Get a Job!

Hey, does anyone want a strategy for becoming successful?  Here’s an idea, courtesy of the richest woman in the world:

‘There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire,’ writes Mrs Rinehart, who has built a $20 billion-plus mining empire since inheriting lucrative tenements from her father, Lang Hancock, in 1992.

‘If you’re jealous of those with more money, don’t just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself – spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working.’

I could just type, “Amen!” and stop right there, but of course I won’t… I’m a big fan of working my tail off.  In fact, when I get bored, I get frustrated.  It pains me when I see bored people around me who aren’t frustrated, but instead are content to wait to be told what else to do.  While I won’t claim to be the most aggressive person in terms of doing things, I’m always happy to live by the advice of my father: learn from sweeping the floor if that’s what you have to do.

Of course, actually trying hard has its detractors…

But her strident comments provoked a barrage of criticism, led by the Acting Prime Minister who earlier this month used the music of Bruce Springsteen to attack the ‘massively wealthy” to drown out the voices of ordinary people.

Reigniting his feud with the miner, Mr Swan described Ms Rinehart’s comments as an ‘insult to the millions of Australian workers who go to work and slog it out to feed the kids and pay the bills.’

Or this one:

 ‘Her recipe would take Australia down the path of a nation divided between a super-wealthy elite and an underclass of working poor.’

Well, whee.  I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a rich person and hated them because they have more money.  I’ve often looked at them and wondered how much more I needed to do to get there.  Unlike the French Revolution (cue Lynn, or at least some of her posts), this is a country based on working to get ahead, and there are plenty of examples of tireless workers who became the next upper class.

I still wonder why that doesn’t resonate with more people.

Oh, and get off my lawn!