But the luxury, the Mercedes, was a true reward because she had proved she knew how to grow her asset column. That car now means a lot more to her than simply another pretty car. It means she used her fi- nancial intelligence to afford it. What most people do is they impulsively go out and buy a new car, or some other luxury, on credit. They may feel bored and just want a new toy. Buying a luxury on credit often causes a person to sooner or later actually re- sent that luxury because the debt on the luxury becomes a financial burden. After you've taken the time and invested in and built your own business, you are now ready to add the magic touch-the biggest secret of the rich. The secret that puts the rich way ahead of the pack. The reward at the end of the road for diligently taking the time to mind your own business. LESSON FOUR THE HISTORY OF TAXES AND THE POWER OF CORPORATIONS CHAPTER FIVE Lesson Four: The HUtory of Taxed and the Power of Corporations I remember in school being told the story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. My schoolteacher thought it was a wonderful story of a romantic hero, a Kevin Costner type, who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. My rich dad did not see Robin Hood as a hero. He called Robin Hood a crook. Robin Hood may be long gone, but his followers live on. How often I still hear people say, "Why don't the rich pay for it?" Or "The rich should pay more in taxes and give it to the poor." It is this idea of Robin Hood, or taking from the rich to give to the poor, that has caused the most pain for the poor and the middle class. The reason the middle class is so 122 Rich Dad, Poor Dad heavily taxgdis-because of the Robin Hood ideal. The real reality is that the rich are nc£ taxed. It's the middle class wricTpays for the poor, especially the educated upper-in- come middle class. Again, to understand fully how things happen, we need to look at the historical perspective. We need to look at the history of taxes. Although my highly educated dad was an expert on the history of education, my rich dad fashioned himself as an expert on the history of taxes. Rich dad explained to Mike and me that in England and America originally, there were no taxes. Occasionally there were temporary taxes levied in order to pay for wars. The king or the president would put the word out and ask ev- eryone to "chip in." Taxes were levied in Britain for the fight against Napoleon from 1799 to 1816, and in America taxes were levied to pay for the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. In 1874, England made income tax a permanent levy on its citizens. In 1913, an income tax became permanent in the United States with the adoption of the 16th Amend- ment to the Constitution. At one time, Americans were anti- tax. It had been the excessive tax on tea that led to the famous Tea Party in Boston Harbor, an incident that helped ignite the Revolutionary War.