The Scrooge McDuck Lie: Why Your Fear of Being Rich is Sabotaging Your Success
It’s Monday evening. You’ve just battled your way through the start of another ambitious week—fueled by coffee, grit, and the unwavering vision of the empire you’re building. You’re putting in the work to create a life of financial freedom. But as you reflect on the wealth you’re chasing, what’s the first feeling that comes up? Is it pure excitement? Or is there a quiet, nagging whisper of guilt?
If you feel even a hint of that guilt, you’re not alone. So many of us were raised on a subtle but powerful narrative: that money is, at its core, a little bit dirty. That wealth and morality are opposing forces.
Did you grow up thinking money is evil? For many of us, our childhood image of a rich person wasn’t a benevolent philanthropist; it was a cartoon villain, twirling a mustache and laughing maniacally. It was a greedy industrialist in a movie, foreclosing on the hero's family farm. Or, at the very least, it was Scrooge McDuck, swimming in a vault of cold, hard coins, isolated from the world. We were taught that to be wealthy was to be greedy, selfish, and detached from the things that really matter.
This deep-seated, often subconscious, belief is what I call the "Scrooge McDuck Lie." And for the ambitious woman trying to build a business, it is the single most dangerous piece of programming you need to uninstall. Your fear of becoming a "bad person" if you become wealthy could be the very thing sabotaging your success.
But plot twist: money isn’t good or evil.
It’s just… money. It’s a neutral tool. And it’s time we have an honest conversation about how to wield it.
Unpacking the "Money is Evil" Myth: Where Did This Story Come From?
To defeat an enemy, you first have to understand it. This negative association with wealth isn’t your fault; it’s a cultural narrative we’ve absorbed our entire lives.
1. Our Childhood Programming: Think about the phrases you heard growing up. "Money doesn't grow on trees." "We can't afford that." "Finish your plate; there are starving children in the world." While well-intentioned, these phrases weave a story of scarcity, lack, and guilt around the concept of having more than enough. They subtly teach us that having abundance while others have less is something to feel ashamed of.
2. The Media Portrayal: Pop culture is a powerful teacher. From Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life to Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, the villain is almost always the rich guy. The hero is the scrappy, kind-hearted underdog who is morally superior because they aren't obsessed with money. We are trained, movie after movie, to root against the person in the suit and cheer for the person who is struggling. This creates a subconscious link: Money = Bad, Lack of Money = Good.
3. Legitimate Bad Actors: Let’s be clear: there’s a reason for our caution. The world is full of people who do awful things for money. (Looking at you, pyramid schemes and soulless corporations.) We see greed and exploitation, and we rightfully recoil. But here is the critical distinction we so often fail to make: we mistake the person for the tool. Yes, some people use money for evil. But that doesn’t make money evil.
The Great Reframe: Money is a Magnifying Glass
The most powerful and liberating truth you can embrace is this: money isn’t a corrupting force. It’s an amplifying one.
Money is just a tool. Think of it like a hammer. A hammer has no morality, no agenda. In the hands of a skilled and compassionate carpenter, it can be used to build a home for a family in need. In the hands of a violent person, it can be used to cause harm. The hammer didn't decide its purpose; the person holding it did.
An even better analogy is to think of money as a magnifying glass.
Money doesn't change you; it makes you more of what you already are.
If you are, at your core, an insecure, selfish, and greedy person, a massive influx of wealth will magnify those traits. You’ll become the cliché—hoarding your wealth, showing it off in ostentatious ways, and using it to gain power over others.
But if you are a kind, generous, and community-oriented person? Wealth will magnify those traits. Your desire to donate $20 to a local charity can be magnified into funding an entire wing of the building. Your habit of mentoring one young woman can be magnified into creating a foundation that provides scholarships for hundreds. Your passion for ethical products can be magnified from being a conscious consumer to building a company that provides hundreds of fair-wage jobs.
So the question is not, "Will money make me evil?" The real, more terrifying question you have to ask yourself is, "Who am I, really?" When you get honest about that, you realize that your fear isn't about the money; it's a deep-seated doubt in your own character.
Permission to Be Rich and Good
It’s time to give yourself permission to destroy the false dichotomy that says you have to choose between being wealthy and being a decent human being. This is a lie created to keep ambitious, good-hearted people playing small.
You can be generous, kind, and still afford to get the lobster every time.
You can build a multi-million dollar empire and still be an incredible, present mother.
You can negotiate a tough deal and still treat people with respect and integrity.
You can love making money and also love giving it away.
Wealth and goodness are not mutually exclusive. In fact, for the person with a strong moral compass, wealth becomes a tool for expressing that goodness on a much larger scale. Think about it: who can affect more positive change in the world? The person with a good heart and an empty bank account, or the person with a good heart and millions of dollars to fund her vision for a better world?
What Would You Do with More? An Exercise in Abundance
If you're still feeling that whisper of guilt, that fear that money will corrupt you, I want you to do this exercise. Sometime this week, take out a journal and answer these questions with brutal honesty.
1. Imagine an extra, unexpected $10,000 lands in your bank account this month. It’s yours to do with as you please. After you pay off a nagging credit card bill, what are the first three things you do? Do you take your family on a much-needed weekend getaway? Do you donate a significant sum to the animal shelter you love? Do you invest it in a course to level up your skills? Write it all down.
2. Now, let’s amplify it. Imagine your business has a breakthrough, and you now have an extra $1 million in profit this year. What changes? Who do you hire to create jobs? What non-profit do you support with a life-changing donation? Do you set up college funds for your nieces and nephews? Do you invest in sustainable materials for your products, even if they cost more?
Look at your answers. What you will almost certainly find is a list not of greed, but of generosity, security, freedom, and impact. Your answers are proof of your own character. That is who you are. Money won't change that; it will just give you a bigger platform and a bigger shovel to do more of it.
Your fear is unfounded. It's a ghost story you were told as a child. You are not Scrooge McDuck. You are an AlphaGirl. You are already awesome. Wealth will simply magnify that.
Money Isn't the Dream. It's the Fuel.
Let's make one final distinction. Money is not the dream. Money is the tool that helps dreams come true.
No one is truly chasing slips of paper. We are chasing the freedom, the security, and the impact that money can provide. We are chasing the ability to own our time, to say "yes" to our family, to say "no" to things that drain our soul, and to fund the change we want to see in the world.
As you continue to build your empire, let go of the guilt. Release the fear that success will somehow tarnish your character. Understand that the money you are earning is a direct reflection of the value you are providing to the world. The more value you give, the more you will receive.
And the more you receive, the more good you can do. Wealth won't change who you are. It will just reveal it to the world on a grander scale. So make sure you’re building a character worth magnifying.