Despite great wealth, the rich also cry

We all aspire to become rich or affluent. The media, from movies to soap operas, make us believe that becoming affluent is the greatest achievement in life and worth even dying for. While growing up, our parents pointed to the rich as the role models. Religion however moderates our aspiration to become rich, but its effect has been attenuated with time.

Proponents of affluence include religious leaders too, with prosperity theology becoming the core of modern preaching, particularly in non-traditional churches. Most proponents of affluence do not tell us of its perils.

The affluent, because of the respect and prestige they command, would not want to dilute all that by talking about the perils of affluence. History is awash with men and women who fell victim to the perils of affluence and its twin sister; publicity. Some even committed suicide after reaching the apogee of their lives. I have in mind George Eastman Kodak and Marilyn Monroe.

The first of peril of affluence is meaninglessness. As we graduate from hustlers to affluence or as we inherit affluence, we realise that once a goal is met, it is no longer satisfying. The meaningless is more acute if affluence was not acquired legitimately.

Do you recall when you once longed to own shoes? Today, you do not even realise you have shoes on. The same applies to any other material possession. Material possessions only satisfy in the first few days, then you start looking for the next one. That is why car manufacturers are always coming up with new models as do hairstylists and the fashion industry.

The same applies to services. Where else do you go after visiting five or six star hotels? It’s boring to visit the same places over and over again. This meaninglessness is accompanied by the never ending race to be like others. A lot of what we buy is influenced by others, an invisible audience.

The second peril is idleness. Once you become affluent, you have more time to yourself because other people or technology can now work for you. Suddenly, you start seeing things in a different perspective.

Your relations with other people change, you become ‘de-personalised’. No wonder divorces are more likely among the affluent. Couples have more time for each other and that probably bores them. The media exposure, makes you now compare your spouse with other models.

The third peril, is that you often have too many choices which makes choosing very hard. A rich boy has more mates than a poor boy, which makes it likely that he will be unmarried for a longer time or after marriage, he will compare his spouse with others raising the likelihood of divorce.

The fourth peril is surprisingly, lack of freedom. You no longer can mingle with who you want, reside where you want and frequent any pub, hotel or even churches. This peril is perhaps the most disturbing. You no longer have freedom to be yourself because you must conform to so many codes, written and unwritten. I sincerely miss matatus but that does not mean I am affluent.

The fifth is diseases. Who has never heard of diseases of development from diabetes to hypertension and cancer? You find that just when you have the money to enjoy, diseases come your way. A disease that is rarely talked about is sexual dysfunction. Why else is Viagra so popular?

Next generation

The sixth is worry and anxiety. One big worry is often over the next generation, who might not be as hard working, focused or responsible as their parents. Lots of affluent parents cry at night over their children. The consequences of these perils are there to see.

With meaninglessness, and too much leisure time, it’s easy to drift to alcoholism, drug abuse or irresponsible sex. Incidentally, such vices afflict the poor too, who like the affluent have lots of time and suffer from a close relative of meaninglessness - hopelessness.

All is not lost. The affluent often try and find meaning in noble causes like philanthropy, helping the needy. That is well developed in the West, and affluent people often start foundations. We are catching up but too slowly. Others engage in sports like horse racing or polo. It is interesting that as you become affluent, you regress to the sports or activities closest to nature. Golf is played on natural grass and polo on horses.

Others, particularly in Kenya, join politics to keep themselves busy and get admiration. It is no wonder we keep on complaining about the quality of our politicians because not too many of them became politicians naturally or are driven by altruism.

A few become religious and seek meaning and purpose in higher powers. The truth is that as we hustle for prosperity, we often forget that becoming wealthy has its perils. Unfortunately, we never come to know about these perils until we become rich, which is often too late. Most affluent people do not even realise they are affluent. It might be time we lived our lives naturally irrespective of economic status, finding meaning in our work, families and reaching out to the next generation and avoiding the perils of prosperity. However, it seems there is a consensus that being rich is better than being poor.

Striking a balance in our lives is not easy. We have a high propensity to go to extremes. Yet, as we breathe our last and the trumpet sounds, we find the perils of prosperity were unnecessary.

Irrespective of our status in society, we breathe the same air, go to the toilet, and eventually find our way under the soil. Maybe it’s time we spent some time studying religion and philosophy, and take a break from  esoteric equations and graphs on utility curves.