I'm probably gonna be downvoted for this, but what the heck. I watched the Warren Buffet documentary on HBO with my 11 year old daughter. Now, I've raised my daughter to have an entrepreneurial mindset and to always look at ways to add value to the world. The major points of the documentary that stood out to her were that he has lots of money. He owns pieces of companies who do well, and in turn he does well. His wife didn't feel that was an ideal way to live her life and left to provide value to actual people.
I didn't really know what to say, because she is right. Warren Buffet is good at picking companies who are undervalued and making money from that. That's a skill I guess. But do you want a country filled with Warren Buffets? Is there any reason to value this kind of parasitic success? The guy isn't really much different than the mafia or a loan shark. He loans money to companies he thinks will succeed, and wants interest paid back to him. At least Bill Gates provided value (and he was predatory in doing so) and his work changed the world. Aside from his eventual philanthropy, it's hard to see how Warren Buffet has changed the world.
Maybe I'm missing something. But how do you inspire a young person to be like Warren Buffet. And more importantly, should you?
I didn't really know what to say, because she is right. Warren Buffet is good at picking companies who are undervalued and making money from that. That's a skill I guess. But do you want a country filled with Warren Buffets? Is there any reason to value this kind of parasitic success? The guy isn't really much different than the mafia or a loan shark. He loans money to companies he thinks will succeed, and wants interest paid back to him. At least Bill Gates provided value (and he was predatory in doing so) and his work changed the world. Aside from his eventual philanthropy, it's hard to see how Warren Buffet has changed the world.
Maybe I'm missing something. But how do you inspire a young person to be like Warren Buffet. And more importantly, should you?