Money Part 2: Rich Dad, Poor Dad and EST/Landmark.

Many of us agree that 'money isn't everything' and that relationships, nature, creativity and health are of the greatest importance (or money is pointless). With this in mind I thought I'd finally take  a gander at Rich Dad, Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki as well as Debt-Fee Living by Anna Newell Jones. Today I shall just cover RDPD.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad:

An overly simplified story of how Robert Kiyosaki supposedly learned all the 'secrets of the rich' from a friend's wealthy father. There are probably a couple of logical and useful points in this book, but it is devoid of integrity, compassion or creativity. It might have been quite appealing in a post 1980's world in which buying up real estate was still quite viable for people.

Confession: I couldn't get through all of it, and I was listening to the audio-book available on youtube. For the sake of completion I may suffer through the rest of it while I do my dishes. I'll update if I finish it and there's anything of use.

What I've learned from RDPD so far:

• Poor/middle classes waste their money on luxuries/liabilities (that make them look rich) before they make any money from some kind of investment. I find this point is valid - driving around a fancy car, having the latest i-phone, wearing designer clothes (probably made by poor people in China anyway) and having more shoes than sense might stoke your ego, but it sure f*cks with your bank balance. Make like an aristocrat and rock your frugality!
• Be Rich and Evade Tax whenever possible; the laws were made for the rich by the rich.
• I wonder what the Poor People are Doing? Nah, I don't really care ... an attitude of intolerance to those who are struggling. Appears to believe in a meritocracy, a kind of 'you get what you deserve' mentality which excuses the wealthy from mercy.
• Running a business (that relies on your presence) or being an employee makes you a loser/poor and being an investor and the owner of assets makes you a winner/wealthy. I agree and also disagree. Logically he does make some sense - we all know that buying up something that generates a form of passive income is ideal - but if he offers any real practical advice on how to do this (other than becoming a Land Pimp and offering overpriced seminars) then I haven't heard it yet. 
• Poor/Middle Class people save, have a retirement plan ... and rich people take big risks and are not afraid of debt. According to Kiyosaki, saving up and having a retirement plan is for suckers. Really? Maybe it depends on the plan and/or if you have any other options (such as investing?). According to Kiyosaki, desiring security is what separates the poor from the rich ... but it's all very vague and sound-byte orientated.
• Richard Branson is a man willing to take massive risks and take out phenomenal loans and make it work. Richard Branson and Robert Kiyosaki are not in the same league. Kiyosaki didn't make much in the way of a fortune until after his dodgy book hit the big time. He wrote a fairy tale that incorporated some common sense mixed with crap, and heaps of people ate it up. Because some of those logical points worked at the time, the book might have seemed brilliant. Perhaps the ideas that seem obvious now were not obvious then? Hindsight is golden.

Kiyosaki's Seminars: From what I have researched, these are DAF (dodgy as f*ck). It is common for the seminar leader to encourage people to have their credit card limit raised to $50K ... and of course the most amazing course with even more incredible secrets cost $45K! 

The book is outdated because the housing market in New Zealand is insanely overpriced and the only people able to buy property for the purpose of investments are likely to be doing quite well to start with. I might be missing something here, so if you have any thoughts or ideas about how 'the poor people' might like to get going with investing in something that gives them a reliable return (without promoting Multi Level Marketing - MLM's) then that would be awesome.

MLM's: Skip past this if it bores you.

Nothing intrinsically wrong with MLM's (even old Robert K was an Amway man evidently) and I signed up to sell organic skin care a couple of years back. 

My experience: I was overexcited about the possibility of making it a 'real business' but have mainly used the account for personal use. I don't regret it, and love the products (World Organics). I occasionally send out an email to tell people about good offers. I also signed up to DoTerra (Essential Oils) this year, and I went a bit crazy spending more than I could afford. The good thing is that I am learning a lot about essential oils and my research led me to a company in France called Florihana. When I can afford to, I'll get some oils from Florihana and make comparisons - I love to 'find things out!'. 

MLM's often promote community, camaraderie and connection that 'normal' forms of consumerism do not. Some MLM meetings are reminiscent of a church gathering - Tupperware has a song called The Tupper Feeling. It's a Sunday school style song dedicated to Tupperware. Freaky. So be aware that when someone includes you in their Multi Level Marketing business, you might also be signing up for some kind of culture or club (but probably not Culture Club).

An interesting thing about Robert K: 

His back ground. A bit of a loose cannon really, then did Erhard Seminars Training. EST is the super-raw precursor to The Landmark Forum. I have done a lot of Landmark Forum courses (packed into one year) but, like MLM's, it is a community with a very specific culture.

If you can do Landmark (without having a mental breakdown) you can get a lot out of it, but from what I've read, the earlier form that was EST was even more hard core. 

If you decide to do Landmark, then it pays to go in choosing to get something from it as they use a lot of techniques designed to break you down and view the world in a whole new way.

I loved it and learned a lot, yet there was always another expensive course you were being encouraged to do and many of the people involved mistook bullying for being assertive. You get that in any big business I guess, but it was a real turn off.

For a year the benefits outweighed the annoyances - I also made some fantastic friendships. I didn't need to live at Landmark and keep on doing countless courses in order to 'live a life I love'. Some people do (and that's fine for them). 

Many attitudes and cultural norms at LM have been imported from the USA which feels really weird in New Zealand. Forum Leaders are not trained Counselors and some of them employ sarcasm, put downs and will not allow you to ask pertinent questions. The days are long, breaks are infused with 'homework' which often meant choosing between eating or doing the 'homework'. If you didn't do the homework you often had to stand up and admit it (so humiliation played it's fair part). Despite this, I still found the courses excellent, but I had already done Vipassana! 

Compared to Vipassana meditation, doing The Landmark Forum was easy. Vipassana is a ten day silent meditation retreat - if you actually follow the instructions and learn how to meditate properly it's absolutely amazing and one of the hardest things I've ever done (and I've done it more than once).

If you want a critical view of Robert K, check out this guy's blog post.

http://ethanvanderbuilt.com/2014/01/20/robert-kiyosaki-scam-artist-yes-opinion/

Why even mention that Robert K was an EST head?

Let's imagine that a sociopath decided to do EST or Landmark. They can take the same words principles and instructions to manipulate people on a whole new level.

Integrity is a massive point raised in The Landmark Forum, yet it is a business that will take no responsibility, no after care, for anyone suffering from a mental breakdown from doing it. They are a business when it suits them (sign that waiver), and then they fervent and persistent when persuading you to volunteer time to 'serve others' as an 'assistant'. I knew this when I kept going back and doing courses, but I was getting good results in my life and happy to continue. Eventually the demands on my time were just too much, and I realised that I didn't have to keep on 'doing' in order to 'be'. 

I would still recommend The Forum - for people who have already done some work on themselves and understand even just a little about how Hypnotherapy, Gestalt therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other forms of conditioning work. Obviously many people have safely completed a Land Mark course without understanding these things, and many have benefited immensely, but many have also ended up mentally unwell. In Landmark we would say 'and what are you making that mean?' I'll leave that to you. 

There is also a bit of Zen going down with Landmark which I liked. 

When I was 26 I read The Book on The Taboo against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts and it BLEW MY MIND. Sadly I didn't realise how many other amazing books he wrote until recently, but boy he's great to listen to while you tidy your room or soak your feet in hot water.

So we've taken a wee gander at Robert and his Rich Dad fairytale which led to my opinions on Landmark. What a great life it is ay? Feel free to comment.

Due to some feedback I received I would like to point out that when you sign the disclaimer you are agreeing that you understand that after attending the Forum, it is possible for those with no previous history of mental or emotional problems to experience "mild psychotic behaviour occassionally requiring medical care and hospitalization".  I have seen this happen to someone first-hand and it certainly doesn't seem 'mild' when a person has to be hospitalized after doing a course. This person still says they got a lot out of doing Landmark and has been an inspiration to me.

http://www.philosophyforlife.org/attack-therapy-and-the-landmark-forum/