Unraveling the Gordian Knot of Income Inequality

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Income Inequality is hot potato issue.

Certain politicians, who see themselves standing up for the poor, cry in outrage over the unfairness of income inequality.

The clarion call of these politicians almost always involves some scheme to redistribute the income and wealth from the have’s, to the have-not’s.

The problem with this scheme is that, in countries that embrace Capitalism, like America, it fails 100% of the time.

Why?

Income inequality is a symptom of a disease that income redistribution can not cure.

That disease is Generational Poor Habits.

Generational Poor Habits are bad habits that the poor learn from their parents, culture, neighborhood and/or friends. These habits drag them down in life, causing them to fail and struggle financially. They can even cause poor health and chronic disability.

Generational Habits can also be Rich Habits – learned good habits which lift you up in life. These habits can help you to become successful in your business or career. They can also help you to become frugal, thrifty and financially secure. Lastly, Generational Rich Habits can help improve your health by inculcating in you the daily exercise habit or healthy eating habit.

With regard to poverty, there are obviously outlier causes that habit change can never cure:

  • Financial catastrophe caused by exorbitant medical costs of family members due to cancer or some chronic health disorder outside one’s control.
  • Certain physical or mental disabilities that make it impossible to work or earn income.
  • Random bad luck that negatively impacts one’s ability to earn income – A fire that burns down a business, a hurricane, flood or earthquake that destroys a community, etc.
  • The death of an income earner.
  • Other circumstances for which a poor person has no control over.

Excepting these outlier causes, the vast majority of poor people are poor and will remain poor, due to their Poor Habits.

No political solution can cure income inequality unless that political solution forces habit change and reduces or eliminates Poor Habits.

The permanent solution to income inequality, therefore, is to teach poor people habits that will help to end their poverty and create wealth. These Rich Habits, put the poor on equal footing with the wealthy.

If you were to take a typical poor person and reprogram them with Rich Habits, within ten years they would no longer be poor. They will have risen to the middle-class.

After another ten years, that same poor person would become financially well-off.

After yet another ten years, that same poor person would become rich.

Wealth and poverty are two different processes producing two different results. At the heart of either process are habits.

With respect to wealth and poverty, Rich Habits put you on autopilot for wealth. Poor Habits put you on autopilot for poverty.

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Thomas C. Corley About Thomas C. Corley

Tom Corley is a bestselling author, speaker, and media contributor for Business Insider, CNBC and a few other national media outlets.

His Rich Habits research has been read, viewed or heard by over 50 million people in 25 countries around the world.

Besides being an author, Tom is also a CPA, CFP, holds a master’s degree in taxation and is President of Cerefice and Company, a CPA firm in New Jersey.
 
Phone Number: 732-382-3800 Ext. 103.
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Comments

  1. Tom,

    I couldn’t agree with you more.

    It all starts with your thinking, your attitude, not feeling sorry for yourself, not having a sense of hopelessness, not taking the easy way out and not doing anything. There’s no excuse for people not to better themselves, take the initiative and work towards a goal and to better themselves in life.

    But for the extreme “outlier cases”, American Capitalism simply does not work. It’s proven that more caring, compassionate socialist systems like in Canada and the Nordic countries among others work better for the good of the extreme “outlier cases” and society in general, thus, creating a more equitable and just society.

    And that is why Canada and the Nordic countries are consistently rated as some of the best countries in the world to live in, as opposed to the US with their cold, uncaring, un-compassionate Republican, GOP governing ruling party and their selfish policies.

    Just a thought.

    Mark
    Mark@LiveLoveLaughBeHappy.com

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