An asset is the foundation of all economic activity. If you have assets, you can run a business and settle your debts. The ways to create assets are ‘how one works,’ ‘how to receive gifts from others,’ and ‘how to purchase assets made by others.’ There is a way to steal, but it is a crime. If you don’t initially own an asset, the simplest and almost the only way to create one is to produce something with your own labor. Whether the product is a service or a good, it must be produced unconditionally. Trading products creates added value. Thinking about trading later and making products first is the fastest and most basic way to escape poverty. Therefore, produce even the smallest things every day. Knowledge, records, art—whatever! - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
Let’s say someone bought a building with a bank loan. If the landlord fails to pay the interest, the bank is forced to pay the principal. If the principal isn’t paid, the bank can put the building up for auction, even though the landlord owns it. Interest is the cost of borrowing money over time. The reason I can purchase a building without using my own money is that I can leverage time through interest. When we say time is money, it doesn’t just mean to save time and live diligently. It emphasizes that time truly represents money. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”