Sometime back I read an interesting column posted at Yahoo news under the
caption, “Rags to Riches: Self-Made CEOs Who Started with nothing.” Among these
fabulously rich persons there are some self- made wealthy individuals who were
previously homeless. One of them, when he was homeless, even a penny was
precious for him. Now with over 10 billion in his kitty, he can buy any
material comfort under the sun. Even that desire must have reached a saturation
point. With a mountain load of money, the only drive that remains with him is
to swell the wealth further.
There is gainsaying
that beyond a certain benchmark the wealth loses charm even for the
gubernatorial wealthy people. Yet the only penchant that remains with them is
to enhance the volume of their opulence. It could be portrayed as a sort of
situation to be diagnosed as the wealth fatigue or disenchantment except an
unflinching urge to add more wealth.
The wealth or money, in simple terms, is a great vehicle and instrument to make the best out of this limited and ephemeral life. The poverty simply is a curse that deprives a man even of the easy attainment of basic needs or comforts that are essential to lead a normal life. The disparity and disequilibrium in possession of wealth or means of buying in various societies are so glaringly poles apart that one feels aghast at the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots or the poorest and the wealthiest in the society.
This should be the dream for a person like me living on a paltry monthly income of $ 1000 as to own personal jet aircrafts, or fly in first class, reside in palatial mansions, own the costliest cars, rub shoulders with top aristocracy and elite classes, oblige politicians with hefty donations and lord over a huge network of business and an army of subordinates.
For countless humans around the globe to come home at dusk with some basic food items to feed his children besides himself and his wife is a tall order. He or she has to jump out of their rickety beds the next morning, set off for the work that is as monotonous, and as dull and low as dish -washing and sweeping the streets or to guard a property of a rich person. This insipid yet forced routine continues for decades until he retires and starts a new phase of life with wrinkles on his face, aging frame of body and aimlessly brooding and waiting for the monthly stipend checks to come. In essence, the life pattern remains the same except the passage of time that has sapped his energies and freshness of youth and he is gradually drifting to his end.
There are many billionaires who were born in extremely poor families and had to go through very harsh, humiliating and trying conditions for survival. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blank Féin, Howard Schultz, John Paul Dejoria, Li Ka-Shing, Lloyd Blank Féin, Roman Abramovich, Sheldon Adelson, Slide pollajax, Ursula Burns, are some of the names of the persons who are known as self-made billionaire CEOs and who started with nothing.
For instance Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, grew up in a cramped two-bedroom apartment in New York City, saw his father lose his delivery job after breaking his ankle. Lloyd Blankfein, the head of one of Wall Street's most profitable firms, Goldman Sachs, is a Brooklyn native, who learnt the value of a dollar "three cents at a time carrying trays of soda at Yankee Stadium."
The CEO of the multi-billion-dollar software empire, Oracle, Larry Ellison the sixth wealthiest person in the world at the outset ended up going from one odd job to another, with just enough to survive on fast food and buy gas. Li Ka-Shing the wealthiest self-made billionaire in Asia with a net worth of $21 billion, was forced to quit school after his father died of tuberculosis, eventually finding work in a plastics factory where he worked 16 hours a day.
Take John Paul Dejoria, the co-founder and CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems, for example. Dejoria twice found himself homeless. Finally, he pulled himself out of homelessness to have his products land in almost every top hair salon in the world.
All these people were paupers to begin with. However, with a mix of innovative mind, unwavering determination, and good luck, they finally became billionaires. There are innumerable stories of such persons who in their early life were starving, were homeless, or possessed very meager means of sustenance. However, today they not only roll in money but also are increasing their wealth by leaps and bounds.
But these are the stories of a few individuals. The countless millions on the planet sleep hungry or without a proper meal. The luxuries of life as enjoyed by others with abundant or modest means are far away from these wretched or scum of the earth. Clean water, cool air and cozy and private environ of a home are simply unachievable fantasies for them. Such is the paradoxical cleavage of inequality of wealth among the human being.
I have seen even in America, otherwise a leading affluent country, the human scavengers waiting outside the restaurants and eateries for the surplus of waste food to be thrown into the dumpster. They pick it up and eat without ever thinking these could be contaminated or would pose health hazard to them. This practice of finding wasted and discarded food for filling the furnace of belly is common phenomena all over the world.
If you have to see its fullest view, then go to any third world country, where food and jobs are scarce and hunger and starvation are rampant. This saddening spectacle is seen even in rich societies despite the fact that there are countless food banks and emergency food centers that cater to the helpless hungry human beings. In every city of America, there are agencies that distribute food to the hungry and indigents round the year.
There have been innumerable famines in the known history of humankind. These famines ravaged and killed millions of human beings. To survive desperately, hungry people ate the dead animals, stubs, and stock of the plants, the reptiles, and even the dead humans. The French Revolution took place because of hunger and high cost of bread and food. During one of the Pharaohs times the enslaved people ransacked the palace, forced the king to run away and the stocks of the grains were looted. Such is the power and compulsion of hunger.
In the Indian sub-continent alone 60 million people had died due to 15 famines from 1770- 1944. African continent has always remained in the grip of famines from ancient to the present times. However, even in such sullen societies the wealthy and rich people still survived and enjoyed life while the common people died because of starvation. The extravagant lifestyle of French nobility before the “French Revolution” in comparison to the impoverished and downtrodden people offers the glimpse of that contrast.
The wealth or money, in simple terms, is a great vehicle and instrument to make the best out of this limited and ephemeral life. The poverty simply is a curse that deprives a man even of the easy attainment of basic needs or comforts that are essential to lead a normal life. The disparity and disequilibrium in possession of wealth or means of buying in various societies are so glaringly poles apart that one feels aghast at the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots or the poorest and the wealthiest in the society.
This should be the dream for a person like me living on a paltry monthly income of $ 1000 as to own personal jet aircrafts, or fly in first class, reside in palatial mansions, own the costliest cars, rub shoulders with top aristocracy and elite classes, oblige politicians with hefty donations and lord over a huge network of business and an army of subordinates.
For countless humans around the globe to come home at dusk with some basic food items to feed his children besides himself and his wife is a tall order. He or she has to jump out of their rickety beds the next morning, set off for the work that is as monotonous, and as dull and low as dish -washing and sweeping the streets or to guard a property of a rich person. This insipid yet forced routine continues for decades until he retires and starts a new phase of life with wrinkles on his face, aging frame of body and aimlessly brooding and waiting for the monthly stipend checks to come. In essence, the life pattern remains the same except the passage of time that has sapped his energies and freshness of youth and he is gradually drifting to his end.
There are many billionaires who were born in extremely poor families and had to go through very harsh, humiliating and trying conditions for survival. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blank Féin, Howard Schultz, John Paul Dejoria, Li Ka-Shing, Lloyd Blank Féin, Roman Abramovich, Sheldon Adelson, Slide pollajax, Ursula Burns, are some of the names of the persons who are known as self-made billionaire CEOs and who started with nothing.
For instance Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, grew up in a cramped two-bedroom apartment in New York City, saw his father lose his delivery job after breaking his ankle. Lloyd Blankfein, the head of one of Wall Street's most profitable firms, Goldman Sachs, is a Brooklyn native, who learnt the value of a dollar "three cents at a time carrying trays of soda at Yankee Stadium."
The CEO of the multi-billion-dollar software empire, Oracle, Larry Ellison the sixth wealthiest person in the world at the outset ended up going from one odd job to another, with just enough to survive on fast food and buy gas. Li Ka-Shing the wealthiest self-made billionaire in Asia with a net worth of $21 billion, was forced to quit school after his father died of tuberculosis, eventually finding work in a plastics factory where he worked 16 hours a day.
Take John Paul Dejoria, the co-founder and CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems, for example. Dejoria twice found himself homeless. Finally, he pulled himself out of homelessness to have his products land in almost every top hair salon in the world.
All these people were paupers to begin with. However, with a mix of innovative mind, unwavering determination, and good luck, they finally became billionaires. There are innumerable stories of such persons who in their early life were starving, were homeless, or possessed very meager means of sustenance. However, today they not only roll in money but also are increasing their wealth by leaps and bounds.
But these are the stories of a few individuals. The countless millions on the planet sleep hungry or without a proper meal. The luxuries of life as enjoyed by others with abundant or modest means are far away from these wretched or scum of the earth. Clean water, cool air and cozy and private environ of a home are simply unachievable fantasies for them. Such is the paradoxical cleavage of inequality of wealth among the human being.
I have seen even in America, otherwise a leading affluent country, the human scavengers waiting outside the restaurants and eateries for the surplus of waste food to be thrown into the dumpster. They pick it up and eat without ever thinking these could be contaminated or would pose health hazard to them. This practice of finding wasted and discarded food for filling the furnace of belly is common phenomena all over the world.
If you have to see its fullest view, then go to any third world country, where food and jobs are scarce and hunger and starvation are rampant. This saddening spectacle is seen even in rich societies despite the fact that there are countless food banks and emergency food centers that cater to the helpless hungry human beings. In every city of America, there are agencies that distribute food to the hungry and indigents round the year.
There have been innumerable famines in the known history of humankind. These famines ravaged and killed millions of human beings. To survive desperately, hungry people ate the dead animals, stubs, and stock of the plants, the reptiles, and even the dead humans. The French Revolution took place because of hunger and high cost of bread and food. During one of the Pharaohs times the enslaved people ransacked the palace, forced the king to run away and the stocks of the grains were looted. Such is the power and compulsion of hunger.
In the Indian sub-continent alone 60 million people had died due to 15 famines from 1770- 1944. African continent has always remained in the grip of famines from ancient to the present times. However, even in such sullen societies the wealthy and rich people still survived and enjoyed life while the common people died because of starvation. The extravagant lifestyle of French nobility before the “French Revolution” in comparison to the impoverished and downtrodden people offers the glimpse of that contrast.
Third world countries
like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh and also the entire African content have wealthiest
families and individuals. Most of them are in business and some have been
holding prestigious and powerful executive positions which they exploited to
enhance their wealth and opulence. Now these people would rather have seen the wealth
being put in their accounts or kept in their personal custody. But they would
not restore that wealth to the national exchequer or give away a part of that
for the uplift of the poor and financially backward classes and sections. Such is
the deep-seated aversion by the rich for the dispossessed and demonstration of a
despicable tendency to not donate it or part of it to the needy and deprived
sections of the society.
In Pakistan the wealthiest families have
amassed their wealth through devious or questionable channels. But they invest
that money into such ventures that brings them more wealth astronomically. The political
power wielders such as Sharif Family, Zardari and others keep accumulating
their wealth by hook and crook and use that for winning votes and remaining in
power as long as they wish to. The political stalwarts remain hand and glove
with the industrialist, mill owners, the business tycoons, the property and land
czars and keep hoarding money perpetually.
The laws and taxation system and accountability
are the weakest institutions in Pakistan as well as in the other third world
countries. These people pay meagre taxes. Since they would be in power and
institutions are vulnerable they escape and no one can catch them and force
them to pay the taxes and duties which a low-level trader or a shop owner does.
The problem with the developed countries such
as USA and the west Europe is such that the law there doesn’t give leeway to
the wealthy to escape from the back-doors and violate the rules and caveats. The
payment of taxes is incumbent upon everyone. If someone would be found
manipulating or concealing taxes and duties he or she can face heaviest fines
and terms in jails. That is why those countries are running on firm footing and
going ahead on the road to further advancement in all domains of national
development and reconstruction.
There are 34 richest families in Pakistan. The
wealth of some these families ranges between Rs, 50 billion to 200 billion. Among
these Mian Mansha is on top with Rs. 200 billion (1.9 billion U.S. dollars) He
is followed by Asif Zardari with Rs. 189 billion (1.8 billion US dollars)
stashed in businesses, ownership of properties and solid cash in banks in
Pakistan and abroad.
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