Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Title of a book by Robert Toru Kiyosaki. Personality cult/scam. (Perhaps by coincidence it was published in paperback on 1 April 2000.) Some people have claimed the books contains some good ideas from the point of view of helping people whom have not had a good "economic" upbringing. This is highly arguable, and may be claimed by people who themselves don't know a lot about money. The book actually contains many bad ideas. In the words of John T Reed (publisher of Real Estate Investor's Monthly newsletter): "Rich Dad, Poor Dad contains much wrong advice, much bad advice, some dangerous advice, and virtually no good advice." The serious stuff starts with "Rich Dad" never actually having existed. To explain this lack of a Rich Dad, Robert T Kiyosaki is quoted as saying "Is Harry Potter real? Why don’t you let Rich Dad be a myth, like Harry Potter?" New Zealanders should note that not all the same tax laws apply in New Zealand as in the US. If Christians read the book they should exercise caution for the following reasons.

• Breaks the 9th Commandment "Do not lie." Examples:
  • He never even hints in the book that Rich Dad never existed. (The sequel Rich Kid Poor Kid now has the disclaimer: Although based on a true story, certain events in this book have been fictionalized for educational content and impact.)
  • I always make offers with escape clauses. In real estate, I make an offer with the words "subject to the approval of business partner." Most people do not know the partner is my cat.
  • Claims to have been a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. His military records show no flight school or pilot's wings.
• Breaks the 10th Commandment "Do not covet." (Robert Kiyosaki's problems seem to have started because of this.)
• Denigrates educated people, including his own father, the "Poor Dad" of the title, thus breaking the 5th Commandment – "Honour your father and mother."
• Very unbiblical in its basic premise. The Bible tells us to be content with what we have. (Of course it also tells us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.) "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV).
• Flawed premises such as:
  • Education is bad. (Truth: Most rich people ARE well educated.)
  • Education is unnecessary and undesirable to make money. (Truth: Bill Gates didn't drop out of Harvard because education isn't important. He dropped out because he wouldn't have enough time to make money and grow his business if he stayed. The person in the intro to the book making these false claims about education was lolling on the couch while saying it, NOT making money. It appeared he had no physical abilities that he could capitalise on with lots of hard work and training – or the desire to do so – like the two sports stars he used as examples. Therefore he had no basis to make the claims about education.)
  • Dissatisfaction with one's life means the lifestyle (or whatever) is wrong. (Truth: It may mean one's materialistic values are wrong, not what one currently has.)
  • Having plenty of money means success. (Truth: In whose sight? God's? No. Money is irrelevant to being successful in God's sight, but may make it more difficult.)
  • Being a doctor or a teacher is not successful because all they do is make money and pay taxes. (Truth: No one would be a doctor or a teacher if this selfish view of success was embraced by all. Thankfully it isn't – according to Robert Kiyosaki's own father: "Schoolteachers really don't think about being rich. We just like to teach." Without people paying taxes only rich people would be able to afford even a basic education and healthcare. Furthermore, God does not rate success on wealth.)
• Offers much bad advice, and apparently encourages insider trading: The reason you want to have rich friends who are close to the inside is because that is where the money is made. It's made on information. ... the sooner you know, the better your chances are for profits with minimal risk. That is what friends are for. (Page 154.)
• Simplistic arguments, such as saying the national debt is largely caused by politicians who have little finance training. This sort of argument also panders to the dissatisfactions of the reader.
• Uses straw man arguments:
  • Misquotes the biblical "the love of money..."* and contrasts it to his other "dad"'s advice.
  • Compares "I can't afford it" to "How can I afford it?" (which may be a good attitude) without considering "Do I need it?" or more seriously "Is this (in) God's will (for me right now)?"

* FWIW the Bible actually says "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Tim 6:10a.) Note that it doesn't say that having money is evil – just risky. But note the verse immediately before that: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Tim 6:9.)

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Printed on 18 December 2019 at www.cults.co.nz.
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