Robert Kiyosaki names financial predators; conveniently forgets himself and his peers
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Robert Kiyosaki, on his latest article for Yahoo! Finance’s “Why The Rich Get Richer?” column, wants people to stay away from financial predators. He names notable people from financial scandals such as Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Dick Grasso. Kiyosaki even cites examples from G.E. and AOL’s past with Jack Welch and Steve Case.
You won’t find me disagreeing with Kiyosaki about his rogue gallery roster. (Did I just write that?) Especially his point that these wealthy white-collar crimminals have not seen a day of jail time. And just like Donald Trump, the co-author of his Kiyosaki’s latest book, Kiyosaki doesn’t believe that jailing Martha Stewart while not touching the others displayed any commitment on the system’s part to weed out its abusers. I’ll also agree to this observation, but… (and there’s always a but with Kiyosaki)
But What?
But as with many of my Kiyosaki criticisms, it’s not what he’s trying to get across that irks me, but the way he presents and markets the idea. The word “predator” conjures for me the image of a being stalking its “prey”, pouncing on it, and not leting go as long as its teeth are sunk in. Looking down Kiyosaki’s list, I can’t find anybody fitting that description. Don’t get me wrong. These “bad guys” took advantage of a system — gaming a system that was willing to pay them, willing to invest in them. In Jack Welch’s case, the same argument could be given that his successors were the ones that have mismanaged the company. Nobody was complaining when he took G.E. to $600 Billion.
It’s easy for Kiyosaki to mention these names because of the amount of wealth lost to these scandals. The numbers are huge, and easily stir up emotions. But which investor can say that they’ve looked at Ken Lay face-to-face and Ken Lay preyed upon them? Maybe those mutual fund managers can, and maybe the employees who put their money into stock compensation retirement plans can. But the average joe investor have never interacted with these people to become their direct prey; have not taken advice from them except advices they construed in their own minds by reading false accounting reports. How is there a direct predator-prey relationship?
Well Then… Who Can Be Called Predators?
Turn on your television during late night hours, and you’ll see commercials promising to teach you to navigate the world of options trading, or buying real estate with zero money down. Promising how easy and fool-proof their systems are. Go to the book store and see all the different authors selling you their guru advice comprising of little more than motivational common sense. Flip open a newspaper and find the many investment seminars that are happening in your neck-of-the-woods this weekend!
What do they all have in common? They all prey on your instincts to get rich quick, to find an easy way to fortune. Kiyosaki belongs in that camp. He might just be the camp leader! Kiyosaki will never fully disclose how much of his net worth was build on the sale of books versus real estate investing, or stock investing or whatever hot fad he will claim to be participating in while its at its hottest. Though the impact of these “gurus” are much smaller than that of a Ken Lay, their intent and interaction with their victims are so personal, so direct that the word “predator” much more aptly fits this crowd. Heck, even those e-mail spammers trying to pump-and-dump stocks fit the bill better.
How many Kiyosaki books did it take you before you realize he was basically spinning the same advice over and over again to sell more books? How many of his peers promise a system that will not require you to learn anything for yourself, but just by following their system that you will be able to get rich like the idiot living down the street from you? The intent is squarely to profit through others’ ignorance. That is no different that what Ken Lay did, right? There’s very little education and a lot of motivation, because more motivation will lead to more sales. What is different is the scale that Ken accomplished. But Ken never achieved the personal connection that these gurus did.
A Technique That Stands The Test Of Time
It’s a classic maneuver. By pointing out who the “obvious” bad guys are … one is able to distract from any further scrutiny and even enjoy the status of being a “good guy”. It’s happened throughout religion’s history, it’s happened with the current U.S. administration and Iraq war, and it will keep happening as long as this instantly gratified society refuse to think for themselves. I’ll be fair and compliment Kiyosaki for his last paragraph:
Your mind is still your most important asset, so be careful who you take your advice from and what you believe is true. Remember that all financial markets are filled with good but not necessarily innocent people looking after their own self-interests before they look after yours.
Too bad, Kiyosaki didn’t explicitly ask readers to take the same skeptical attitude towards his peers. Why bite the hand that feeds you? The paragraph though good, is also redundant. You, the reader, are also looking after your own self-interests by participating in the financial markets. That goes without saying! But Kiyosaki’s masterful misdirection of a common sense fact helps position him up the pedestal. The article besides giving examples is utterly worthless in telling readers how to stay away from financial predators, leaving the door open for this morbid fact - today’s Kiyosaki may become tomorrow’s Ken Lay.
I remember Kiyosaki writing once that “when you start pointing fingers are others, one finger points out while 3 fingers point back at you”. Funny that he’s pointing fingers at others now. Obviously, I’m also doing it to Kiyosaki. Enjoy the irony!
