Selling wealth

One of my favorite genres of nonfiction writing is what I call, “getting rich by telling other people how to get rich (by telling even more people how to get rich).” It’s wonderfully self-referential. And it’s practically impossible to debunk because the person selling the dream often did get rich. In fact, they probably got rich by listening to someone else tell them how to get rich.

All it takes at each stage is for one person out of ten-thousand to get rich while the other 9,999 people pay back into the system.

Rhetorically, it works by propagating what are called “thought-terminating cliches.” These are statements – often based on a kernel of truth – that have been weaponized to shut down critical thought. “Fake it till you make it,” is a great example. That can work. It does help to project an identity you want to inhabit. But it also justifies filming yourself next to a rented Lambo to project wealth while you sell access to your course on how to make money while you sleep. It doesn’t read as manipulation because, hey, you gotta fake it till you make it.

Consider the advice to manifest wealth with your own beliefs. Again, that kind of self-created self-confidence is useful for getting shit done, but for the infinite grift, it also works as an escape clause. The 9,999 people who failed to get results just didn’t want success enough. And if they criticize the system, they are infecting the true believers with doubt and must be exiled from the community.

Often, it’s not even a conscious scam. The pitch certainly can be built on intentional deception, but mostly I think it just keeps running as an iterative process, passing from one success guru to another as they siphon money from the many, many people sinking time and cash into a playbook that could have worked for them if circumstances had been different, but just didn’t.

All it takes is for one of those suckers to actually hit the lottery and the system can keep running.