You're Poorer Than You Think

If you live in Canada, you must of seen the financial institution "You're richer than you think" ad. How can a financial institution say something like this when they see first hand how in debt people are?

"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."
-Proverbs 22:7

How can anyone feel rich when they have a debt twice (or more) as big as their yearly income? Being able to afford the monthly payments doesn't necessarily mean someone is "rich". One's ability to produce income may be high but that means little if the spending habits are just as high.

"If you don't learn to spend less than you earn, it won't make any difference if you earn twenty thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars, or one hundred thousand dollars per year. Your spending would simply rise as your income rose."
-Dwight Nichols

Most people are poorer, not richer, than they think. To tell them otherwise is a lie. They need not to spend more but to learn how to make a budget, pay off their debts and invest in their thinking.

Today's Tax

"Surrender of Lord Cornwallis", by John Trumbull (1920)

The American Revolutionary War was fought following the implementation of a 5% tax, without representation, from the British. The Americans saw this as a form of slavery and decided to put an end to it.

Today, we're taxed almost 50% (when we consider inflation of Fiat Money, income tax, tax on individual items etc...) Why are people okay with this?

Romans emperors figured out that when you "Entertain and feed the people you can take their freedoms away"... - isn't that what's going on with the world today?

Our focus on entertainment is allowing our government to take away our freedoms without creating an uproar. People don't understand the issue simply because they're not focused on it.

So what can I do?
Master your finances instead of having it master you. Get a better understanding of Fiat Money, inflation, the economy, Gold Standard, the various taxes of your country and get out of debt!

The more you understand it, the more you'll be interested in it. The more money in the bank you have, the more you'll want to protect it.