The Rich Own The Trade

As I think through this Yoruba proverb 'olówó ĺó lòwò', I am humbled at how three words have sufficient substance to make a thousand speeches and fill a million lines.

This proverb literally means "it is the rich that owns the trade", whatever trade that is. Can we cross-examine the verity of this simply stated fact?

Which countries dominate global trade? See the figure on world trade statistics, facts speak for themselves.

Doesn't the rich control the time of the poor. Every human is endowed with a 24-hour day. Nevertheless, the rich tend to wield adequate economic power required to buy up more hours to their productive advantage. Many poor people can only sell their time to survive. 

Isn't it the rich that can create enough time to think, strategise, and flood our bookshelves? Who are those sane enough to want read whatever the poor may have to say, because they know it is instructive?

The rich own large estates and living spaces that the working poor dream and hope to rent for a decent living. Those living in extreme poverty can only settle for inconvenient slums and shantytowns. 

In today's global marketplace, aren't the influence-rich seducing the poor to make buying decisions? If not, why do brand ambassadors proliferate our clime, smiling through every ad? 

Isn't it the poor that seek financial security? All that the rich tend to pursue is an AAA rating at financial freedom. With diversified portfolios, the rich can build enduring wealth enough for many generations.

Do the poor cooperate and borrow from their fellow poor or do they seek help from rich money lenders and loan sharks? What definite difference does the poor's borrowing methods make? 

Can the poor buy in bulk and escape the vagaries of inflation? The rich may maintain a healthy store of all good things and save for rainy days.

The rich will receive many gifts they do not even solicit. They even get tax rebates because they give to the poor. Who likes to associate with the poor, if they have nothing to share with them? 

Those rich in knowledge and ideas tend to rule the poor who exercise  nothing but physical energy. Why may the rich be physically inactive and the poor physically strong? It takes time to grow in enduring riches of knowledge; however, can the busy poor afford such luxury of time?

Everybody plans, the rich and the poor alike. The plans of the patient rich, who always engage consistent and well-directed efforts, always lead to more. While the plans of hasty poor people, who hope to get rich quickly, plunges them into deeper poverty.  

Is poverty cultural or prosperity habitual? The poor are so deprived that all they dream of and seek are pleasures and entertainment, maybe for a momentary transport into the fantasy world of the rich. The rich are so satiated that they always seek to burn their fat by staying occupied on the drawing board throughout lonely nights.

It is a poor world in isolated developing regions within Asia and Africa, because majority of the population live in poverty. Shouldn't we stay awake to turn the tides?

Who are our educators, the rich or the poor at heart? Can a poor person teach another how to be rich? Do the rich show us how to be poor?

Truly prosperous minds may have to educate the poor to enter any desirable productive trade with sights set and shoulders square.  

Since the bankers and fund managers hold up all the money of the global economy, are they the rich that control the global trade? 

Just thinking...

Photo credit: World Trade Organisation