pay their taxes. Listen in here for how math shows that's not true.

#12: All They Want to Do is Party

And last but not least, a rich people myth is all they want to do is party, they're extreme extroverts, and very good with people. Do some rich people have big personalities? Sure. But I meet a lot of very well off people that are such nice people who want to be around their families.

The extravagance you think of with rich people could be a Hollywood type of lifestyle, but it's not everybody.

Having said that, my pure outcome of this video is that I hear so many times, "Pat, I don't want to be rich because rich people are greedy, and all they care about is themselves." I grew up with this mindset, and I wanted to talk about this because a lot of people have requested a video on this issue.

I have a book recommendation for you. It's called Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. I highly recommend it. It's phenomenal, and everybody ought to read it. It will make you think about millionaires and money in a completely different way.

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This article was originally published on PatrickBetDavid.com.