You know I have an obsession, basically with power,
and money is power, and you don't have a platform without that —
– And then he calls us when he wants to commit suicide. (Laughter)
You're gonna get , you're gonna get worn out. I'll tell you that's a dangerous place —
— Thank you sir. —
(Offscreen voice) The wall with the X on it, can I have all of my high income folks...
...and on the other side my low income folks.
(Offscreen voice) "I think the opposite side judges me for the side that I stand on."
There is... there is judgment.
Society seems to
think that it's based on mental conditions,
alcohol abuse or drug abuse that we are in the streets whereas most of the times it's not.
I do feel judged by the other side because I feel like most people
have an innate, massive
inadequacy and insecurity within themselves
as they start as human beings.
So jealousy is a natural tendency mass majority of people have,
and that's the root of why they're not successful to begin with.
I don't think jealousy is natural law. I think we were all born exactly the same
and to say it's inherited I think is a bunch of BS.
It's all learned behavior, and I'm telling you if we took these people on that side
and they were trained to have different beliefs and judgments, they'd be wealthy as hell.
Every human being is incredible from the start.
That's a beautiful thought.
(Offscreen voice) Okay, bring in the disagreers.
I don't know, I guess I don't really spend that much time around people who are on the other side
so I don't feel like I know what they actually think about me.
There's enough open-minded people that do really well,
that's very kind, and so I don't feel like the other side judge me.
(Offscreen voice) "I would spend a day on the other side."
I sort of started on the other aisle.
I grew up sort of low-income neighborhoods, broken homes,
but for me that was something that kind of gave me that drive to want to achieve,
and to me I would say that that's been something that's been very helpful to me, so...
I just would like to see what it's like
to be on the other side for once, I would say.
I would like to learn from them.
I would help my mother
but it depends on what they're doing if it's illegal
or if it's something against my conscience I would step back.
I don't know how they got their money.
You know, once you attain financial security, whatever that means to you as individuals,
you realize it's all for nothing. It says it in the Bible: (Hebrew phrase) in Hebrew.
It means it's all for nothing.
The reality of why we do all we do is because we're looking to feel fulfilled.
And that's why I have no problem going back because fulfillment doesn't come from money.
(Offscreen voice) "I was scared to admit how much money I make."
A lot of times if you speak how much money you make
that's a great way to get sued and let people know you have something to get at.
So sometimes It's better off to not let people know
what you got.
I got the realization that...
Wait a minute, I'm supposed to work so hard in life
to get a job to marry a woman who wouldn't marry me if I didn't have that job...
...so that's why? (Laughter)
I look at a lot of my Vietnamese pharmacist friends...
They boast this and that but I ask them a question:
If you didn't have that money and that job, would she still be with you?
She wouldn't, so...
(Laughter) Very true!
So I'm never afraid to tell people how much –
– That's 100% true. –
If someone really loves you, it's always enough.
If someone doesn't it'll never be enough.
And so I'm gonna just
tell people how much I make my whole life, and
that'll also weed out all the people I want no part of.
Most of my friends, or true friends... the best time we ever have
are, like, simple conversation like this.
(Offscreen voice) "Money is power."
Do you feel like money is power?
Yeah, and I've seen it.
In what way?
In the illegal ways.
I've seen it too.
It does, it works.
It is manifested power.
Is there a higher power, is there a higher spiritual level? Certainly, but in the level that we operate in,
yeah, I mean if you want to get something done
you need some sort of financial backing, you know, generally speaking.
Money is energy.
That's all it is. So in form it is power.
It's power to be used in a good way, or power to be used in a bad way.
Money will only amplify who you are as a person to a larger extent.
If you're a douchebag, you're gonna be a bigger douchebag. (Laughter)
If you're a sweetheart of a person, giving, you're gonna become more of a giving human being.
That's all that money is gonna do.
Might be a good idea to go talk to Gandhi. (Laughter)
Or maybe you want to talk to Mother Teresa.
The thing about power is, you speak something and it occurs.
Do you speak something, and does it happen,
and if you've got money, or if you don't have money,
basically the bottom line is, what is my purpose in life?
And am I — Boom! — having it happen?
All you got to do is look at somebody's life.
You can look at people's auras, all of us have a certain aura.
It's real obvious.
– Sure. –
And you know whether you're making a difference or not. You can't fool anybody.
(Offscreen voice) "I am satisfied with how much money I have right now."
Once you attain financial security, and I said this earlier,
it's just excess for me.
I'm 31, I probably reached financial security when I was like..
...21, ten years ago.
Self-made, no daddy, no mommy, nobody.
And I was very fortunate
to recognize what success means,
the responsibility of success, and also what I want out of life.
Money doesn't motivate me anymore.
I didn't come here today to show off that I have money.
I came here because hopefully I'll learn something
that I didn't know yesterday,
and that I also could hope to maybe influence someone that didn't know something, the same.
Being wealthy is having no wants.
Yeah, I think I've got just about everything I need.
I'm pretending to have a lot more... don't need it.
Well, yeah for me it'll never be enough.
You know I have an obsession, basically, with power,
and money is power, and you don't have a platform without that.
So if you want to provide a positive message,
you need that power, and without money, you can't really have —
— But that's not gonna solve your innate problem of wanting more.
No, it's not, and I and I accept that at the door that I –
– It's like, you can say it about drugs. (Sniffs) Want another line.
You can say about a womanizer. You want another girl.
You can say it about anything that you have an obsession for, an abundance of, right?
— You're right. – So that's not the problem, but that's the why.
The money part is just the... vice.
But that's OK. I don't need to be okay.
I just need I need to be successful. I need to make things happen.
Do you really feel that? You really feel that,
I'm not gonna stop you obviously,
but all I can tell you is my opinion, and I can tell you this much,
it will never be enough, and the feeling you have will never go away,
and anxiety it will bring you in your life
will never make you happy.
And then he calls us when he wants to commit suicide. (Laughter)
You're gonna get worn out. I'll tell you that's a danger –
– No. No sir... –
I do think, though, that people that get stuck in that
totally over material perspective, that there is something missing inside.
And you might not see it, and that there might be a very big elaborate show and shiny things and beautiful women,
but I think somebody that has immature behavior patterns like that, I think it speaks to, you know, an inner vacancy,
I would say also.
I just feel like I haven't reached
where I want to be
financially, happiness wise... – That's cool. –
I'm just not sure what I want to do all the time and...
I was there, I'm sure he was there, everybody was there. You don't know what you're going. –
– I mean I'm okay, I understand why I'm at where I'm at, but –
–Like he's the exact opposite. He knows exactly where he's –
– I know I'm sick, I mean – (Laughter)
– No, not sick, I'm saying he's on a mission. That is a beautiful thing.
That level of energy, dedication, focus... – Yeah. –
That will attain mass loads of anything he puts his effort to.
(Offscreen voice) "I am grateful for the life I live."
I am, because every day I'm able to get up in the morning, I'm alive...
There are certain situations, rapes, shootings...
Everything out there that, you know, has occurred,
to me, to other people.
I'm blessed and I'm [grateful] to be alive, because we don't know when our time's gonna be up.
That's 100% true.
That puts it in perspective right there, I mean,
I think about where I came from,
things that I take for granted now that I never would have imagined at a younger age.
But like you said the core blessing is to be alive.
A lot of people wake up with, 'what am I gonna eat?' – Yeah –
'Where am I gonna go?'
'What's this person gonna try to do to me?'
It's a fucked up, 'scuse my French, state of mind.
So I'm extremely grateful that I'm on the giving side of things,
that I have the ability to share and not to take, necessarily.
I have true friends and ... I live a very very simple life, and
anyone who comes to my life who wants to stay in my life
are very simple and very loving at the same time.
I have nothing really to complain about beside the fact that I want to do more,
but even that is like a blessing itself because I have the opportunity to try and do those things –
– It's 'cause of America, buddy, it's the best country in the world. (Laughter)
Look, at the end of your life
are you a much more loving person than at the beginning your life, or even at the end of this discussion?
I feel so, I feel I've grown a lot and learned –
– It's been a privilege speaking with everyone – – Likewise –
– ... The most important thing is love. How much do you love at the end of your life compared to the beginning?
– Thank you. – – I think that's true. – – Thank you. – (Laughter)
(Offscreen voice) That's it, that's the last question, guys. Appreciate –
– Thank you very much –
– Hi! – – Very nice meeting you! – – That's a pretty good hug you got there. – –Thank you. –
What's up, guys. Thank you for checking out that Middle Ground episode,
hope you enjoyed it.
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