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I’ve been thinking quite a bit recently about how much money there is in the world and why we as a planet, let alone a nation in the United States, still struggle.
Let’s be honest, there is plenty of money in the world to support everyone. For this article though let’s just focus on the United States, the “richest country in the world”.
When I was 19 I got my first job in finance. It was for a gigantic company and they hired me as an analyst intern. As a 19-year-old making $20/hour doing something I knew very little about, I was stoked. That job was great and I quickly went from a general analyst to working with a new product, and then directly working for the supply chain team on our flagship product. Flagship product makes it sound like some fascinating, interesting thing but actually, we sold nylon fiber. Not exactly the most glamorous thing in the world.
As an analyst, I helped support my managers by taking gigantic pools of data from a prehistoric version of SAP and making it into something useful. At first, I was just trying to keep up but then I learned more and more and one day it hit me. I can distinctly remember the day because I was just shocked.
The data I was building into useable dashboards and reports was helping make decisions that ranged from $100,000 to over $25,000,000. Yes, that’s right, multi-million-dollar decisions just based on some underwhelming graphs and tables that a 19-year-old with lackluster Excel skills was making. They were not aesthetically pleasing.
This was when I realized there was plenty of money in the world.
The Big Picture
This epiphany led me to think about two different topics specifically so let’s start with the first, the big picture. As I’ve grown older (that sounds like an old wise man, but I’m far from that) I’ve tried to take a step back and think about the world and what kind of world I want. We are far from a utopia in my eyes and that is mainly due to the greed of individuals, organizations, and governments.
It pains me to see teachers asking for help buying school supplies on Facebook, or first responders having to work side jobs to help support their families. Then you add in the fact that most people don’t have access to the healthcare they need and a single visit to the doctor can drive a family to bankruptcy. The examples go on and on and you are probably thinking of something to yourself right now that you know just isn’t right.
We live in the “richest country in the world” so how is this happening?
I’ve made it no secret that I question the government’s spending quite often. If you want to see how to NOT keep your finances in line and go into crippling debt, then just copy what the U.S. government is doing every single day. Don’t think that the local and state level of governments are immune to this either. They are just as guilty.
The CARES act, for example, a bill meant to help everyday Americans make it through a pandemic was littered with spending that had absolutely nothing to do with Covid-19. The latest $1.9 trillion stimulus package making its rounds through the government right now will be no different. Yes, you may get a shiny stimulus check but for most, it will not be enough, and for the rest, it is just a distraction from where the rest of the money (which is tax dollars) is going.
But that doesn’t even cover the spending the government does for itself. Let’s examine one of the largest expenditures, the U.S. Military. First, for the sake of clarity, I do support our military, I’m thankful for them every day, and I wish they had more support and resources when they returned home. But you will never convince me the U.S. needs to spend almost $900 billion on the military every year.
Johnny Harris did an amazing video detailing how the U.S. military has over 750 known bases around the world and why they exist. Check it out after you are done here: The US Military is EVERYWHERE. But how many of those are necessary? How much waste is there to keep it manned, supplied, and maintained?
Again, there is plenty of money.
Then you get to organizations and individuals. I’m not anti-business or anti-rich folk. In fact, I identify as a capitalist and think people should get the money they deserve, the money they earn. Are there outliers who are taking advantage of the system, tax laws, and people in general? ABSOLUTELY.
We as a nation and as a world have misaligned incentives for the long-term survival of humanity. We look up to the rich and powerful as the most important people in the world but are they really? I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong I like how Elon Musk, once the richest person in the world, thinks about things from a different point of view. But there are dozens of other people who have a fraction of the bank account and a much better and realistic vision for the world that we COULD live in than 99% of these ‘important rich people’.
Newsflash… having a huge bank account doesn’t mean you are smart, it doesn’t mean you are a good person, it means nothing. It just means you have a huge bank account. That’s it.
Some of the greatest minds in the world whether that be about math, science, art, philosophy, and so on are just ordinary people. But these are the people that think about all of humanity. They want to make the world a better place and keep it thriving for generations to comes. The last thing on their mind is how they can maximize profit.
So how do we regular people, the middle class, the shift workers and essential personnel get ahold of some of that money? I wish I had the magic answer for all of us. While I don’t know any magic, I do think it’s possible with some determination, knowledge, and hard work.
How This Pertains To Me & You
The second thing this realization made me think about was how there is so much money in the world for you and me. Seeing the number of 0’s on my screen at that age lit a fire under my entrepreneurial spirit. I enjoy finding ways to make money and building businesses. Am I building the next Amazon or Tesla? Hell no.
I don’t want to have that amount of stress in my life, to be honest, and I’m just not that smart. What I do want is my piece of the pie and I want you to eat yours too. I’ve written many times about the different ways I have made money. I haven’t figured out the big thing yet but I’m building and going to keep building. And from what I see online, specifically on Twitter, other people are building things as well.
Here are some examples… I don’t know these people personally. I really don’t know them at all these are just some of the glimpses they share on social media:
- Captain DIY - Cap is working for himself doing electrical work (hi there fellow electrician). He started working for himself mid-last year and already is booked 3 months in advance. As an electrician myself I know how lucrative doing side electrical work can be. You can make some serious cash.
- Kaleigh Moore - Kaleigh is a badass writer and freelancer. She has multiple product offerings but lately, I’ve seen her posting about doing a one-page copy review on any webpage. She has so much expertise that she can charge a couple of hundred dollars to look at a single web page and it’s obviously worth it. P.s. if you are looking for writing tips then give her a follow.
- Brent the FoodTruckCEO - Brent is an RN but quit his job to start a pizza truck. Brent puts out pizza porn and watching his videos of him just making the dough for his pies is mesmerizing. Brent is building and from what I heard on the Bigger Pockets podcast his business is taking off.
All I’m saying is there is plenty of money in the world and if you have an ounce of value to give to people, no matter what area, you can make more money. My blog and YouTube channel have made me almost $5,000 over the last year and a half. Over that length of time that may not seem like a whole lot but again I’m building to expand my piece of the pie.
Because no matter what anyone tells you there is plenty of money in the world.
The Bottom Line
I’ll forever be thankful for what that first corporate job showed me. I learned that working in a cubicle for someone else wasn’t for me and that we could sell yarn and make hundreds of millions of dollars. Think about all the random junk in the world and then think about the people behind that business.
That junk is making them millions of dollars and while I don’t need millions to live, I wouldn’t mind having a couple of extra hundreds of thousands. In addition, think about the people that started selling something whether that was a product or a service and people told them it would never work. Or they made fun of them. Yeah, I’ve felt that one personally.
If you are helping people improve their lives in any way and it’s something you believe in then just keep going. Keep building, keep selling, and keep helping. Soon those people who were laughing at you will ask you for help. I had that happen to me too and let me tell you, it felt nice.
This article may come out a little scatterbrained and trust me as I read it back I feel the same way. But I challenge you to take a step back and look at how things work, how money is spent, and where there is an opportunity for you.
I have an optimistic view of the future. A future in which everyone can live a happy and fulfilling life and not have to worry about where their next meal comes from. Especially in the ‘richest country in the world’. If it is apparent now that I believe no government, organization, or individual is going to take care of each of us then let me just make it plain and clear.
Do what you need to do to get your piece of the pie.
Because there is plenty of money in the world.
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