First seat into Slowlane

[MRiabov]

Tale from the slowlane:
My grandparents is basically the tip of the spear of the Slowlane.
My grandfather, an inventor. Long story short his inventions made hundreds of millions for the USSR government if we account for inflation. Later, he became a chief technical officer in a factory which had 1200 employees total, and of those, 500 were "technical staff" - engineers, mechanics, servicepeople and the like which he was managing directly. He made the factory very profitable, somewhere in Estonia. Of course, he has a PhD.
Then his wife.
At age 22, she was a manager of a food production plant, and the only thing I know of her then is that she was a director of chemistry in that plant, and that plant won awards, and was consistently visited by USSR ministry regalia. To be "from ministry" in USSR was the highest privilege, not because you were the most useful/renown, but because one who was in the ministry could bribe anyone into agreement with you, because "if you won't agree/bribe me, your boss will come to you and give you a dismissal notice/we will close your factory down".

Anyway.
I'm with the for a few weeks, a stupid choice I should've avoided and these smart AF people tell me:
"The only way to become rich is to be a member of a clan (like a Rockfeller clan), and be selected to get all the wealth".
"Most people who drive in Bentleys and the like expensive cars are the ones whose parents stolen the most"...
"If you are an entrepreneur, the only way to become rich is by scamming and lying to people... You just have to do it" (from my grandfather).

And then, when questioning about notion of providing value to somebody:
"Do you know what Bill Gates you talk of does? He has infected half of the world with Ebola and other infections. It is his arms' deed." ... "In fact, Bill Gates has created combat viruses that specifically kill Russian people."
"The only way to get rich is to help very rich steal, and they will pay you percentage in the process."
"We should've had good retirement, but bloody Americans have FORCED (said loudly), Ukrainian Nazis to go and kill Russians" (both parents are from USSR Moscow, but now are living in Ukraine... So hate towards Ukrainians is real).

"You say that I'm watching TV 3 hours a day and what, can am I not allowed to watch TV? This is my right. I'm not broke because I watch TV, I'm broke because of the war Americans have created".

Their current situation is that they have fled from Ukraine to live in Ireland as Ukrainian refugees, and my grandfather is very much proud that he gets his 900€/mo welfare. In fact, it used to be that he mocked me for not having welfare, because "when he has welfare he is has better life than I do".

I should work, but F*ck, is this annoying.

 

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[Kevin88660]

There are a lot of cultural myths and urban legends about money everywhere.

In my place a lot of people believe to make great money you need to take massive risk, the theory itself is not wrong, but it often leads to degenerate gambling behavior. Huge in debts from casino visits, leverage trading and betting on penny stocks and crypto.

Some also believed that massive wealth comes from destiny, something that is out of control. Yet based on Elon Musk’s birth day and location, he has shitty mediocre “life destiny”. And this is agreed by the professional fortune tellers.

Four Pillars of Destiny - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Awaken Study]

In situations like this I find it helpful to remind myself people 60+ years old spent the first years of their life and careers without access to the Internet and computers.

What they were taught about money came directly from the people they could communicate with in person. Your grandfather is coming from the generation of socioeconomic classes, castes, etc (I'm not sure what they call it in your part of the world). Basically it was almost impossible to improve your economic status. If you were born poor you stayed poor.

Today we have indirect access to the "Rockefeller Clan". Billionaires do interviews, write books, etc and it can be accessed for free on the Internet.

In a lot of ways MJ and the other successful entrepreneurs on this forum are paving the path for the rest of us. Through this forum we have direct access to millionaires. That's mind blowing.

A side note: elders in my community need help getting money out of an ATM. They just don't get how to work technology today no matter how often it's explained to them.

That being said, there's no convincing someone who doesn't know how to work an ATM that they can become a millionaire through an Internet business. Let your actions and results speak for themselves.

 

[MRiabov]

There are a lot of cultural myths and urban legends about money everywhere.

In my place a lot of people believe to make great money you need to take massive risk, the theory itself is not wrong, but it often leads to degenerate gambling behavior. Huge in debts from casino visits, leverage trading and betting on penny stocks and crypto.

Some also believed that massive wealth comes from destiny, something that is out of control. Yet based on Elon Musk’s birth day and location, he has shitty mediocre “life destiny”. And this is agreed by the professional fortune tellers.

Four Pillars of Destiny - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I've heard Singapore is quite entrepeneurial, one of the most innovative countries in Asia. Strange that people consider starting businesses risky there.

In fact, I've considered it one of countries to live in potentially.

 

[Jobless]

Many elderly are set in their ways. Fixed world view. Not open to new perspectives. But paradoxically gullible, also.

The biological role of an elderly person is not to rock the boat, but to guide the new generation with tested wisdom. No steps away from tradition. If it was good enough for them, it's good enough for everyone! The fact that they procreated, raised children and lived to a grand old age is proof enough.

Of course, what was good then is different from now, but historically there was almost no development from generation to generation. So we can see why humans are this way.

 

[TheWiseGuy]

Older people seem to be stuck in a time when the dollar was backed by gold.

You could actually work for a year and afford a home, car & groceries. The more educated you were, the better the job.

Times have changed, and their perspective hasn't. One can no longer simply afford a home with an average job. They'll tell you to stuff cash under your mattress or "work harder".

Truth? Income explosion is the ONLY way to attain wealth. Unfortunately, the older generation really hold young people back with their dated philosophies.

Older people may be wiser, but many people do not have simple financial literacy. Be careful who you take advice from. Your Grandfather (who's likely a great guy) doesn't take accountability for his situation.

Unless you're kidnapped, blindfolded & literally FORCED to do something, it's always your own doing. And even in this scenario, you still have a choice.

 

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[Kevin88660]

I've heard Singapore is quite entrepeneurial, one of the most innovative countries in Asia. Strange that people consider starting businesses risky there.

In fact, I've considered it one of countries to live in potentially.

Singaporeans are actually not entrepreneurial. It is not a culture that encourages business risk and innovation.

Because there are too many “safe paths” available. Becoming a doctor, lawyer, accountant, business executive, and buying residential real estates. These are what most people interested in.

There is also a perceived lack of market size for being a city state. Many ambitious local entrepreneurs tend to go oversea.

On the other hand, the benefits of this place that it is business friendly and wealth accumulation friendly. Easy to register a business and hire whoever you want from anywhere. Low income tax. Zero capital gain tax. No tax on dividend. Zero inheritance tax. It’s designed for rich people oversea ro park their money here. Strong law and order and low level of crime.

Business and entrepreneurships ecosystem here in the small businesses space tend to be older generation folks. There were at best C students or many didn’t even have a complete proper formal education. Ironically the lack of options was a driving factor in their early days.

There is a lack of good role model for the younger generation here. So business is relegated to the 2nd option here, that if you hate your job, don’t get your dream job, feels a lack of purpose, you start to think about business.

In our neighboring countries like China, or even Thailand and Indonesia. More young people believed that entrepreneurship and business are the destinations. Work a few years, saved up some money and off you go start a shop.