Money & Wealth: Attitudes, Cultural Differences & Ethics

Are money and wealth the same thing? No, not at all. Money is the medium of exchange, wealth is the accumulation of ‘well being’, funded by money.

You can be wealthy but not have a lot of money. You can be rich in the form of money, but have little wealth. Money is the mechanism, wealth is the lifestyle; the result of the money.

Wealth can be about how much you have, yes, but it can also be about how much you can afford to give away. On stage 4 of Financial Freedom; ‘Financial Opulence’ is defined as being able to afford ‘what you want, when you want, where you want, with who you want’.

Let’s be honest, if we all had the choice, and we had no concern for the judgement of others, we would choose to be rich, so we could be wealthy.

Why would we choose anything else?

Society, especially in Britain where I was born, we seem to believe it to be uncouth to be rich. It is almost deemed socially unacceptable; you will endure great resentment and ridicule if you are rich. Tall poppy syndrome. Scythe down those who grow taller than the rest.

Thankfully, most of the lessons and mentoring I got around money was from my American friends and entrepreneurs. I find American culture to be more open minded, more bold, and being rich and entrepreneurial is deemed aspirational and positive. I see no reason why this should not be the case here in the UK, and I am on a mission to change this culture.

I asked my friend Matt Januszek, who is a fellow Entrepreneur, and perhaps like me, more American than British in his mindset. So much so, he actually moved to America, and so has first hand experience of the cultural differences.

He gave me a thorough response, which I think is a great lesson to add here. Of course, these are generalisations, and you can get British people who live the American dream, and American people who are more like Brits with their scepticism and criticism.

However, generally, success in America is often associated and acknowledged with the effort required to get there, as opposed to it being lucky or handed down. First and second-generation immigrants have a strong work ethic, which is instilled in them by their families. Success is seen as the ability to not just arrive in America but to thrive and make a comfortable life.

Education and sports in America is something parents invest heavily in. Private coaching, mentoring, and education for their children to excel academically and athletically. This drive for success in sports and academics is more intense than in the UK, where such efforts are less common and parents tend not to make investments outside of school and classes.

There’s a contrast in the attitudes towards networking and connections in Britain and America. In Britain, there is a tendency to keep connections and opportunities hidden and private to oneself. In America, the culture encourages sharing connections and networking, believing that it benefits everyone in the long run. Successful individuals actively help others climb the ladder, promoting an attitude of abundance, knowing it will come back to them.

In Britain, much more so than America, there is a cultural phenomenon known as ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ stemming from historical class divisions. This syndrome can lead to a tendency to criticise or pull down the success of others. In contrast, American culture lauds and celebrates success, leading to a more positive and encouraging environment to thrive.

America's larger population provides more opportunities and a more substantial economy compared to the UK. Americans have a strong understanding of the circulation of wealth and often support others in their success, for example they tip big and tend to give back and pay it forward more.

Americans culturally tend to be more open to taking calculated risks. The presence of mentors and a roadmap for success in the U.S. makes risk-taking less daunting and more supported.

The American Dream narrative encourages individuals to embrace failure as a part of their journey to success. Failing and then bouncing back from it is viewed positively, and individuals are cheered on. In fact it is almost looked down upon if you haven’t endured the struggle and failure. In contrast, The UK may have a more negative attitude toward failure, with a potential for people to discourage those who have failed.

In America, displaying success and wealth is often celebrated and encouraged. There is an expectation that successful individuals should share their accomplishments. In the UK, showcasing success and wealth may be met with more scepticism or criticism, or that it is arrogant and flaunting.

In this regard, I’m hoping to have an honorary adoption to become an American citizen, and I relate much more to the American culture. With riches comes great responsibility, and just because you are rich doesn’t mean you are automatically a dick. I have been broke and I am now rich, and I can categorically tell you being rich AND wealthy is far better. It’s not even close. You also have the choice to be wise, giving and productive with your wealth, doing meaningful things and being useful to humanity with it. This is much harder if you are broke.

Being rich, especially wealthy, does not make you automatically greedy and hungry for monopoly power. This is a choice you can make. Many people believe that money changes you. Well think about this: perhaps it can change you for the better? In reality money doesn’t change you, it just makes you more of who you already are.

Being rich and wealthy enables you to perfectly balance:

Full self expression of your true authentic self
Maximum global value & utility to as many people as possible

How can you fully express the very best version of yourself if you have no resources in the form of money? And what most valuable resource does money afford you? That you probably value more than money itself? That’s right. Time.

The selfish element of wealth is the personal money you make. Nothing wrong with that, because meeting selfish needs enables a selfless balance; you are able to offer global maximum value to humanity if you have the greatest tool at your disposal: money. Money is the greatest lever currently made by man, because it is the medium in which we quantify, value and produce everything.

It is important to use your money wisely otherwise it will use you. Money is a great servant but a terrible master. You must transcend all judgement of it, from both yourself and others, it is neither good nor bad, see it as a useful tool with the dual use paradox (like AI, it can be used equally for good and for evil), so make the right choice.

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If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.