How Trump Exposed the Self-Made Millionaire Myth
The truth whispered trumps the lie shouted
I. Trump’s Moment of Truth
When Trump famously exposed Lady Fortune, by noting she was born Lady Luck before the name change, a few eyebrows raised.
But why?
After all, given that fortune is synonymous with wealth, it’s no accident the two go together like peanut butter with jelly . . . Kool-Aid with sugar. In other words, show me a millionaire and I’ll show you Lady Luck’s child.
Long before the world ever heard of Donald, there was Fred Trump.
The elder Trump was a multi-millionaire real estate developer.
And, more importantly, not only did the elder Trump set up a trust fund for his son but he also ensured the lad was educated at the best schools that money could buy.
From a private boarding school, Fortunate Donald went on to attend the prestigious Wharton Business School, aka the #1 business school in history! Better yet, Trump went to the best school that money could buy.
Given Trump’s staggering level of fame and fortune, you’d think he graduated at the top of his class . . . right?
Shortly after a false report had been debunked, which claimed Trump had indeed graduated first in his class at Wharton, Fortunate Donald admitted:
“Okay, maybe not ‘first,’ as myth has it, but I had the highest grades possible.”
— Donald Trump
Aha! Trump didn’t become a “billionaire” due to having been possessed of some sort of “superpowers” or habits exclusive to the rich.
Nope!
Trump became a millionaire several thousand times over due to . . . as he confessed: “Everything in life is luck.”
Here lies the good fortune behind Trump’s fortune.
II. History’s Most Important Lesson
“The most important lesson we learn from history,” said Hegel, “is that we do not learn from history.”
To put it simply:
Because nobody ever listens the first time, History seems fated to repeating herself.
Lady Luck and Lady Fortune serve faithfully as the left-hand and right-hand that write Life’s script!
No wonder the rapper Lil Wayne, who, though born into poverty, was a millionaire with a Ferrari before he was even old enough to get a driver’s license, couldn’t help but admit:
I stick to the script, I memorize the lines, cause life is a movie that I’ve seen too many times.
Here lies the good fortune behind Lil Wayne’s fortune.
III. Lucky Bezos
Dear Reader, do you really suppose the filthy rich work that much harder than the filthy poor?
Perhaps the question alone demands History repeats this twice-told tale of the good fortune behind the big fortune. …
Let’s take Jeff Bezos for a case in point.
Bezos owns the distinction of having become history’s first centi-billionaire, worth a staggering $188,000,000,000. If by chance you’re counting at home, that means Bezos as 1 man = 188,000 millionaires.
Chew on that incredible fun fact for a second. …
Given that a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll quickly paint a word-picture that’ll amount to a thousand words’ worth of illustration.
Huddle up these 188,000 millionaires in a sold-out Michigan stadium. Given that the official capacity is roughly 107,000, the additional 80,000 millionaires have to cheer from the parking lot. Perhaps they’ll do some tailgating.
Now, picture if you will, the following staggering fact:
each fan seated in the sold-out stadium, pictured below, is a millionaire + 80,000 millionaires, not pictured, are outside at the tailgate party = Bezos’ net worth.
Let that soak in for a second before asking yourself:
Does Jeff Bezos really work 188,000 times harder than the average millionaire or have a brain 1,880,000 times smarter than the average person earning $100K a year?
Think about it. …
Lucky Bezos grew up in the extremely wealthy River Oaks neighborhood, a few blocks away from the estate of former president George H. W. Bush.
For the above reason, Lucky Bezos — armed with an Ivy League education — thought nothing of it when his parents loaned him a quarter of a million dollars to ensure his fledgling Amazon business stayed afloat.
Ahhh, but imagine . . . if you will: Jeff Bezos had been the child of poor sharecroppers in Alabama?
Minus the “Lucky” moniker, would Bezos still have had those “loaded” parents to help get Amazon up and running?
Here lies the good fortune behind Bezos’ fortune.
IV. The Beginning of Wisdom
Each time a YouTube ad pops up with another self-proclaimed self-made millionaire showcasing his fleet of Lamborghinis, I can’t help but here Honest Abe whisper in my third ear:
You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
These so-called “self-made millionaires” brag so much their own ears beg for ear-plugs. Ahhh, but I’m not buying it with their money! And neither should you, dear reader.
“The beginning of wisdom,” said Socrates, “is the definition of terms.”
Armed with the Socratic method, it becomes apparent all such titles as Ivy League-educated, self-made millionaire, genius-level-IQ scores and first-class anything all fall nicely under the same big heading:
ELITISM — the superior attitude or behavior associated with an elite.
What if, say, George Bush had been born with the same first name — and still grew up in Houston — yet swapped the last name for Floyd?
How different would this self-made, presidential tale have been?
Given that I grew up in the same Cuney Homes as did Floyd, even played video games in their cramped living room with his younger brothers P.J. and Rodney, as Miss Cissy scraped by to raise three hungry boys, I suspect the only White House George Bush, turned Floyd, would’ve seen is that old, run-down white house across the street from our housing projects.
Surely, you’d agree the change in George Bush’s fortune would’ve resulted in the change in George Bush’s fortune.
Right?
V. A Scientific View
“Be careful of hubris,” warned Socrates, “for the gods have been known to strike mortals down for lesser offenses!”
For the above reasons, when the press attempted to shower Einstein with the title “genius,” he abruptly set them straight:
“I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
— Albert Einstein
Because the DNA of science consists of the law of causality, Einstein’s above stance merely reflects the general view held by physicists.
“I am a determinist!” Einstein once declared.
Sure, most scoff at the mere mention of determinism, yet rarely do such dissenting voices bother to question:
How is it that I, a mere mortal, who chose neither my birthday nor death-day, nevertheless have fancies of controlling what occurs between the opposite poles?
VI. In Closing
If anyone has the right to boast of being self-made, heck, it would have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger. After all, Lady Fortune smiled on Arnold from the moment he set foot in the Land of the Free.
Countless Mr. Olympia titles? Check!
Box-office movie star? Check!
Governor of California? Check!
Heck, even marry a Kennedy? Check!
Ah, but as Arnold stood before the gaping college graduates, delivering the commencement speech, he proved that to puff up one’s chest is better left for the benchpress at the gym.
“I didn’t make it this far on my own,” Schwarzenegger admitted. “[. . .] The whole concept of the self-made man or woman is a myth.”
Bingo!
In short, if by chance you wake up one morning and find yourself staring at chandeliers in a mansion, a word to and from the wise suggests — count your blessings before you count your money.
After all,
