Growing Inequality?

“The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.??

As we enter into the political “silly season” the claims and counter claims of the candidates vying for the presidency are becoming louder and more questionable with each new headline.

One of the most popular whipping boys for America, continually broadcast by the “blame America first” crowd, is that there is growing inequality in America because “The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.”

Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker has studied this claim in depth. In a recent article he demonstrates that the “inequality gap” is really a “skills gap.”

In a free society like ours, everyone earns their income by serving other people in some way. The truth is that your rewards will always be equal to the quality and quantity of services that you render to others. If you want to increase your rewards, you must increase the value of your services in some way.

In the 21st Century, knowledge and skill are the keys to your financial future. As you learn and grow on the inside, and increase your ability to render valuable services to other people, you increase the amount that you earn.

One of the most important qualities of a free market is that all exchanges are voluntary. This means that no one has to buy your product or service, or anyone else’s. If people buy something from you, it is only because they are convinced that your product or service is a better choice for them, at this time, than anything else that is available.

To close your “skills gap” with other people, you must be continually upgrading your knowledge and skill. If you are not getting better, you are getting worse. If you are not learning how to do your job better and better, you are actually falling behind.

The 80/20 rule says that the top 20% of people in our society earn 80% of the money. This means that the bottom 20% must be content to fight for the crumbs that fall off the table after the top 20% have dined.

But everyone starts off at the same starting line. No one is smarter than you and no one is better than you. The reason that some people are in the top 20% is because they have invested more time and energy learning how to do their jobs better. The reason that the majority is in the bottom 80% is because they do not invest in themselves to upgrade their skills and their ability to serve others in some way.

When I discovered the miracle of continuous learning, it changed my life forever. I had always been a reader. But when I discovered audio learning, combined with regular seminar attendance, I was never the same again.

I went from rags to riches. I went from living in a single room in a boarding house to a beautiful home on a golf course in Southern California. When I heard those wonderful words, “To earn more, you must learn more.” I knew I had discovered the key to the future. And it is your key as well.

Whenever you hear people talk about the “inequality gap,” you should know that it is pure political nonsense, and the recommendations to solve this so-called inequality gap are always to raise taxes on the most productive, and punish the most successful.

Here is a great question that I learned from Earl Nightingale many years ago, “How can I increase the value of my service to my customers today?”

Everyday, when you get up and start work, you should look around yourself and seek ways to increase the value of your services. Learn new skills, and put them into action. Look for ways to serve your boss and your customers faster, better, cheaper and easier.

Resolve today to join the top 20% of income earners, and to remain in that group for the rest of your career.

I’ll talk to you again soon.

Brian Tracy