Today, while having breakfast at Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort, I came across a young woman wearing a t-shirt that read “Welfare Over Wealth.”
I was so purplexed by the shirt that I asked her, “Are you telling me, that given a choice, you would rather have welfare over wealth?” Her reply was, “No, we should support people on welfare instead of wealthy people.” I was tempted to ask how she was supporting people on welfare by vacationing at an expensive resort like Shangri-La, but I decided against it.
While I have no problem with supporting people on welfare, I also believe a t-shirt that says “Welfare Over Wealth” carries the wrong message. The best way to keep someone on welfare is to keep paying them to stay on welfare. The best way to get people off welfare is by teaching them to be wealthy.
Unfortunately, our welfare system doesn’t teach wealth creation, and that creates a divide of us vs. them. Having been on both side of the tracks, I can tell you that I would never choose welfare over wealth. I also believe that everyone on welfare would love to be wealthy, but don’t know how to do it.
The solution starts from within. In order to change your situation, you must first change yourself. The difference between the rich and poor is not the size of their bank accounts. The difference is their mindset. If you have mindset of a broke person, no amount money will make you rich. Take the money away from someone with a rich mindset, and he’ll be rich again in a few years.