You will not achieve anything if you do not believe you can

I have seen a lot of leaders of Happy Science so far, and those who could not keep up with us along the way mostly tended to think small. As the organization grows large, you have to try to think big. So I told those leaders to stop having a narrow view on things and think big, but they could not change their way of thinking.

So, saying “I can” is important but saying “we can” is also important. “I can” and “We can” are both important. It is actually part of enlightenment I attained when I was young.

Japan has a kind of culture where people try to hammer down those who say “I can,” whereas people in the United States appreciate the attitude of “I can.”After all, those who keep saying “I can, I can” can achieve their goals. If you do not believe that you can, you will not achieve anything. It is quite difficult to pull up people who do not try to set high goals or find great meaning in their business. It might be tough if you have to teach them such a thing from scratch.

If you set your goal low, you can easily achieve it. If the goal is lower than the average, you will be able to achieve it more easily. However, it would not be a good trend if more and more people aim for small goals and are satisfied with better results than they imagined.

Do not “punish” the success by heavy taxes but esteem them highly as our national treasures

I completely agree with the idea that those who made a lot of money should help people in need. I believe it is good thing. And you have to remember it is necessary to give them recognition for their spirituality. I think due recognition should be given to those who do good deeds.

It must be noted that as an extension of Marxism, there is a way of thinking that the prosperous, successful people did wrong. The tax authorities think that they have to impose taxes on the wealthy people as punishment. They obviously think that they do the right thing when they take the money away from such affluent people and redistribute it to the poor because making money is bad.

I have said repeatedly that this way of thinking is wrong. This thinking makes you get poorer and poorer. You might as well approve of the poor and fine people if they succeed. Like a traffic fine, it sounds like you impose a fine on people if they make more than 18 million yen a year.

We have published a book titled “The spiritual message from Yataro Iwasaki” exclusively for Happy Science followers. According to him, this thinking is one of weaknesses of democracy.

He says, “Squeeze taxes out of a one-in-a-million rich person and throw the money around to the other people. The billionaire is just one out of many eligible voters, so if you take the money from him and dole out the money to ten thousand people, you might get ten thousand votes. Politicians cannot help doing this.”

However, this makes people think less and less about achieving business success and becoming affluent, which creates a situation where everyone is plagued by poverty. This is the biggest problem.

What we have to do now is not to punish the successful people like Yataro Iwasaki by imposing high taxes, but to set a national goal to produce hundreds of people that can build a big business. If such a goal is stated clearly, the prosperity of this country will be ensured for the next century.

Only a few people can build a large business, but once such people emerge, they will be able to create tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of jobs, produce great wealth and enrich the country. And many people will be able to pay taxes. Of course, companies will also pay corporate taxes, which will enhance the nation’s strength. So we have to highly recognize those who prosper in business as national treasures. Please keep this in mind.

It is wrong to assume that because those who make money appear to be doing wrong, you can take the money from them and redistribute it to the poor.

Even people who do not pay taxes have votes. If you throw money around to them, they might cast their vote for you. This is a drawback of democracy. Throwing away money like this is not accompanied by spirituality.

The statue of Yatro Iwasaki in Aki city, Kochi prefecture
He was the founder of Mitsubishi Shokai (firm), which later grew into Mitsubishi Zaibatsu (combine). With shipping as its core business, Mitsubishi Shokai grew into the zaibatsu conglomerates by expanding the business further into such sectors as banking, insurance, and shipbuilding. He contributed a lot to the development of Japan’s economy during and after the Meiji period.

People who can make effective use of money are needed

The former chief executive and chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates (left) and his wife, Melinda Gates (center) founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), one of the largest private philanthropic foundations in the world. Warren Buffet (right), known as the most successful investor, donated 70% of his personal assets to BMGF in 2006. He also donated to several charitable foundations, three of which are operated by his own children.

The website of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The primary aims of the foundation are to extend industrial support to underprivileged people, to enhance healthcare, to reduce extreme poverty, and to expand educational opportunity.

Many prosperous people in the United States set up foundations to work for good causes. For example, wealthy people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have built schools and hospitals in many places. By doing this, they have fulfilled their obligations as successful people. This may be the act of chivalry, and I think it is praiseworthy. They have built schools and hospitals in many impoverished countries all over the world, and only billionaires can do this.

Even if you pay taxes to the taxation authorities, you do not know if they do things like this. There is no telling where the money you paid will go. It might be spent on overtime money, drinks, or taxi fares of bureaucrats.

On the contrary, people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have an attitude of economic rationality, so they think for themselves and decide where to invest. They have built schools and hospitals in areas that needed such facilities most. They know how to make good use of money. We need to know that the rational way of thinking is also important.

Amid the contraction of the nation’s overall economy after 1990, Happy Science has been fighting alone. There is no doubt that the whole population of Japan is backtracking toward a shrinking mentality, but something has to be done to stop this downward trend.

Therefore, the Japanese Prime Minister should have more confidence and show us the path to the future. He must not take us in the direction of being equal in poverty. Instead, he must say, “Let’s become more and more prosperous so that you can pay more and more taxes.” If instead he says, “Let’s make a society where people become more prosperous. The government will make sure that various industries work together with one another and help new businesses develop into large companies. Let’s make Japan an affluent country where everyone can afford to pay taxes. The government will also work hard to achieve this goal,” and people will feel energized.

However, if the government has a shrinking mentality and this thinking begins to influence the public, the whole society will stagnate. We are now doing what we can to counter this downward trend.

If I keep saying this, the tax authorities might threaten to levy a religious corporation tax or something on us, saying, “There seems to be an organization that has made a lot of money.” So far I have “donated” enough money to build a building to the National Tax Administration Agency. I have paid a large sum of money in taxes, but no matter how much more money I pay, the government cannot make good use of it and it is wasted. It is like putting money in the wallet that has a hole in the bottom. No matter how much money we pay, it disappears. Therefore, people who have a better sense of finance and economics should be put in charge to use taxpayers’ money properly.

The prosperity of those who live a life of Truth will bring prosperity to the country

Happy Science is a religious organization, but it has enough mindset to enable us to create zaibatsu or a financial combine.

After all, the top leaders of the nation must have a dream. They have to inspire the people by presenting a clearly defined future goal. I hope that people capable of doing this will emerge.

If the government does not do it, we, Happy Science, must do it. We will continue to inculcate the prosperity mindset into people’s mind. To that end, I think we have to gain more influence in Japan and change the national mood.

It is a pity that this country lags several years behind us when it comes to making a judgment. Now I think something has to be done about this.

But now that people in politics and the media are studying what Happy Science teaches, they are following us slowly. I think things will change, so we have to make one more effort. In this world it takes time to get what we are saying across to people, but we have to endure and continue our effort.

You should not depend solely on the government. I know a Happy Science member who established a company in the 1990’s it has experienced big growth. I hope that successful entrepreneurs and global companies will appear one after another from Happy Science. This will allow us to gain more influence and reflect our opinions in economic policies.

I do not intend to determine which occupation you should choose. So achieve success in any business field. Achieve greatness. Be prosperous. Become a person who can get more respect from people. This is the way of giving strength to Happy Science and making it grow further. So, please achieve success in whatever field. I sincerely wish for it.

I would like you to bear in mind that if people who live a life of truth do not prosper, there will be no prosperity in this country.

Do not forget the “I can” attitude. Keep saying to yourself, “I can”, “We can”, and continue your efforts.