I agree with you on all levels, knowledge is weapon and this world is indeed a big scam, be it the government or companies, but through knowledge, we can be safe from them and beat them at their own game. Rich people know how to manage their money, not falling for greed or temptation, not waste their money totally on things they want to show off on like many cars which is totally a bad investment. We should study about their lives and the knowledge they give us along with a motivation to follow their footsteps if we want to be like them!
The problem is that most people do not know anything about money management skills, I don't really have a problem with rich people buying luxury cars, after all they can afford them, but people buy all kind of luxuries that they do not really need, and while there is nothing wrong with falling into temptation once in a while if you do this consistently then you are going to be consistently out of money.
One perfect example of this are smart phones, I know people that change their smart phones every time a new model comes out and I find this to be perplexing, they just get rid of smart phones that are in complete perfect condition just because they want the newer model and then they complain to me about the fact that they have no money, it doesn't make sense to me but if they want to live their life that way then that is up to them.