Since the beginning of creation, man has been on a steady move or should I say on growth. This growth ranges from technology, physical development, education, economic advancement, environmental awareness etc. Man evolved and has continued to build and rebuild his environment in ways that make it easy for one to understand that man was created to bring development in and around his environment. In the financial world, the younger generation may be thinking that the paper money they use was the first and the only money to have existed since the creation of man but history has made us understand that money itself has been on a great evolution.
History tells us that the first known currency was created by King Alyattes in Lydia, now part of Turkey, in 600BC and this first minted coin had as its characteristic a roaring lion just the same way the American dollar has the heads of prominent statesmen who in one way or the other have contributed in the growth of the country. This first minted coin evolved into banknote in 1661 AD and since then there has been a serious modification being carried out on these notes by individual countries and the world at large (source). One may be pushed to ask this question; was the first minted coin a general means of exchange in the world at that time? In my study of business education, I found out about a word called barter. Barter means nothing other than the exchange of goods and services without the use of money. This economic term known as barter was used as a means of exchange when there was no currency either in coin or note which was recognized as a central means of exchange.
In those days, people will use what they have to get what they want i.e. someone who has a bag or few cups of rice and wants meat will come to the market with his goods to exchange with the person who has meat and this deal is done in pure open-mindedness and love for each other because both parties will not come with either spoilt or rotten goods to use as exchange. This way of trade called barter is still on till date but this time around it takes place between friends just as a means of showing love.
Looking at barter as a means of exchange back in the days one would be wondering how those who were living below the poverty level were able to survive. Let us look at it this way, a poor man who probably was unable to acquire more lands for farming will be left at the mercy of the rich to survive just as it is till date. What this means is that there has been a great division between the rich and the poor since the beginning of man. This great divide has continued to increase both in size and depth because the rich have remained rich while the poor continue to wallow in poverty.
I have tried to understand what and why the poor will remain poor and even pass it down to his generation just as seen in baton race. The truth remains that the mentality of the poor has been damaged so much that he does not think of any other thing other than his stomach because he believes in what I call stomach infrastructure and this makes it very hard for him to even think of venturing into any form of investment plan even when he has the opportunity to do so. He is afraid of not being able to feed his stomach and this keeps him poor.
A rich man wakes up in the morning with thoughts of any available investments to fix his money into because he believes that he can only remain rich if he grows his money. The rich man will go into such investments like real estate even when he knows that his life is not in his hands yet he will invest in a business that may take five to six years to bring in profit. He does this with the mindset of leaving wealth for his generation to come so that his legacy will continue to live even when he is long gone but for the poor, he does not think anything legacy, he only thinks of his stomach.
Some have argued that if the table between the rich and the poor be turned around that the poor will become rich i.e. if the poor are given the same opportunity which is given to the rich that the poor will become rich but there is something about the mindset we must have to consider before accepting such fact. The first time a baby places his hand or finger on a burning flame and it burns him, he will never try it again. Now the mentality of the poor has been greatly damaged because he has grown to be afraid of taking a risk. Don’t forget that investment is all about taking a risk so it may be very hard for a poor who has lived a life of stomach infrastructure to just see himself rich and not think of enjoying himself to the fullest i.e. getting those things he was unable to enjoy while he was poor.
Now, this is the great divide between the poor and the rich. Wealth does not come from outside rather wealth comes from within. Your thoughts, friends, lifestyle etc will determine how rich you will become in life. Take a look at the rich and their circle of friends you will notice that they mingle with not just rich people but with like minds which are why once an investment opportunity comes out, they will all key into it. How can this gap be closed? This change of mindset starts from when a child is born into a rich or poor family. If he is lucky to find himself in the family of the rich, he automatically will be able to think like the rich but if he finds himself in the house of the poor, this child will be left to think just in the same manner as his family and this becomes even worse because this child will end up enrolling in a school were 95 per cent of the students are coming from poor families.
This analogy does not mean that a child from a poor family cannot lift himself above the poverty level. It is achievable if he begins to mingle with children from rich families and if he starts reading books that can change his mindset about wealth creation. For a community or society to have more wealthy people than poor people, they must be able to share ideas especially an idea that deals with business growth and investment. Although it is not a guarantee that everyone will become rich but we must have to start a general orientation on how to live above the poverty level so that the great divide can be filled up.
