{"id":102971,"date":"2018-07-10T21:46:23","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T04:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/10\/how-to-create-wealth\/"},"modified":"2018-07-10T22:09:46","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T05:09:46","slug":"how-to-create-wealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/10\/how-to-create-wealth\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create Wealth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

A philosophical and economical question I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m having with myself, in regards to entrepreneurship<\/a>, business building, and benefitting yourself\/society; how do we create wealth? What is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wealth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Based on my studies, I think all wealth goes back to humans\u00e2\u20ac\u201d human labor, human social capital, or wealth.<\/p>\n

For example, the only reason the pharaoh of Egypt was so powerful is because he could rule thousands of people to do his own bidding (like making his epic pyramids).<\/p>\n

I was reading some pretty old school economic theory by Fernandinho Galliani (whom Nietzsche loved dearly), and came across an interesting anecdote \u00e2\u20ac\u201d there used to be a tribe that referred to their monetary system as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153people currency\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. For example, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say their monetary system was called the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153humano\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich was equivalent to a 16 year old male, capable of doing labor.<\/p>\n

For example, buying an oxen might have cost 5 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153humanos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Just substitute the concept of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dollar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchumano\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to understand this analogy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For example, modern states, governments, and institutions rely on people power. To me, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still nothing more valuable, beautiful, or precious than a human life.<\/p>\n

And also from an economic standpoint; a human will always be more effective at \u00e2\u20ac\u0153work\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when compared to a robot (and unfortunately, in many places in the world, much cheaper to employ). For example when I was living in Hanoi in 2016, the owner of the apartment employed a full time girl named Trang, who was around 20 years old, and worked 6-7 days a week cleaning the rooms, doing laundry, general housework, etc. She also slept in the reception area couch at night (it looked like \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcindentured servitude\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to me). She was paid only $250 USD a month.<\/p>\n

This blew my mind. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this young, capable girl, who has an iPhone (an older iPhone 4 model), only earning $250 USD a month \u00e2\u20ac\u201d for pretty much working 60-90 hour weeks. And apparently this is a pretty good wage for a Vietnamese laborer. Even if you go to college, get an economics degree, and get a full-time job at a bank after you graduate in Vietnam, around $500 USD a month is a good salary. Note also that in Vietnam (especially in Hanoi), I saw at least 1-2 Rolls Royce\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s or Bentlys on a daily basis, and almost everyone seems to have the newest iPhone (which costs around $1500 USD for the newest iPhone X).<\/p>\n

Anyways, the point I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m trying to make here is this:<\/p>\n

\n Much wealth is created by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exploiting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\/leveraging human labor.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Now, historically I believe this is how people got wealthy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d conquer another tribe, city, village, etc, then take the men, women, and children, and turn them into slaves (where better yet, you can make them work for free).<\/p>\n

Even today, you see lots of companies benefit from the labor of young and ambitious people \u00e2\u20ac\u201d often by offering unpaid internships, or by squeezing every hour of productivity from them (making them work 10-12 hour days, 6-7 days a week).<\/p>\n

\n

Now, I think there are certainly ways to create new sources of wealth without exploiting the labor of others. Instead, you can create new wealth by exploiting your own<\/em> labor.<\/p>\n

For example, my labor of love is blogging, writing, teaching, distilling information, etc. It’s also my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Archimedes lever\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (the one thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really good at, which helps me best leverage my strengths, to make the maximum impact in the world).<\/p>\n

I pretty much work all day \u00e2\u20ac\u201d from when I wake up at 7-9am, until I sleep at 10-12pm, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grind\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 7 days a week. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a labor of love. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153work-life balance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; instead, I have \u00e2\u20ac\u0153work-life integration\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. To me, my play is my work, and my work is my play.<\/strong> I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even like the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153work\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, perhaps the word, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153plork\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (play\/work) would be a better term.<\/p>\n

Anyways, the way I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been able to create wealth is simple:<\/p>\n

\n Create and share information which empowers others.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To distill what I do, I try to create and share information which I find both philosophical and<\/em> practical. Too much philosophical ideas aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t applicable to real life, and too much practical information out there doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough intellectual depth and elegance.<\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the exciting thing with the internet: you can create new wealth purely from your own mind, with the labor of your fingers, and your own ingenuity and inner-genius.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

To me, entrepreneurship ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about making a billion dollars, nor is it about making a company with thousands of people.<\/p>\n

To me, entrepreneurship is a practical philosophy of living life. To me, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about risk taking, about innovating (for the sake of it), empowering others, and empowering yourself.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even think you need to be fully self-employed to call yourself an entrepreneur. To me, if you want to take risks to change yourself and the world for the better, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

And as I have said in the past, our first goal is very simple: start a business that will just cover your basic monthly expenses and rent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because the goal is for you to achieve maximum freedom and flexibility in your life, not to maximize the zeros and commas in your bank account.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather be a pauper with maximum free time, than a rich slave.<\/p>\n

Nassim Taleb<\/a> has a good quote,<\/p>\n

\n How to know if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re self-owned or not: Can you take a nap when you want to?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

To create new sources of wealth, provide a service, or sell products that help other humans. This can be educational, it can be labor-contract based (the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccamera technician\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 who shoots weddings and commercial work), or the artisan who makes straps, bags, and other goods for photographers or visual artists.<\/p>\n

Consider, the power you have as a photographer in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brave new digital economy and world. You got the Internet, your own wits, and a camera. What else do you need?<\/p>\n

Make your own luck, opportunities, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel shame in selling yourself. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sell yourself<\/a>, who will?<\/p>\n

BE BRAZEN,
\nERIC<\/p>\n

Invest in yourself: Photography Entrepreneurship 101 ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friend, A philosophical and economical question I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m having with myself, in regards to entrepreneurship, business building, and benefitting yourself\/society; how do we create wealth? What is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wealth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/img_5913.jpg?fit=1600%2C1059&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102971"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103048,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102971\/revisions\/103048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}