10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Thought Catalog
About
Twitter
Latest Thought

35 Important Things Only Chicagoans Will Understand

31. Thin crust pizza is for quitters.

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars

Jan. 7, 2013
By David Cain

I'm David and my blog, Raptitude, is a street-level look at the human experience -- what makes
human beings do what ...
Read more

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

1/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Shutterstock
Before I get into it, I must say that I dont recommend that you do this. Im sharing this strategy for
information purposes only, so that you can understand the playing field youre working with, and can make
better personal choices for how you make and manage your money.
I do encourage you to become a millionaire, if thats something that interests you. If its billions youre
after, Im a bit suspicious but Ill give you the benefit of the doubt. Aspiring to trillions, though, is the
domain of the wicked alone and we wont be able to be friends any more.
The big money isnt in creating products, its in creating customers. A single, lifelong customer who lives
his life spending the way you want him to is worth six or seven figures. A single one. Creating millions of
these is the only way to make trillions.
You can make millions by selling a great product to people who need it, but you make billions and trillions
by conditioning an entire nation of people to react to every inconvenience, every whim, and every passing
desire or fear by buying something.
It does take some capital to get it going. You wont be able to manage it with 5-dollar-an-hour overseas
virtual assistants, but like I said Id prefer if you didnt strive to be a trillionaire, because its not so good for
the rest of us.
What it takes amounts to an engineered cultural shift. A small-time entrepreneur could never manage it, but
if youve got some old money kicking around (and someone always does) then youre in a position to
influence or purchase broadcasters, politicians and trendsetting media figures, and you can sculpt a new
normal pretty quickly.
After the second world war, a few privileged Americans developed a brilliant formula for building an
unimaginably huge economy:
[Our economy] demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

2/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego
satisfactions, in consumption. The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is
now to be found in our consumptive patterns [...] We need things consumed, burned up, worn
out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink,
dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive
consumption.
~American retail analyst Victor Lebow (hat tip to reader Anna for this)
This is very-high-level marketing, and it has formed most of the developed world around you.
Using the television as their primary tool, very-high-level marketers have managed to create a nation of
people who typically:
work almost all the time
absorb several hours of advertising every night, in their own homes
are tired and unhealthy and vaguely dissatisfied with their lives
respond to boredom, dissatisfaction, or anxiety only by buying and consuming things
have disposable income but cant find a more fulfilling line of work without losing their health
insurance
create health problems for themselves, which can be treated with drugs they can ask their doctor
about
own far more items than they use, and believe they dont have enough
are easily distracted from the unhealthy state of their lives and their culture by breaking news and
celebrity gossip
perpetually convince themselves it is not the right time to make major lifestyle changes
happily buy stuff that breaks within a year, and which nobody knows how to fix
have learned, through the medias culture of blame-mongering, that the key to solving public and
private issues is to find the right people to hate
Not that its drastically different in the rest of the developed world. Trillionaires (or at least their employees)
are working around the clock to pipe these habits into living rooms everywhere. Huge economy, huge
population, global influence.
Healthy people who know how to deal with disappointment, who have given up on the idea of magic
bullets, who dont watch TV indiscriminately, who are fulfilled by things that dont cost money are poor
consumers, and so the very-high-level marketers have nurtured a culture which produces the exact opposite.
You are being encouraged, from virtually every angle, to become or remain unhealthy and unfulfilled,
because then you will buy more. Not to make you paranoid, but thats the primary purpose of the glowing
rectangle in your living room to encourage poor (but not quite failing) health, general complacency, and
an unconscious reflex for parting with money.
This is not a rallying cry to go burn down your local Wal-Mart. The anti-capitalism schtick is for high
school kids.
Im not even telling you to throw your TV out the window. But thats definitely a move with a very
high ROI, if the thought interests you.
I dont even recommend that you nurture hatred for The Man. In fact, its an understatement to say that that

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

3/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

would be barking up the wrong tree. Theres nothing out there no ideology, methodology, behavior,
person or idea that it is healthy to hate. The Man does what he does because he doesnt know any better
hes an addict himself, with poor life skills.
Your life skills can be made into superior ones, which will protect you from succumbing to destructive and
self-destructive urges, such as (among many others) the urge to create a culture of ill health, fear and
addiction just so you can enjoy exclusive sensations like wearing 10,000-dollar underwear, or trading
companies like theyre baseball cards.
It is a sad Man indeed who cannot achieve a comfortable life without running hundreds of millions of
people into the ground to make it easier to get at whats in their wallets. He cant really back out of it now
anyway hes pot-committed, as they say.
So dont hate The Man, it will only weaken and distract you from what you might accomplish if you dont
follow his cues. Hate has a terrifically poor ROI, at least as far as quality of life goes. If youve got some
rage you feel needs investing, take up a racquet sport. Direct your rage away from any people and
animals, and when your tantrum is over, turn your energy towards the cultivation of your life skills.
Im not referring to situationally-specific life skills like changing tires, folding button-up shirts, or opening
public washroom doors without touching the handle, though they are certainly useful.
Here Im talking about the real fundamentals of being an empowered, self-directed human being.
Creativity. Curiosity. Resilience to distraction. Patience with others.
And to make these all possible: self-reliance an unswerving willingness to take responsibility for your life,
regardless of who had a hand in making it the way it is.
Cultivate these qualities in yourself and others, and when this way of life becomes more normal than getting
ones lifestyle cues from discount-store flyers and CNN, the surefire trillionaire strategy wont work
anymore. For anyone.
Even from a seemingly unempowered starting point a budget apartment in some forgettable corner of a
society that has been designed to make you sick and impotent these traits will do more for you than any
Anti stance you can think of. Hating the system is a favorite American pastime. It feels good, is difficult
to stop once you start, and gets you precisely nowhere, not unlike eating Doritos.
This is not us against them, its us for us.
Though The Man is immature in many ways, he does have a lot of cash, and his strategies are going to be in
your face everywhere.
He designed your lifestyle, from the years you toil at a job that has nothing to do with your passions, to the
Ford advert you stare at while youre peeing in a urinal at Applebees, to your DVD player that lasted only
thirty days longer than its warranty, to the well-trafficked path between your microwave and your couch.
The trillionaire-making strategies you encounter are so insidious because of how normal theyve become.
Youll find them creeping into your life not only explicitly, in magazines and commercials, but implicitly, in
the way other people around you even people you love expect you to live.
You will have to be unusual. I hope you already are.
thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

4/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

This piece was originally published at RAPTITUDE.

Tagged Advertising, consumerism, Life, Marketing, Self Help, Self-Improvement, The Man, Theory

David Cain
Im David and my blog, Raptitude, is a street-level look at the human experience what makes human
beings do what
Latest Posts
This Will Never Happen Again, But It Happened
Were Quite Different, But We Still Sleep Together
Other People See Your Problems More Clearly Than You Do
View Comments
Add Yours
Text Size:
A|A|A

FromTheWeb

ControversialNewDietPill
HitsTheMarket...

byTaboola

30FairlyShockingPictures
ofCelebritiesWithout

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

ThinkDietPillsDon'tWork?
YouMayBeShocked.

5/14

10/13/13

AllConsumerHealthTips

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Makeup

AllDailyHealthTips

CelebrityToob

22PicturesofMileyCyrus'
OpenMouth
StereoTude

HowtoBuyMustHave
ProductsforNexttoNothing

HowToNeverHaveAn"Off
Day"Again

TheseSurprisingRedCarpet
BFFsWillMeltYourHeart

QuiBids

HealthFirst

Refinery29

3WaysToLose20lbs.
Quickly
HotTopix

MoreFromThoughtCatalog

TypesOfWomenIHate

19TelltaleSignsAGuyIs
ReallyIntoYou

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

byTaboola

10OfTheCrappiestThings
InsecureGuysLoveToDo

6/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

21PeopleOnHowLifeHas
ChangedSinceTheyWent
FromUglyToHot(Featuring
BeforeAndAfterPhotos)

33 comments

Leave a message...
Newest

Avatar

Share

Community
kenbarlo

4 months ago

Terrific article! Thank you for the time and effort put into this. It was a very good read and
very thought provoking.
Reply

Avatar

Share

AriadnasFantasy Embroidery

9 months ago

Please read this article .... it's awesome!

Reply

Avatar

Your name

Share

9 months ago

Did I just read a crimethinc article?

1

Avatar

Reply

Anonymous

Share

9 months ago

Did I just read a crimethinc article?

Reply

Avatar

aaron nicholas

Share

9 months ago

great.
Reply

Avatar

RobynJ

Share

9 months ago

My thoughts exactly. I see how this article is relevant to people in Australia who have lost
their retirement monies along with the GFC landslide in 2008 onwards, who invested in

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

7/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

managed funds and now blame day traders for their losses. The matrix has them. The
thought of "I can do my own investing" has never occurred to them. It's amazing what
individuals can achieve, even from the humblest of beginnings.
Reply

Avatar

Share

Terrence Andrew Davis

9 months ago

The world is perfectly just. God exists. Supposedly He has a plan. He controls things, but
it's weird because I've seemingly done stuff. God says...
have hoped in thy judgments.
119:44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not
be ashamed.
119:47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have
loved.
119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I
have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
1

Avatar

Jay

Reply

Share

9 months ago

Great article. I wish I could write as well as you. Maybe that's something I'll take up...starting
tomorrow of couse because the Cavs are playing the Hawks tonight in Quicken Loans
Arena. Fuck. Me.
Reply

Avatar

kudy

Share

9 months ago

Awesomely articulated, thank you!

1

Avatar

Reply

Sakari Lehtonen

Share
9 months ago

Thanks, This resonated within me. The more we give our energy to the Man, the more we are
living in the world he has created. The more we focus on empowering ourselves, the more
we can grow as human beings towards a different world.
I've found it best just to ignore all mass media, advertisements, TV and instead focus on
doing what inspires me. It is easy to _think_ that by opposing these forces will bring change.
But fighting back will only drain our energy, best is to focus on what we LOVE in life, not what
we hate. The more I focus on what I love, the more love comes towards me.

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

8/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Fear is the energy the Man wants to use to get us hooked as their slaves. Step away from
the Fear, ignore it completely, and we will be free :)
Thanks for sharing this post.
Reply

Avatar

Share

Ivan Milosavljevi

9 months ago

I enjoyed reading this. Although I live in, as some would probably say, third-world country,
many of content in this article is still relevant here. For me, 2 years without TV and 1 intensive
year in the gym brought enough change of lifestyle so I can recommend this to everyone, at
least to try, at least for a month.
3

Avatar

Reply

gbuisson

Share

9 months ago

My thoughts for years exactly!

Reply

Avatar

Ralph Martin

Share
9 months ago

Too long and overly pretentious. Your main foible is the pairing of a silly self-righteousness
and a middling, compromised position. Seriously, LoL
1

Avatar

Reply

Erik Johnson

Share

9 months ago

After the irony of the advertisements on the page, this article is great. I particularly enjoy the
ROI of hate. How true is it that we default to hating something, when in fact we should lead a
path of self-reliance. I like, no wait I LOVE that statement.
3

Avatar

Reply

VictorStan

Share

9 months ago

Yes, and while you're at it, please click on any of the advertisements rubbed in your face at
the top of the page, thank you.
7

Avatar

tani P.

Reply

Share

9 months ago

This I dig. Mostly due to the awesome points the author makes, but also for the restrained,
decidedly non-shrill tone.
6

Avatar

Reply

Albert Huron

Share

9 months ago

In going to buy a buffalo farm.

7

Reply

Share

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

9/14

10/13/13

Avatar

Reply

DebtDerp

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Share

9 months ago

Wonderful and thought provoking. I need to cancel my cable subscription.

13

Avatar

Reply

Adam

Share

9 months ago

It's so obvious, and yet barely perceivable. Love this article. Share it!
1

Avatar

Reply

Krystaleblin

Share

9 months ago

Excellent article
1

Avatar

Jay

Reply

Share

9 months ago

Hmmm only governments seem to handle trillions. They are virtuous right?
Reply
Hellius

Share
Jay 9 months ago

Oh, because he was insinuating "The Man" was a set of private individuals, he must
think the government is righteous, right? Get off it, for your own sake.
2

Avatar

earlgrey

Reply

Share

9 months ago

I smiled while reading the article and left with a thought that is provoked. Very smooth, and
indeed, true. Nice job David!
2

Avatar

Reply

Filipino Ako

Share

9 months ago

Wow. Thus must be the most insightful article I've read on TCL hope it gets published in a
bigger scale. Everyone in the capitalist world should read this. It makes you think about how
bad things have become without making you feel hateful. It just makes you feel like you want
to start creating a change in your life, and hopefully sparking a change in our society. Kudos
much!!
7

Avatar

Reply

Karen

Share

9 months ago

Thank you. I needed this.

1

Avatar

Lila

Reply

Share

9 months ago

Great read and a very insightful article, best wishes from Poland :)
thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

10/14

Avatar
How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog
Great read and a very insightful
article, best wishes from Poland :)

10/13/13

Reply

Avatar

Marie222

Share

9 months ago

Everyone in America should read this article. Thank you Mr. Cain!
1

Avatar

chris

Reply

Share

9 months ago

Thank you for this, it was a good wake up call. I'm changing today.
Reply

Avatar

Share

Felicia-May Stevenson

9 months ago

Great Article. I have been saying this about Apple for a while now. They keep releasing the
same product with incremental improvements, and their most loyal customers buy each
one, even though the one they have works perfectly fine!
4

Reply
Dn

Share

Felicia-May Stevenson 9 months ago

Felicia, you should re-read the article,...and take up a racquet sport.

3

Avatar

richbitch

Reply

Share

9 months ago

I want to be a trillionaire
Reply
pmas

Share
richbitch 9 months ago

There are currently zero individuals in the world with a net worth of even 100 billion, let
alone 1 trillion
3

Reply

Share

Welovethiswebsite

pmas 9 months ago

Rothschilds.
Reply

Subscribe

Share

Add Disqus to your site

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

11/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Recently Cataloged

35 Important Things Only Chicagoans Will Understand

31. Thin crust pizza is for quitters.
By Nico Lang

Nico Lang is a Producer at Thought Catalog, as well as the former correspondent and blogger
for WBEZ (Chicagos local ...
Read more

My Orgasm Is Not A Challenge, Bro

Is that right? He smirked. Well just see about that.
By M. April

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

12/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Read more

The Bad Thing And Its Aftermath

You either are the kind of person who has cleaned the blood and tissue of someone you think has
died off of your doorstep, or you arent.
By Ciara Flynn

She currently lives in DC and dreams of true love and a writing career under her own name.
Read more

23 Sure Signs Its NFL Football Season

2. Your town shuts down on game day.
By Nico Lang

Nico Lang is a Producer at Thought Catalog, as well as the former correspondent and blogger
for WBEZ (Chicagos local ...

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

13/14

10/13/13

How To Make Trillions Of Dollars | Thought Catalog

Read more
About
Books
Contact
Privacy Policy
Submissions
Terms of Use
Subscribe:
RSS
Email
Thought Catalog On:
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Google+
Follow @thoughtcatalog
Search

Copyright 2013 The Thought & Expression Co. All rights reserved.

thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

14/14