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Dear Friends,

It seems to me, prosperity is not a consequence of wealth but of skill, hard work, and diligence. How could I say such a counter-intuitive thing? I say it because it’s true. History is full of states that became wealthy and in doing so lost their prosperity. Spain is one example. The old adage, “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations,” is a saying because it’s objective reality. Moreover, money and privilege can be taken away, but the skill, ability, and diligence to earn it all back… cannot be taken away. So from this we can conclude that wealth is the effect and not the cause of prosperity. Therefore, we can say that if one wants to be prosperous, one needs to learn skills, build a strong work ethic, and be diligent in one’s efforts. With those things, prosperity is inevitable.

Many people think prosperity is synonymous with wealth. They see wealth as the measure of prosperity. That metric, however, is insufficient. Prosperity encompasses more than economic well-being. It includes health, family, and economics. Would you say Ebenezer Scrooge was prosperous? In gold, perhaps, but in family, health, and quality of life certainly not. Plus, if prosperity is only how much money one has, it’s a shallow measure. What good is money if one is dying of cancer? What good are cars if one has no one to take for a ride? What good are estates if one has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis… Lou Gehrig’s disease? If prosperity doesn’t include these quality of life issues, it can’t be said to measure quality of life.

The quality of life in Spain was high while gold and silver were pouring in from the New World, but the moment it went dry, poverty raced across the land. Why? Because the flood of wealth had washed away the skills, work ethic, and diligence that are required for a people to be prosperous. Just as in a nation, people who are lazy and have no skills have only the lottery as a means to some semblance of welath. But that isn’t an elevator up, more often it’s a trap door leading down. The elite invented trust funds to combat the three generations adage. They know their smartest grandkids are half-wits so they set up a system to keep them in food, housing, and Birkenstocks. They survive but are permanently harmed, emotionally, economically, and made lazy by the wealth they grew up in.

Someone who has the skill, work ethic, and diligence to earn a fortune, and loses it, also has the ability to earn it back. The person who wins the lottery and loses the money ends up lower than before they won. This is because ability beats out luck in every match. The skillful navigate around obstacles. A work ethic allows one to get things done. Meanwhile, diligence in the face of daunt is the means to overcome the seemingly impossible. There has never been a successful entrepreneur who was lazy, entitled, with no abilities whatsoever. Success can only come about with ability and hard work. Many people, though, only see the outcome, the effect, and conflate that with the cause. Then they imagine the successful and prosperous lay by a pool all day. So emulate that behavior.

The point is, wealth does not lead to prosperity, prosperity leads to wealth. Getting this turned around is the source of many troubles. People see what they want to see, and most only see indolence when they look at the prosperous. What they don’t see is the hard work, long education, and nose to the grindstone diligence that it took to get and stay there. They say everyone wants to be rich, but I say they could be if they knew how to and are willing to put the work into it. It’s not the risk of failure, losing the hard-earned wealth, or some other catastrophe… but attitude. Skills take time and effort. A work ethic is inculcated by culture and family. Diligence is an innate quality. Some have a large chin and others are chinless. Skill and hard work, however, are available to all who seek them, and thus so is prosperity.

Sincerely,
John Pepin