Rich Versus Poor

His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever.

Psalm 112: 3 GNB

1. Most people think of richness and poverty as, respectively, abundance and lack of material possessions which, at least partially, is correct. On the other hand, often this situation is seen as inherited and permanent. When I was a little child discovering the world around me, I used to think that the rich had always been rich and the poor also had always been poor, so sort of there was no way out of these situations. Like in medieval times, rich and poor were there to stay as social classes.

   Well, it does not have to be that way, I now believe. If we inquire into the minds of rich and poor people we might find some typical characteristics and some important differences that single them out. What are they?

2. First the poor. These think in terms of limitation. They think they can't. They might put the blame on circumstances or people for their situation like being born from a poor family, not having picked up an education for financial reasons, lack of jobs or lack of skills or even lack of health.

   An attitude often found within the poor around the world is that they would rather accept a donation or a "fish" rather than would accept to "learn to fish". If you think of the trillions donated to African countries in the last few decades and the no-change they brought there you will know what I mean. Self-esteem runs low in poverty.

   After saying this I must say that in no way do I despise the poor but rather feel great compassion for them and I believe there are ways out and around their situation.

3. Now the rich. What makes the rich rich? For families that inherited their fortune, it's certainly the vision and efforts of some predecessor. So, we would have to inquire how did these made themselves rich. This enquiry could be done in parallel with the enquiry on the new rich of our time for they must also be knowing something the rest of us ignore.

   Two things, in my opinion, characterize the rich and successful people: one, they think big; two, they have high self-confidence and trust in their abilities.

   They believe in their creative and transformative powers. So, they act accordingly: they find a business idea, original or not, convince other key people to go along and bring it into fruition. Rich, successful people, see solutions rather than obstacles. When Dick Smith was asked how he found funding for his fledgling business he responded: “I just surrounded myself with the people who had the money and showed my enthusiasm”.

4. What occurs to me to ask at this stage is this: are the rich supposed to be rich? And, conversely, are the poor supposed to be poor? What I mean is this: are these people born in such a way that they must follow a particular path of richness or poverty set before they were even born?

   My honest answer is that I think some people must follow their genetic predestinations and make themselves rich and others poor though, in most cases, it is circumstances that constrain people, specially the poor. But upbringing and circumstances, being harsh as they might, can have a positive influence in both rich and poor. They can increase one's self-esteem and so help achieving an objective or, as it is more often the case, decrease that same self-esteem and create an obstacle that must be won over. All the stories of rags to riches are a testimonial to this form of inner struggle.
5. Knowing that so many people where born and brought up in difficult circumstances and grew to make themselves rich and successful, what is it, I would dare to ask, that we should be doing to be at least a bit like them, assuming its your case?

   I think the first step is ambition. If you do not want to own millions, relax, you will never get them.

   The second step, I think, is believing in oneself.

   If you posses the creative and transformative powers mentioned above you will do something about it. A good way to get started on this course is, I suppose, trying to find out about yourself, what kind of personality and spiritual and material needs you have, whether you have to workout your self-esteem and whether you need to learn to think big. You might realise that, as you discover yourself and your mind traits and as you resolve old inner problems you might have, your ambition might grow as a result, just as you realize you can achieve more. It's like saying that a V8 engine demands a higher speed limit or bigger muscle demands heavier weights.

6. Going now back to the poor, what could be done about them? There is an interesting factual observation which is that recipients of charity, especially in 3rd world countries, look aloof and de-energized. They are probably thinking that living for a handout is sad enough and I agree.

   In contrast, the experience of The Grameen Bank of Bangladesh is that poor people who are loaned money to start their own micro business are highly energized, successful, proud and grow in ambition.

   To detail the experience of the Grameen Bank is for another text but I can say I believe Microcredit is the solution for the phenomena of poverty, whether in 3rd world countries or in the west.