New Money: Separation of the Newly Rich to the Lower Class

Another rapper signs a multi-million dollar contract. First thing he does is goes to the jewelry store and buys a watch, chain, diamond earrings and a bracelet. Next, he buys a nice mansion out in the suburbs of his local town and lets his immediate family live in it with him. Then, he buys a couple of new cars and pays extra to put in added features. He hires his best friends and they become his employees in the record industry. A year from now, he doesn't even come through his old neighborhood. Has money divided the classes even more?

We all have dreams of getting rich doing the things that we love. Today, there are thousands of self help books, millionaire seminars, and home business web sites for the masses. Where I grew up, the only ways to make it out the ghetto was to play basketball, go to college, do music, or sell drugs.

Sadly, none of those choices guaranteed anything. I know people who came home after college and worked a job they were over qualified for. A lot of the drug dealers are in jail or dead. Some of the athletes made it but most realized that high school would be the pinnacle of their basketball career. Most people who do music haven't made it either, becoming a regular in a slew of local artist who go nowhere.

Everybody is trying to get away from the streets, the crimes, and the hopelessness of the ghetto. Who would want to stay around and raise kids in that environment? But it a belief of mine that you never forget where you come from. The reason that a lot people have gotten into certain vices is because when you have seen all these choices lead back to the streets, it's disheartening. Why try?

I think it is important for those who have obtained a certain level of success to teach and educate other people on their choices. I've talked to about 10 people from my old neighborhood about this. 8 out of ten had never been out of their city or had someone tell them they had options for their futures. They have never seen anything but people in the same position they are in. Funny the two who had traveled and saw different scenarios are both college graduates with good jobs.