Is to win the lottery, inherit it, break the law for it, or be very, very lucky.Has anyone found any other way? We often find that some of the richest families inherited that from ancestors who did some bad things (e.g., the father of JFK apparently ran rum during Prohibition).It is NOT hard work that does it. If it were, ditch diggers would be the wealthiest people around.It is NOT diligence. If it were, plenty of pastors would be wealthy.When it comes to being a self-made rich person, it comes down (for the most part, I think) to...LUCK. The person who invented Beta video tapes had a superior product to VHS tapes. But his invention didn't pan out.Bill Gates is not the only guy with great ideas. But there is something about the right idea at the right time with the right people--in other words, everything coming together in just the right way--the makes the difference.Capitalism likes to claim that hard work will cause one to become wealthy or otherwise successful. Well, if you define successful as putting food on the table, then yes, that is correct. But if you define it as having plenty of money, no debt, or the such, then NO. I was only thinking this because I was looking at a house (on the internet) and wondered how anyone could be wealthy enough to own such a house. I realized that even a doctor couldn't afford such a house. And that got me to thinking....There are all sorts of lies that economic systems tell us. I have told you what capitalism says. Socialism tells us other lies. Communism tells us even darker lies. ALL of them sound wonderful. But none of the claims fully come true, it seems.