Why They Don’t Teach This Stuff in School (And What You Can Do About It Now)

If you made it through high school, you probably learned how to factor a polynomial, label a mitochondrion, or regurgitate the causes of the War of 1812.

But you probably weren’t taught:

• How compound interest actually works
  
• What a credit score really is
  
• How banks make money from your debt
  
• Why inflation punishes savers
  
• Or how to build wealth from zero

That’s not an accident. That’s design.

The Education System Was Built for a Different Economy

Here’s a little history lesson they also forgot to include:

The U.S. public school model was built in the late 1800s, during the Industrial Revolution. The goal wasn’t to produce free-thinking, financially savvy citizens. It was to produce factory workers.

Clock in. Follow instructions. Don’t question authority.

The model hasn’t changed much since. You sit in rows. You ask to go to the bathroom. You memorize facts, pass tests, and move along.

Nothing in that model prepares you for a debt-based consumer economy. In fact, it leaves you wide open for it.

The system doesn’t teach you how to manage money—because it needs you to mismanage it.

That’s how it survives.

You borrow. You pay interest. You spend more than you earn. You finance everything from coffee to funerals. Then you do it again next month.

Meanwhile, politicians talk about “financial literacy” like it’s some novel idea, not the birthright of every citizen in a supposedly free society.

So Who Taught You About Money?

Chances are, no one.

You learned from watching your parents struggle to stretch a paycheck.
You learned from your first overdraft fee.
You learned from the slow burn of credit card interest and the pit in your stomach when the rent cleared and you had $13 left.

You learned the hard way.

And now, maybe, you’re realizing: none of this is your fault. But fixing it is your responsibility.

What You Can Do About It Now

You don’t need a fancy degree or an app that rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and calls it a “wealth strategy.” You need the basics—taught honestly.

Start here:

1. Learn How Money Really Works

• Understand the Federal Reserve. Not the myth—the machine.
  
• Learn how inflation steals purchasing power.
  
• Learn how credit works for banks and against consumers.

(Hint: if they’re offering it for “zero interest,” they’re making money somewhere else.)

2. Study Real Wealth Builders

• Assets that produce income: rental property, dividend stocks, businesses
  
• The power of leverage—used wisely
  
• Tax laws that reward ownership, not consumption

These aren’t secrets. They’re just not taught. Because if everyone knew how to escape the system, the system wouldn’t work.

3. Teach Yourself What They Refused to Teach You

• Read one solid financial book a month. You’ll outpace 99% of the population.
  
• Watch what the wealthy do, not what they say.
  
• Avoid anything that promises “passive income overnight.”

It’s a con. If it sounds like a magic trick, it probably disappears like one, too.

4. Talk About It

Shame loves silence. So does debt.

Start talking about money. With your spouse. Your friends. Your kids.

Let them see the gears turning. Let them learn from your mistakes, not repeat them in silence.

Because silence is what the system counts on.

Final Thought

You were never supposed to learn this.
But now you are.
And that makes you dangerous—in the best possible way.

You don’t need permission. You don’t need credentials.
You just need awareness—and a willingness to keep asking the one question this system hates most:

“Why wasn’t I taught this sooner?”

Coming Next:

“Debt-Free or Die Trying: Why Freedom Isn’t Just About Money”
The finale. This isn’t just about your wallet. It’s about reclaiming your life, your future, and your say in a system that thrives on silence and submission.