Reading You Will Own Nothing by Carol Roth, certainly is a journey. It is a scary journey, but one which could have a happy ending. You will decide how your ending turns out.
Where does “You will own nothing” come from?
‘You will own nothing’ was uttered by Klaus Schwab the president of the World Economic Forum. He actually said, “You will own nothing and you will be happy”. What he meant by that is that if the WEF have their way we will all live in a rental society, where only the ‘elites’ will own property.
Here Roth argues, correctly, that property ownership underpins the freedoms we enjoy in our lives. The most fundamental of freedoms is your freedom of where to live. If you own your own home, you decide where you want to live. Ownership of your own vehicle means you are free to travel where you want and when you want.
World Economic Forum (WEF)
This organisation sounds like it is an official pan-government body but is a networking club for the ultra-wealthy, powerful and influential. They meet once a year at Davos in Switzerland (appropriately) to mingle, hobnob and share ideas on how to improve the world (and their bottom lines). Nothing wrong with that, on the face of it. The question is, are the characters who frequent this gathering there for natural self-interest? By that I mean are they doing what most business owners do, when they network with like-minded people? Or, as Roth explains, are some of these individuals there for more nefarious reasons i.e. world domination and the enslavement of humanity? The author does concede that some visitors attend this event out of pure FOMO (Fear Of Mission Out). ‘So and so from such and such organisation is a member, I must see what this is about.’
Social Credit
The author lays out how is this nightmare is being brought about? The first method is social credit. This is where governments will try to shape the behaviour of their citizens with a kind of score. The more you behave the way they want you to, the higher your score. This would be a sensible thing, if you could trust the people who are designing these systems.
If the elites want to silence dissent, then what better way than to mark down the score of people who speak out against the government. It is already underway in China. But how will this work in principle? Well, what’s one of the biggest things that motivates peoples’ behaviour? Money.
Digital currency
The author highlights the trend towards a totally digital financial system, which has accelerated since the pandemic. If we get to a stage where all finance is digital, i.e., there is no cash, then it is just a matter of pressing a button, to be able to prevent us accessing our money. This has already happened with the Truck Drivers in Canada. Also, notably and recently, Nigel Farage had his bank accounts frozen because his bank didn’t like his political views. He successfully fought against this, but you can see how this might play out.
ESG
ESG or Environmental, Social, and Governance is the version of social credit, for corporations. Ostensibly it is a way for investors to be able to decide whether they want to invest in a company who is ethical, in their mind. Again, on the face of it, it would seem a good thing that you want to be able to invest in companies who align with your values. But Roth, shows us how this can be manipulated. If a company doesn’t tow the line of the elites, then they can lose their ESG status. This means that they could be taken off the large Indexes, meaning less investment. The system is also a large time and financial burden on companies as they will have to invest time and resources to make sure they comply. This is to the detriment to their shareholders.
Taxes and Debt
There is a debt crisis both at governmental and at the personal level that is unsustainable. Governments can only raise finance in one of two ways. By borrowing or raising taxes. The borrowed money needs to be paid back and again this can be done with taxation. The other way of reducing the debt burden is through inflation. Inflation erodes the debt relative to the value of your money. This also means that the cash in your bank account is worth less year on year. By stealth your money is being stolen from under your noses. You will own nothing and be happy.
Personal debt is also unsustainably rising. Credit cards, mortgages and loans are the usual culprits, but student loans are becoming more and more pernicious. Young people who rightly want to educate themselves are saddled with debt that they may never pay off. There is also no correlation between the amount of debt borrowed and the payback when the student enters their career. The savvy student should assess whether the likely salary they will receive would be worth the debt that they take on. Not all degrees will offer the same payback.
Upcoming wealth heist
As we come to the close of the book, if we are not already depressed, then the chapter on the upcoming wealth heist may tip us into doom. There is a natural flow of wealth from one generation to the next, as the older generation passes. For instance, the so-called Baby Boomer generation are now entering into retirement and naturally their wealth will eventually pass to Generation X and so on. The Governments and financial elites want a piece of this pie. Inheritance tax already exists, where any wealth over a certain allowance is subject to taxation. That is bad enough in my opinion, but this could be altered so that the beneficiary will have to pay tax on the capital gain.
For instance, at the time of writing in the UK, you will have to pay inheritance tax on estates worth more than £325,000 and you are only liable to pay 40% on the amount above £325k. So, if estate you inherit is worth £425,000 you will pay 40% of the £100k difference i.e., £40k.
However, if these bad actors get their way you will pay IT on the capital gain. Let’s say your parents bought their house in the 1970’s for £10k and its now worth £325k. Under the current system you will pay no IT. Under a new system you could pay 40% of the capital gain i.e., £126,000 (40% of £325k – £10k).
The solution is at the end.
One criticism I have of the book, is it is overly pessimistic. I feel it could be made more optimistic by spreading the solutions throughout the book. However, the author saves these up for the end. I do recommend the book to learn how possible trends might play out, but I would urge you to keep in mind that there is always a solution.
My takeaway actions
The solutions to protect yourself from these trends are suggested and these are the takeaways that I will be continuing to implement or start. The author also suggests other remedies.
- Be free and clear of all unproductive debt. No credit card debt and don’t use debt to buy liabilities. A home mortgage is fine if it is affordable. In fact, owning your own home is a must. You can read more about this in my blog post how to reduce debts. Here I give you a step by step process to reduce and eliminate debilitating debt.
- Reduce expenses on liabilities. A liability can be described as something that depreciates in value or costs you money. The flip side of this would be to spend money on assets i.e., those things that do appreciate in value or will pay you an income.
- Have a well-diversified portfolio of investments including tangible items. The author quite rightly doesn’t offer financial advice here, but a broad portfolio will shelter you from all market cycles.
- Invest in gold. Following on from point 2 & 3, gold is seen as a hedge against inflation and financial turbulence. It is also something tangible that cannot be taken away with a push of a button. It can be stolen though!
- Own your own business or equities in other businesses. Again, you should shelter yourself from possible downsizing in your job.
Conclusion
All in all, I would recommend this book if you are new to this subject matter, as there is nothing written about, that is not already in the public domain.