Bud vs Wallace D. Wattles – Chapter 3

“No man is kept poor because opportunity has been taken away from him or because other people have monopolized the wealth and have put a fence around it.” Wallace D. Wattles The SofGR

“No one is kept in poverty by a shortness in the supply of riches; there is more than enough for all.”   Wallace D. Wattles The SofGR

Does Bud believe there is a ”shortness in the supply of riches?” 

It’s a hard question to answer.  His actions demonstrate he may have been victim to the belief that there is a shortness of riches.  He started out well enough.  Signs indicate he was hard working, wanted to make it on his own, wanted to prove he had “insight” that others did not demonstrate.  I think in his young state, naive if you will, he thought his dogged determination would carry him through to the outcome he desired – MONEY. 

When he meets Gordon, it’s as if he says good-bye to his innocence and gives in to Gordon’s way of doing business.  He lets go of his “work hard” ethic and moves into “work smart.”  Of course, to Bud, “work smart” means doing things Gordon’s way – getting information by whatevert means is possible and leveraging the information.

To read the strategy by itself, it doesn’t sound all that bad.  Unfortunately for Bud and Gordon, it’s an illegal strategy in the world of investing.

If Bud had truly believed in the abundance of riches, he may have been able to see that wealth unencumbered was available to him.  Perhaps he could have found a way to leverage Gekko’s power legally.

Chapter 4 soon…..

Bud vs Wallace D. Wattles – Chapter 2

Wallace states in Chapter 2 that “Getting rich is not a matter of environment, for, if it were, all the people in certain neighborhoods would become wealthy; the people of one city would all be rich, while those of another would all be poor; or the inhabitants of one state would roll in wealth, while those of an adjoining state would be in poverty.” He goes on to state that getting rich boils down to doing things THE “certain way.”

It’s a good point. We all know those in professions who work hard and do well and those who work hard and barely get by. In Bud’s case we find that he worked hard but…felt that “to be a player” you had to be in the city and you had to have Gordon Gekko as a client. His belief in that drove him to rise early daily, make the daily “Gekko” call and stay poor until he got to meet and work with the great Gekko.

One wonders what opportunities Bud missed having such a single vision of what success would be for him. Had he read the book and expanded his mind to embrace THE “certain way” of obtaining riches, perhaps he would have gotten to keep them, faced Gekko in battle one day and become the victor rather than the victim.

He and the players around him proved Wattles’ theory in Chapter 2: “Talented people get rich and blockheads get rich.”

More later…….

Bud vs Wallace D. Wattles – Chapter 1

If I am honest, I have to admit that even though I was raised with the idea that we wanted to have money, there was equal time given to scoffing at the rich.  Basically, since we were of average income at best, it was easier to laugh at those that were well off than figure out why we weren’t well off.

I think many of us are raised with these comments.  It’s easier to accept what you don’t have when you find fault with those who do have.

And so, our examination begins.

There is a wonderful line in Wall Street where Bud Fox looks at his dad and says, “There is no nobility in poverty.”  Would it surprise you to find out this is exactly how Wallace D. Wattles opens his 1910 classic, The Science of Getting Rich? 

“It is perfectly right that you should desire to be rich; if you are a normal man or woman, you cannot help doing so.  It is perfectly right that you should give your best attention to The Science of Getting Rich, for it is the noblest and most necessary of all studies.  If you neglect this study, you are derelict in your duty to yourself, to God and to humanity; for you can render to God and humanity no greater service that to make the most of yourself.” W D Wattles, TSofGR

Bud had the right idea.  He wanted to be rich.  Where things fell apart, I think, is that he didn’t know WHY he wanted to be rich.  You see, Wattles tells us that this is how we can serve our fellow man – having the most to give.  Bud wants it and wants to experience all that money can buy – but other than that – he really doesn’t have a plan for what his life will be about when he does have money.

He’s on A road to getting rich, but not the BEST road to getting rich. His road is leading him only to money, and not true riches that may include an abundance of money. 

More later….

Gordon Gekko vs Wallace D. Wattles

Is it really a zero sum game as the great Gekko states in the blockbuster movie Wall Street?  Or, was Wallace D. Wattles more accurate when he penned The Science of Getting Rich in 1910?

That’s what this blog is all about.   I am not sure of the answer – but as I write, maybe I will find out.