The rich also cry: Can wealth change the way we behave and think?

Sauti Sol sung “Heri ulie kwenye Range Rover ama ucheke kwenye Boda Boda, Ukose usingizi Runda, masaibu yanakufuata…… Pesa ni maua oooh tena inapendeza,” defines that wealth does not make anybody devoid of emotion.

But truly, what would you prefer? The economy is biting, inflation isn’t new, but price rises can still shock and we can feel it like never before, we end up digging deeper into our pockets to procure basic commodities. Even though income inequality is not the same as wealth inequality, the two can go hand in hand.

People define wealth to mean “an abundance of valuable possessions or money; being rich; material prosperity,” even though financial wealth does not assure someone of a happy life.

We all can be happy, but we are all stimulated differently. Happiness is a very complex state triggered by a variety of feelings and internal emotions (satisfaction, self-control, wordiness, gratification, appreciation, love, and so on), which in turn are stimulated by external facts or situations.

Can the way we behave and think be changed by wealth? Yes, it can! Being wealthy can have all kinds of advantages in life, while the super-rich are the envy of many, money can’t buy happiness, and many challenges come with an affluent.

In a materialistic society, success is measured by the possession or the control or the production of matter, or materials. Basically, it is materials that matter. But is that the true measure of human society? Can a society be called successful because it produces, controls, or owns more than some other society?

Growing up, our parents pointed to the rich as the role models even though most proponents of affluence do not tell us of its perils. From early years, we are taught the idea that being successful is tied to having money.

We learn that being financially rich means guaranteed happiness despite what might have happened in someone’s childhood or how someone lives their day-to-day life now.

We all aspire to become affluent, we somehow believe that becoming affluent is the greatest achievement in life. Yes, maybe it is, and comes with some comfort but that does not mean we get off the gutter.

The affluent commands respect and prestige and would not want to insipid all that by discussing wealth’s perils. History is inundated with men and women who fell victim to the perils of material comfort and publicity.

The first peril of affluence is meaninglessness. As we graduate from common mwananchi to affluence or as we inherit them, we realize that once a goal is met, it is no longer satisfying.

Recall when you once longed to own shoes. Today, you do not even realize you have shoes on. That is the same as any other material possession; they are only satisfying in the first few days, and then you start looking for the next and the next. It is why motor vehicle manufacturers are always coming up with new models.

The same applies to services. After visiting five or six-star hotels, where else do you go? Visiting the same places over and over again gets boring. This meaninglessness goes hand in hand with the never-ending race to be like others. A lot of what we procure is influenced by others, an invisible audience.

It is not easy to strike a balance in our lives. We have a high tendency to go to extremes. Yet, as the trumpets sound and as we breathe our last, we find the perils of prosperity unnecessary.

Take the example of the Covid-19 pandemic hitting hard on humanity. It was a mark of its self-confidence that it decided to first take on us from our strongest positions.

The world’s strongest economies, health systems, institutions, and healthiest populations were humbled and a few were even overwhelmed. The pandemic did not respect wealth, ideology, or race!

Yes, the rich also cry, they have their period when life may prove very difficult and even meaningless to them. Irrespective of our societal eminence, we breathe the same air, go to the lavatory, and eventually find our way under the soil.

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