Rich Dad, Poor Dad

who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past.
To the statement of "It's too much of a hassle," I ask, "So you would ;
rather work all your life giving 50 percent of what you earn to the government'"
To the other statement-"I only do what I am interested in"-I say, "I'm not
interested in going to the gym, but I go because I want to feel better and live
longer."
Unfortunately, there is some truth to the old statement "You can't teach
an old dog new tricks." Unless a person is used to changing, it's hard to change.
But for those of you who might be on the fence when it comes to the idea
of working to learn something new, I offer this word of encouragement: Life is
much like going to the gym. The most painful part is deciding to go. Once you
get past that, it's easy. There have been many days I have dreaded going to the
gym, but once I am there and in motion, it is a pleasure. After the workout is
over, I am always glad I talked myself into going.
If you are unwilling to work to learn something new and insist on, instead,
becoming highly specialized within your field, make sure the company you work
for is unionized. Labor unions are designed to protect specialists.
My educated dad, after falling from grace with the governor, became the
head of the teachers union in Hawaii. He told me that it was the hardest job he
ever held. My rich dad, on the other hand, spent his life doing his best to keep
his companies from becoming unionized. He was successful. Although the unions
came close, rich dad was always able to fight them off.
Personally, I take no sides because I can see the need for and the
benefits of both sides. If you do as school recommends, become highly
specialized, then seek union protection. For example, had I continued on with my
flying career, I would have sought a company that had a strong pilots union. Why?
Because my life would be dedicated to learn a skill that was valuable in only
one industry. If I were pushed out of that industry, my life's skills would not
be as valuable to another industry. A displaced senior pilot-with 100,000 hours
of heavy airline transport time, earning $150,000 a year-would have a hard time
finding an equivalent high-paying job in school teaching. The skills do not
necessarily transfer from industry to industry, because the skills the pilots
are paid for in the airline industry are not as important in, say, the school
system.
The same is true even for doctors today. With all the changes in medicine,
many medical specialists are needing to conform to medical organizations such as
HMO's. Schoolteachers definitely need to be union members. Today in America, the
teachers union is the largest and the richest labor union of all. The NEA,
National Education Association, has tremendous political clout. Teachers need