Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 23, 2009

Ooh boy.

Part 1:

Better be careful Luann. There’s basically two ways people get rich. There’s the way which takes responsibility, and then there’s the way which doesn’t take responsibility. The way which takes responsibility is to work hard, save your money frugally, and invest your time, money and other resources shrewdly to make the most of them. Some good examples of that are successful business men and stock investors, skilled trades people, scientists, engineers and so forth. It takes a long time to get rich that way, but people who do tend to stay rich throughout their lives, because they have the responsibility and self discipline to manage their affairs well. In contrast the way which doesn’t take responsibility usually involves being born with some sort of natural skill or attribute which people are willing to pay a lot of money for. That could mean looking pretty, being a good singer, being good at basketball or some other sport. Other times it merely involves winning the lottery. The common underlying theme is that you don’t have to be responsible; but instead just have to be born with some unique skill that people will pay lots of money for, or else just have to get lucky. People who get rich that way tend to get very rich very quickly, often with very little warning, but because they didn’t have to be responsible in order to get the money, they tend to squander it very quickly. You know that scene from “The Simpsons” when Apu Nahasapeemapetilon buys a lotto ticket, wins the lottery, and then gambles away all his lotto winnings on more lotto tickets until he’s completely broke? That’s exactly the sort of thing people do when they get rich in ways which don’t require any responsibility. Unfortunately it looks like Elwood is probably the latter sort rather than the former sort. He’s not old enough to have gotten rich the slow, responsible sort of way. He just loves programming computer games, and managed to create a very popular one.

Part 2:

Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t take much wisdom or responsibility. Therefore there’s no way to know how well he’ll manage his wealth now that he has it. From the look of things, he’s squandering it pretty fast (i.e. the limo, chauffeur, private waiters, restaurant in the middle of nowhere, etcetera). He could easily be penniless and broke in a year. Gunther on the other hand doesn’t seem to have any one truly great talent, but he’s honest, hard working and responsible. He seems more like the sort whom you would expect to be reasonably financially secure throughout his life, though not necessarily insanely wealthy.

Elwood is so romantic.