Invisible Money

Troy Harris

If you have ever heard any of the following phrases, you are reading the right blog:

"It's not about what you make. It's about what you bring home."

"It takes money to make money."

"A penny saved is a penny earned."

"Money doesn't grow on trees."

Well, truth be told, all of these cliches are true. Very true. True to the bone. In America, Jews recycle their money over 12 times in the Jewish community. Blacks? LESS THAN ONE. Whites, Asians, and even Hispanics are somewhere in between the two. Alright, to put it plainly, the easiest way to restrict financial growth, and subsequent success, is to spend money before you "get it". So many blacks in the world do this very thing and it is a significant part of the problem we face when trying to become a more powerful race. Why? Its the same thing that makes us buy lottery tickets, have unprotected sex, smoke weed, and rob people. Immediate gratification. The idea of getting what you exactly want exactly when you want it (without regard for much of anything else). Ok, so now the question is "Why blacks?" Immediate gratification isn't some racist form of intangible energy out to get us. No it isn't, but sometimes I wonder if we're out to get ourselves.

What you listen to, you think, what you think, you become. Every time. Our music, generally speaking, talks mostly about having nice things: expensive chains that start depreciating as soon as you buy them, rims that are too big and scrub the bottom of your car every time you make a turn, owning a different pair of shoes for every other shirt you own, etc. Thus, the moment we get one penny over the required amount, we buy houses with pools in the backyard that end up serving as habitats for the amphibian wildlife because we can't even afford to get it cleaned, suits to impress people at church that we don't even care about, and other related things. So, yes, our music is leading to our downfall.

"Gator boots, with the pimped out Gucci suits. Ain't got no job, but I stay sharp. Can't pay my rent cuz all my money's spent. But thats ok, cuz I'm still fly. Got a quarter tank of gas in my new G-Class. But that's alright cuz I'm gon ride. Got everything in my momma's name. But I'm hood rich....." -Mannie Fresh

We can try very hard to explain this misfortune to no avail. Maybe its the fact that we, as America's most oppressed people, take advantage of any and every opportunity to get something nice because we've simply just never had it before. Maybe its not even a problem and we just value nice things more than financial stability (which directly equates to power nowadays). Maybe we just like everyone to know we have money. After all, it is easier to see Mercedes and shiny jewelry than 401k's and account balances. Or maybe its just niggas being niggas: the nature of the beast. Maybe not.

In economics, the MPC (Marginal Propensity to Consume) is the number that explains people's tendency to spend in relation to how much they save. (If you make $100 and spend $80 the MPC is .8) Without a single statistic, I'm pretty sure its easy to see which race's MPC is the highest. Now, when people consume, it speeds the flow of money up and usually makes for a better economy. The only problem is we aren't in America alone and there are very few black businesses today to help recycle our money and give it time to multiply. So we buy from everyone else.

That all boils down to this: WE, the people with the highest tendency to consume and the LOWEST amount of businesses, in proportion, are the main contributors in speeding up an economy in which we are but the CONSUMER and rarely the PRODUCER. This is two-fold. Not only are we making ourselves worse off by saving little and spending lots, we are helping to boost other races' status in this country by giving them our money to stack on top of their people's (who are wise enough to actually support their race). Its bad enough when we consume so much and save so little, but every time we consume, we do it elsewhere. So while they're moving forward with robust pockets and smiles on the way to the bank, we're running backwards, smiling just as hard, on the way to the white owned car dealership thinking we're just as "rich" as them. smFUCKINGh. Imagine playing Monopoly, rolling the dice and it reading "-3" and go past "Go" the wrong way and go $200 dollars in debt. That's the reality of it.

So there it is... Invisible Money. The money that DOESN'T grow on trees or show up in the piggy bank on that rainy day. The money that is in our hands just long enough to deposit and spend. The money that's made and never brought home. If we changed our music we wouldn't be bred so frivolously. If we altered our attitude towards black owned businesses, we would create a positive environment to surround them in, making it conducive for success and our money would GROW. If we changed our consuming habits, we could move up from the bottom of the totem pole and start living up to our potential. Break the mold. We're a powerful people. Act like it.