The slightly shallow explanation would be to ask who would wash our toilets. Who will work the mines? Who would be my bodyguard and house help? How do we get paid sex? But it’s a little deeper than all that.
There is some common-sense aspect to problem. And it’s pretty funny. Not everybody on earth can have exactly 2500 dollars at the same time. Some will have 2501 dollars. Couple folks might have 2400 dollars. They are close, but they are not the same, even if it by an extra cent. A good man with a dollar more than the other is technically richer. Yes? Let’s follow through on that. This means that the 1 dollar richer man can afford more than the others below him.
More” can be in terms of quantity or quality, or both. As a seller of goods, what would you do if you were aware that some people have some more money than the others? You can either increase your price knowing that a few person can afford that increase, or you choose to retain your price and hustle more customers to buy out your store. This is in the realm of business, for instance.
There are two major approaches in terms of pricing – you can lower your price to make it more affordable for middle and low-income earners so they can rush your stuff; or you can increase it and target the higher class citizens; the crème de la crème of millionaires. Here, one single sale to a rich man can make up for three sales to middle income earners. We good to this point? Stay with me.
Watch
“Why would a man want to pay more for a particular product? It’s simple – he can afford it. But, there are other complex reasons. One of them is the toxic relationship between value and high prices.”
The shoe guy in your neighbourhood can make good leather shoes for you for just 30 dollars. A Louboutin pair might cost you a couple thousand dollars. It’s the same leather. Same style. The last long. They both look gorgeous. A wealthy lady would probably want to go for thousand dollar shoes just so that she’s not wearing the same 30 dollar shoes with her hairstylist. Probably due to the amount of reputation Louboutin has gathered over the years.
So, some might say you are not just buying a pair of shoes; you are buying fame, reputation, top tier branding, a sweet sounding name “Louboutin” – and those are valuable. So value to a regular woman is to get some practical shoes on her busy feet; value to a rich woman is all of that plus “I bought these Louboutins for 3,000 dollars”. It’s pretty funny, but it is what it is.
Inflation.
Then….there’s the headache of inflation. The simplest explanation of that is this - if the Central Bank of Nigeria suddenly deposited 100 million Naira in everybody’s account, everyone will become filthy rich. But here’s how it’s all gonna go to sh*t. The orange seller is aware that her customers now have 200 million. She would suddenly sell her 50 Naira orange for 5,000 naira. At first, nobody’s gonna complain. Then she would sell it for 20,000 Naira. The following week, she’s gonna sell it for 100,000. Not just the orange seller, the bread seller too. The cobbler, the plumber, the Bitcoin trader, the POS shop, the betting site, the barber, the foot pedicurist, the janitor, everybody. Real quick, the value of your dear 200 million Naira reduces. A month ago, you could buy hundreds of thousands of oranges with 200 million; in a few months, you can only buy 10,000 oranges with 200 million. In a year, 200,000 million will only be able to buy 500 oranges. Now you are back to Square One.
Slow down though, not everybody is going back to back to Square One. No, brother. It’s just you who had nothing before. The rich man still has his original billions in the bank. The 200 million CBN added to his account was just bonus he could live without. He will remain rich when the 200 million becomes useless while you will taste wealth for just a year and head back to BROKELYN.
Socialism
Let’s chip in a few more points. If everyone could be equally rich…or could be equally poor, this would ring the bell of socialism in your head right? Right! But countless journals, theses, opinions and memes have been drafted on the inescapable failure and drastic consequences of the socialist model. The easiest to grasp is human nature. We are competitive in nature. I would generally want to have more money than you. It doesn’t mean I hate you or I want to oppress you; I just wanna have more. Got a problem with that? Then literally, we can’t just have the same figure in the bank.
Also, we can’t all just aim for all the things we want. I want to try out this new business or invent a new product or system; and for that type of business or invention, I would need and eventually raise a billion in a year and multiply it. It’s natural. Moreover, you gotta agree with motivational speakers that not everyone is hardworking. Some will hustle twice as hard as everyone and will make more. How do you stop a man from working hard and earning more?
So the answer is not asking Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet or Elon Musk to distribute all that cash to the less privileged. That’s wrong on many levels. They’d eat for a while and wait for the next billionaire to send another cheque. Instead, educate them, upskill them, then maybe toss in a few greens and they’d be better off. Besides, chances are Elon will probably build his wealth back up to the richest man on Forbes List. He’s not a witch. He’s just a hustler.
Of course, many hate capitalism. “It is the root of all evil”. To dismiss that quickly, its advantages outweigh its demerits. And its advantages definitely outdo the advantages of socialism. With that out of the way, the biggest issue is ethics. Capitalism has been corrupted with unethical methods of acquiring wealth by citizens. One angle that has been constantly fingered over time is the issue of monopoly. Many governments are constantly trying to set up regulations to present and keep monopolies in check, but….how’s that coming along?
So...
“Can we all be rich equally? Definitely no. Can we all be rich? Tough question. Should some people be poor? Definitely no. People are, but people should not be. There is no glory or honour in being broke. ”
Anyone who has been broke (and that’s a lot of people) can relate to this. It’s a terrible way of living. That may appear to be an emotional matter, but here’s a believable explanation. First, capitalism is a b*tch at times but there really are lazy people everywhere. It’s pretty hard to help them. Nevertheless, there is enough evidence of people rising, perhaps not to extreme affluence, but close. The variables remain the same – dedication, knowledge, people, etc.
Second, a person may aspire for any line of work and still be comfortable. Some people love cleaning and want to be cleaners; but they do not want to be paid pennies for it or be mocked. If a man was paid well enough to live comfortably, he may aspire for any profession he loves. You’ve heard the joke – The difference between a tailor and a fashion designer is money.
Yours always,
Oyemaja Executives
