According to a USA Today article, and many other sources, there was a new billionaire created every other day in America in 2017.

But that’s no reason to celebrate. No way these 183 people could have reached that fairly and honestly.

Everyone knows they’re probably all crooks. Probably inherited it. No way they could have gotten it through study, persistence, and hard work.

Yes, I’m being sarcastic. But that seems to be the mindset of many people. Rich is bad; poor is good.

The Top 1 Percent Have All The Dough

Poor me. Jeff Bezos (above), an American technology and retail entrepreneur, investor, electrical engineer, computer scientist, and philanthropist, best known as the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, the world's largest online shopping retailer, is now the worlds richest man.

Sounds to me like ole Jeff got some education somewhere along the line. Never mind that his fledgling online book company lost money for the first 20 years or so with no real guarantee of success.

As of January 25, 2018, he’s worth $116.6 billion, and on track to become the wealthiest person in American history. Bill Gates is a distant second.

The current record holder for wealthiest person in American history would be John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937). His adjusted for inflation wealth was a very comfortable $253 billion. Jeff has some work to do.

Pretty amazing considering movies were a dime in Rockefeller’s time and a weeks pay was $5.00.

He spent the last part of his life giving away much of his fortune, including money to found the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The current CEO of Walmart started as a summer worker on their loading dock while pursuing an MBA in college.

I wonder why he aspired to anything above the loading dock? Didn’t he know there would be huge groups of people vilifying his success?

Maybe his goals of personal achievement were more important than amassing wealth. I mean it only took 20 years of hard work to get to the corner office with no guarantee that you’ll stay there.

You’re Poor — Get Used To It

This is the message I hear most often. You’re black, you’re handicapped, you’re uneducated, you're poor, and because of all that you’ll never be successful.

If fact, you’re too stupid to figure out how to get an ID and register to vote.

What an insult. Why aren’t the ignorant people that make these statements called out on this?

Don’t tell me that the American dream is out of my reach because of my color, income, social standing, or physical ability. How incredibly condescending and insulting is that?

This is America. That dream is a reality for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to achieve the goals they themselves have set.

And those dreams are realized every day in spite of those enablers who want to give them excuses that convince them to not even try.

Some Final Thoughts

From 1990 to 2010, the number of people living in extreme poverty — defined as living on less than $1.90 a day — was cut in half, and has continued to decline each year since. Increased wealth worldwide made that happen.

Shouldn’t we be celebrating the success, hard work, and accomplishments of those 183 people who reached billionaire status?

How about those who reached a household income of $86,000? That puts you in the top five percent of all income earners. Where are the pom-poms for them?

Instead of a collection of “Debbie Downers” why not encourage those around you to shoot for the stars. Go for it. You’re the only one holding you back. Comments below.

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