In our current economic climate, the disparities between the members of the economically dominant group and those who are economically and socially limited, is quite striking. My friends who are engaged in work in the non-profit sector have explained that as the economy rises and falls, so do the numbers of those enrolled in city’s support organizations across Alberta. This makes sense. When there are a limited number of jobs and as companies make cuts, those already marginalized will have a more difficult time finding employment, and as a result, require the services of non-profit organizations more immediately.
It is easy to focus on our own struggles during such economically challenging periods. What is something that we can do to become more socially responsible citizens? We can begin by confronting dominant cultural narratives. Simply doing volunteer work, but at the same time buying into stereotypes or dominant cultural assumptions, is not a productive endeavor. Yet, volunteering for a day at a literacy centre or at a centre for immigrants (or speak with someone who has) and paying attention to the non-dominant narratives which arise can begin to challenge our pre-existing notions. For instance, the cultural assumption that most individual’s (especially adults) are literate is a standard perception. Imagine how this standard perception affects individuals who are unable to read? Imagine, for a moment, a trip you have taken to a country where you did not speak the language? Spain? France? Russia? India? What if this language barrier present in your travel experience, was actually part of your everyday life? What if we were to challenge dominant cultural narratives, even if we are members of the dominant groups, in order to give voice to those marginalized by grand cultural assumptions? Could this create more socially aware and responsible individuals?
How can we extend this concept of challenging dominant ideas to mortgages (because, after all, that is probably what brought you to this blog in the first place!). In The Mortgaged Millionaire, I detail a historical example of one man who challenged a grand cultural assumption, and who faced punishment for this opposition. Yet, his confrontation with the supposed ‘truth’ has changed the entire perception of the world, and radically revised scientific theories of the universe thereafter. Who was this man? Galileo Galilei. How does this historical example offer insight into building wealth?
Galileo challenged what was culturally entrenched as The Truth of the organization of the universe. There are such ‘truths’ prevalent in financial and mortgage discourse as well. This does not immediately mean that these truths, for instance, paying down your mortgage as soon as possible or saving every single penny, are accurate or even productive. The Mortgaged Millionaire challenges dominant financial ideas for you, providing extensive examples which counter what is generally assumed to be financial truth and demonstrating the places where you can gain an advantage. If building wealth to reach financial freedom is our goal, we cannot assume what dominant financial discourse provides us with will get us there (an early fault of my own as an economics student). If this were the case we would all already be wealthy.
Importantly, in reaching financial freedom—which can easily be achieved by applying the concepts of The Mortgaged Millionaire—we have the ability to be socially responsible citizens, using privileged positions to contribute to those organizations which assist individuals who are not in the same situation. In turn, we can also pass on these lessons, challenging those dominant financial ‘truths’ and teaching our children that stuffing money into a piggy bank and never touching will not do much for the security of our financial futures.
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