The 1 Phrase I Hope You Never Say

I’ll admit it, I used to be one of them. Whenever the opportunity came up, I would always be the first to jump in with a snide remark or cynical judgment. And that’s exactly why it stirs something fierce behind my sternum each time I hear the total ignorance behind this statement: 

“It’s because of all the greedy rich people.”

First, let’s get this part out of the way—I’m not saying people who have wealth never make immoral decisions or corporations never operate unethically. Of course that happens. It happens across the entire spectrum of income and business. (Have all of your tax returns been 100% honest?) The only difference is scale. Anytime you put imperfect people into the equation, imperfect things are going to happen. But don’t let imperfection make you miss this…

Isn’t it ironic that I’ve never once seen any resemblance of personal responsibility in the lives of those who continually blame “rich people” and/or “greedy/evil corporations” for just about everything going wrong in their own little world? You know as well as I do when people say things like, “It’s because of those greedy rich people,” what they’re really saying is:

• I don’t have any hope in my life (so you shouldn’t either).
• There’s an injustice happening over there, and someone (other than me, of course) should go do something about that.
• It’s not my fault that I’m in this situation (and it never is).
• No one should be allowed to make that much money (of course I would handle it so much better if it were me).
• My life sucks right now (so yours should too).

It’s like Dan Miller says:
“I don’t know of anything more crippling to the ability to see new opportunities than the lack of personal responsibility. Shifting personal responsibility has become a national pastime. Blaming, complaining, whining, and procrastination are the immediate results.”

Maybe you’re someone who falls into this category, and let’s be honest… you’ve probably never even met a millionaire—much less, enough millionaires to be able to accurately judge whether or not “rich people” are as evil as you want everyone to believe. (On top of the fact that money is amoral, in my personal experience, the wealthiest people I know are some of the most generous, selfless and humble souls on the planet.)

Maybe I’m 100% wrong on all of this. But regardless of what you believe about “the rich” and “corporate giants”, remind yourself that God gave them their position and He determines their fate. Help make the world a better place… quit slandering people you don’t even know, stop spreading poisonous gossip, and investigate the character trait of personal responsibility.