Please keep in mind that the world as we see it today is not designed for the regular guy to get ahead. It's designed to keep them down and well controlled. In the old days there was the feudal system and nobility. They had to replace it with something, and that's what you see today.
Another way to measure success is to spend less than you make. Anyone can do that no matter how little they make. It won't be easy though. I often say I grew up "dirt poor," but I didn't actually have dirt floors as some people do. My father didn't grow up wealthy though, but he lived in a time when a savings account would give him a 9% or more interest annually.
In other words, it was very easy for him. We still went on vacations. He had numerous vehicles but lived in a crappy trailer. Over 31 years of saving though and living well below his means, he amassed a fortune. It's just not possible to do that today however. No one can get those interest rates by simply saving. They are forced to speculate.
We all know what happens to most speculators too. Most of them lose. It's gambling basically, and only a few walk away from the table rich. The system, again, is rigged against the average person. What's the solution? I believe it is to work together and network as friends, and then support each other in ways that maximize the cash flow across the entire network. One person creates liberty related content better than me, so I support them financially doing it.
In the old days there were guilds, and then there were "Friendly Societies." I believe we need to recreate those voluntary associations to better help each other pursue their passions and have the resources to do what they are most talented at.
Yep. A lot of that stuff about "work hard and get ahead," even for folks with "normal jobs" has just become utter bullshit in the face of horrifically unsound economics and a rigged game financial system/state-manipulated market.
I like your idea about guilds, man. Something I am going to have to play with more in my mind.
I blame government schools a lot for this because children are not taught even basic economics. Then they grow up to be in debt, spend way more than they make, etc. It's a trap that most people blindly walk into. Once in it too, they cannot easily get out. I follow Minority Mindset on YT, and he did a video recently. In it he was explaining that 70% of Americans have something insane like 100K+ debt on average between cars, student loans, and credit cards. That's CRAZY. Those people are basically slaves to their debt and will die as such.