'Poverty' a word that has been thrown around, used and may be abused for so many life times to a point that not many know what it literally means perhaps, what it is. Allow me to conclude this discussion right at the beginning; Just as relative as beauty and choice are so is poverty to a great extent and in such a time were the boundaries of right and wrong are constantly shifting, the colour of poverty is definitely grey.
Many have been conditioned to think that there should be a clear benchmark for which the value of everything imperial/ scientific or not should be ascertained forgetting that there is a plethora of reasons it is not and should not be that way. Take for instance, the standard that one’s expenditure on food per day should be above a certain threshold, estimated in a certain currency; Don’t you think someone can happily survive below that amount, how have you accounted for the few that have other means of subsistence including but not limited to growing their own food? Should that also be evaluated in monetary terms in your currency of choice? Or are we rather so naive to the fact that food items do not cost the same world over. Ok then, let us keep all other factors constant just to make your assumptions relevant.
Why should the threshold be the same across the divide like humanity is a set of lab rats groomed to have the same measure of need for a stated period in a controlled environment. Needs are determined by so many factors and lifestyles that are not and will never be shared nor considered the same way by all humanity. Humanity should not be treated like guinea pigs whose entire life span is drawn and lived in a box.
And who coined the idea that one has to be affluent to be happy? Since when did affluence define happiness? Everyone is motivated differently not having money may not affect some as they may not need it any way. “Not everything can be bought and so is happiness.” and so many other factors which to many are the greater considerations for happiness.
Wealth like happiness cannot be measured ultimately by money at hand nor in debt and thus would be wrong to have one’s income considered as a measure of one’s quality of life. Not everyone depends on incomes and expenditures. If I be naive as many, allow me to pause a question; “Assuming, I manage to have access to more ‘money' than i need, what next?”
Engauge in philanthropy?
Give an anchor to the ‘poor' yet retain the cord?
Pause candid for the world to witness my ‘actions of kindness,’ write the most touching (sensational) speeches, express genuine concern atleast infront of the camera then seek a refund and maybe some more? (I mean, my income has to be sustainable for the expenditures to make sense.)
Who even dares invest greatly where they do not expect a refund of some sort? Or maybe its for the satisfaction that 'fairy godfather' has your back....the truth is known and more clear than the candid picture moments.
Make your money peacefully and be pleased while doing so but do not at any one point think that everybody should spend as much time making money just like you. The human race is so diverse with every being unique only to themselves and so are the choices every single individual makes and thus the causes of happiness for every living person.
While in Asia I had a friend make a similar claim simply because there were more people ridding than those driving so he claimed those driving were definitely more wealthy. This was the birth of this argument. People in Asia ride for so many other reasons than what gives activists in the west sleepless nights. someone ought to get to understand the underlying reasons why before throwing around comparisons.
- Manoeuvrability; it is so evident that the streets are quite congested and thus a no brainier that one easily beats all the traffic when ridding rather than driving.
- The useless costs that go into owning a car can be spared for better and more resourceful benefit.
So just like someone needs 20,000 pairs of shoes, 3 fine rides, 2 mansions, a get away house in the woods, an underground dooms day banker and a yacht be happy, someone out there is grateful that they are have a healthy life, family and true friends.
Surprising and very true, happiness and satisfaction are found most at the bottom of the wealth spectrum simply because we are using the wrong benchmarks. why are those considered poor happier? May be that too is an assumption.
What precedents have been set, when majority of those the world calls wealthy made their wealth after they dropped out school? Schools that are said to be the places where they should learn to make wealth and do not tell me they went back and studied because you would also love to do it that way. Unfortunately the story may not be the same for you though you can still be happy if you turn the considerations to identifying those intrinsic motivators specific to you.
Back to the topic, happiness may be in having some money for some, a lot of it for others, in having power for several, in fame for millennials but that is not everyone.
Lately, it is near therapy to be ignorant of the current affairs as tabloids have become more sensationalised with nothing more than bad news, sad stories and terrible rants of exploitation, setting up one against the other, seeming to be creating peace yet setting up for war, all rather an irony.
- Opinions replacing news in the name of research.
- Manipulating outcomes for a breaking story.
- Camera points only where benefit can accrue.
- Reporting symptoms, which is good but then, why not the root causes.
- Exposing puppets and not them that pull the strings.
Humanity is losing self to technology. very good for some, though still not for everyone. Is it even sustainable or better still worth considering on behalf of everyone? That part I believe has not yet been considered but the research is on in full steam. Interestingly, man's greatest fears are all his creations and the trigger to his self-destruction lays in his inability to control the rate at which his innovations are morphing.
Not everyone is greedy, not everyone is selfish and not everyone wants it all. Some people just want to be happy and that happiness is found with in simplicity; it is more intrinsic than it is extrinsic. This has made some believe they are superior assuming that just because they have more and that is also according to them, the rest of humanity is beneath them and as such a certain sample space can be as a set of puppets, lab rats or guinea pigs. A certain majority are living under scrutiny and that makes some proud.
The world is such a mess today because of comparisons that are to the largest extent unnecessary and these have begotten competition with many convinced they should win in any way possible or rather die trying.
“simplicity signifies the magnanimity of a soul.” And such is life; relative to everyone as is choice and beauty.
let us learn to appreciate those that lead a different life style form ours, get to understand why they do before we impose what we find fitting. let us understand that there are several ways unique to nearly every person that they would rather have their lives considered. "we are not the same!" we would be wearing the same clothes but hey, we all have our different preferences and is life.
I am not poor; I am just different and I prefer it mostly this way. It definitely can be improved but dare not lose me within the process simply because all should work your way. As JJ. Rawlings stated, "Educate me, do not westernise me."
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