Notes from Robert Kiyosaki

       Has Anything Changed?

      Unfortunately, not much has changed since Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich was first published in 2009. The nation’s bankers and political leaders continue on the same path with the same policies that led up to the crash of 2007.

      Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

      His definition needs to be updated to:

      “Why not keep doing the same things as long as no one cares?”

      Who cares if the ultra-rich put the global economic system on the verge of collapse? Who cares that entire countries, states, and cities are in bankruptcy or on the verge of bankruptcy? Who cares that millions of people have lost their jobs? Who cares that millions of homeowners have lost their homes? Who cares that the rich get richer when they’re lucky, and that the taxpayers pay the bills when the rich are unlucky?

      Simply said, the Conspiracy of the Rich has made the rich richer. Rather than put the bankers in jail, they’ve paid billions of dollars in bonuses. Rather than put corrupt politicians on trial, they were offered “day jobs” by the very same corrupt corporations they were “look-outs” for while the “bank robberies” were taking place… and when they should have been watchdogs and advocates for their constituencies and the American people. So far, not one high-level banker or politician has been charged, much less brought to trial.

      In other words, not much has changed since Conspiracy of the Rich was first published in 2009.

      What has happened to the soul of our country? Is it that we just don’t care—or do we, still, have no idea what’s going on? Do we actually believe a new President will change things for the better? Or have we, too, lost our souls, wanting only to grab as much money as we can before the next crash?

      I believe Dr. Buckminster Fuller said it best, in 1983:

       “The dark ages still reign over all humanity and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear.

       “The dark ages has no steel bars, chains, or locks. Instead it is locked by misorientation and built of misinformation. Caught up in a plethora of unconditioned reflexes and driven by the human ego, both warden and prisoner attempt meagerly to compete with God. All are intractably skeptical of what they do not understand.”

      No, not much has changed since 2009. And as you read this book, that could be a good thing. You will find out that what has been going on throughout history is still going on today.

       Why I Wrote This Book for You in 2009

      In 1971, President Richard Nixon, without the approval of Congress, took the U.S. dollar off the gold standard and changed the rules of money—not just for the United States, but also for the world. This change was one in a series of changes leading to our current financial crisis that began in 2007. In effect, this change allowed the United States to print almost unlimited amounts of money and create as much debt as it wanted.

      Is our current economic crisis just an accident, a one-off event? Some say yes. I say no.

      Can those in power solve our current economic crisis? Many hope so, but again I say no. How can the crisis be solved when the very people and organizations that created the crisis—and profit from it—are still in charge? The problem is that the crisis is not diminishing, as some would hope. It’s getting bigger. In the 1980s, government bailouts were in the millions. By the 1990s they were in the billions. And today, they are in the trillions.

      One definition of crisis I like to use is “change that is screaming to occur.” I personally do not think our leaders will change. That means you and I must change instead.

      While this book is about a conspiracy, it is not meant to be a witch hunt, to place blame, or to call for resignations. As we all know, the world is filled with conspiracies, some benign, some more sinister. Every time a sports team goes into the locker room at halftime, that act is technically a conspiracy against the opposing team. Wherever there is self-interest, there is a conspiracy.

      The reason this book is titled Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich is because it is about how the rich control the world economy via the banks, governments, and financial markets. As you may know, this has been going on for centuries and will continue to go on as long as humans walk the earth.

      This book is divided into two parts. Part One of this book is about the history of the conspiracy and how the ultra-rich took control of the world’s financial and political systems via the money supply. Much of modern financial history revolves around the relationship between the Federal Reserve (which is not federal, has no reserves, and is not really a bank) and the U.S. Treasury. Some of the subjects covered in Part One are why big banks can never go broke, why we do not have financial education in our school system, why saving money is foolish, how money evolved over time, and why today our money is no longer money but, rather, currency. Part One will also explain why Congress changed the rules for employees in 1974 and influenced workers to invest in the stock market via their retirement plans in vehicles such as the 401(k) plan—in spite of the fact that workers had little-to-no financial education—as a way to get to our money via our retirement plans. That is one reason why I personally do not have a retirement plan. I prefer to give my money to me rather than the super-rich who run this government-sponsored conspiracy.

      Simply said, Part One is about history, because by understanding history we can better prepare for and see a brighter future.

      Part Two of this book is about what you and I can do with our money—about beating the conspirators at their own game. You will learn why the rich are getting richer and why so many Americans are being asked to live below our means. Simply put, the rich are getting richer because they live by a different set of rules. The old rules—work hard, save money, buy a house, get out of debt, and invest for the long term in a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds—are rules that keep people struggling financially. These old rules of money have led millions of people into financial trouble, causing them to lose tremendous wealth in their homes and retirement savings.

      Ultimately, this book is about the four things that keep people poor:

       • Taxes

       • Debt

       • Inflation