As I have mentioned, my educated dad worked harder and harder the more competent he became. He also be- came more trapped the more specialized he got. Although his salary went up, his choices diminished. Soon after he was locked out of government work, he found out how vulnerable he really was professionally. It is like profes- sional athletes who suddenly are injured or are too old to play. Their once high-paying position is gone, and they have limited skills to fall back on. I think that is why my the protection of their union feue jhelrskills are also of limited value to an industry outside_of education. So the rule of thumbls "Highly specialized, then unionize." It's the smart thing to do. When I ask the classes I teach, "How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?" almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, "So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?" / The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at busi- ness systems. The reason $b many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little to nothing about business systems. A friend of mine in Hawaii is a great artist. He makes a sizable amount of money. One day his mother's attorney called to tell him that she had left him $35,000. That is what was left of her estate after the attorney and the government took their shares. Immediately, he saw an opportunity to increase his business by using some of this money to ad- vertise. Two months later, his first four-color, full-page ad appeared in an expensive magazine that targeted the very rich. The ad ran for three months. He received no replies from the ad, and all of his inheritance is now gone. He now wants to sue the magazine for misrepresentation. This is a common case of someone who can build a beautiful hamburger, but knows little about business. When I asked him what he learned, his only reply was that "advertising salespeople are crooks." I then asked him if he would be willing to take a course in sales and a course in direct marketing. His reply, "I don't have the time, and I don't want to waste my money." The world is filled with talented poor people. All too Work to Learn-Don't Work for Money 185 practice to give first. Teaching was one of their ways of giv- ing. The more they gave, the more they received. One glar- ing difference was in the giving of money. My rich dad gave lots of money away. He gave to his church, to chari- ties, to his foundation. He knew that to receive moneyou had to give money. Giving money is the secret to most great wealthy famines. That is why there are organizations like the Rcfeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation. These are organizations designed to take their wealth and increase it, as well as give it away in perpetuity. My educated dad always said, "When I have some extra money, I'll give it." The problem was, there was never any extra.