A world of assets for all to use

I listened to John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s autobiography and had an important epiphany.  Wealthy people own assets, and those assets may be the reason they are wealthy.  But most of those assets are not for their own use – they are assets that others use or “rent” by buying the products and services that are made and delivered with them.

For example, I own fleets of trucks.  I must own 400 trucks and other vehicles in many states – probably more.  But I have never driven one mile in them.  They are for the use of my employees.  If they didn’t have trucks, they could not do their work.  If these trucks weren’t there, customers all over America would not be able to get their homes fixed.  They are on my balance sheet, but they aren’t for me.  I do not need them personally.

I own many buildings.  But on any given day I am only in one or two.  I had to buy buildings in Georgia, Ohio, and elsewhere I have only been to once.  Heck, I even own a building in Bristol,VA I have never seen.  Again. these buildings are owned by me, but not used by me.  They are for other people.  I have to pay tax on them and insure them and take care of them, but they do not make my life better.  

I am the steward of assets that other people use to work and produce products and services.  Do we make a profit from these assets? Not always. We could lose. And any profit always comes with lots of work and responsibility.

My son Tanner wrote an article on Substack about engineered wood, and he put a link to a video of how plywood is made.  It was fascinating.  What struck me was the incredible amount of specialized machinery it takes to make a sheet of plywood.  Massive, engineered, specialized machinery that someone invested in and owns.

I do not own that machinery, or maintain it, or have to know how to run it.  It does not directly make its owner’s life better.  But that owner concentrated all that capital to make plywood. I can “rent” that machinery simply by buying a sheet of plywood for $35.  I don’t have to worry about the machine, or take care of it.

I don’t have to own the airliner that takes me to San Diego.  I just buy a ticket and I benefit from the physical asset.  I don’t own the Empire State Building, but for a few bucks, I can spend time at the top and take in the view from it.  I don’t have to own Amazon warehouses, Fed Ex trucks, paving machines, data centers, or equipment that makes roof shingles.

This is capitalism.  And it has lifted billions of people out of poverty and made their lives better by increasing everyone’s standard of living.

The wealthy don’t so much as personally own assets, as they are stewards of what they own for the benefit of all.

Today, we are all wealthy.