Author: Fred Mbugua
Date: January 23, 2007
Type of article: Commentary
Source: The East African Standard http://www.eastandard.net/archives/index.php?mnu=details&id=1143963961&catid=15

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Rich people are really different from the rest of us and not always in a nice way.

Last week we got a glimpse of the self-congratulatory heights they can rise to, thanks to one proponent of the ‘prosperity gospel’, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru of the Jesus Is Alive Ministries.

It started off as a little harmless bragging about a wedding (quite understandable, I’d say) then exploded into a diatribe that seemed to belittle poor people everywhere. Naturally the nation caught a quick bout of rich person envy and many aligned themselves with the subject of her attack, a deadbeat dad and alleged wife-beater.

Wanjiru apologised to all Kenyans for the larger insult, but it must be pointed out that if she initially came off a little arrogant it is because that is the only way Kenyans know to act with their wealth. Just a week earlier, Internal Security minister Mr John Michuki was busy showing how it is done.

No apology for being rich

(The man just can’t help himself. Put a camera in his face and the honourable gentleman will invariably say something he shouldn’t. I know it’s something to do with growing old. Researchers have found that as people age, they have less concern about what others think of them and are more likely to speak their mind freely. But it’s hard to let his outburst pass.)

The good man was caught apparently gloating — there is really no other word for it — about the good fortune he has no doubt wrested from this cruel earth through no small effort. In fairness to the minister, the media clip I saw was not put in context. But, anyone seeing it would be hard put to say in what context its meaning might change.

"I have never bought a secondhand car," Michuki was taped crowing at some person off-camera. "The only time I ever bought one was in 2002 during elections for other people to drive around in."

I suspect the minister was addressing a group of newly appointed administrators, trying to show them what to aspire to and why not to settle for average things. But if naked materialism is what inspires us, rather than any of a myriad other measures of success, is it any wonder we will gloat once we have what others have not?

Last week, BBC World Service was re-running an interview with Indian entrepreneur Mr Narayan Murthy, founder of the global software giant Infosys. The man, one of the world’s most admired business leaders, was making a pitch for something called "compassionate capitalism".

Use capitalism to appeal to masses

At some point in the interview, Murthy made some remarks about India’s battle with poverty that might just have been tailored for the protesting masses gathered at Kasarani for the World Social Forum.

"We have tried socialism and it has not worked. We tried Communism, it didn’t work... We believe that if India has to solve its problem of poverty, we have to embrace capitalism, ensure that jobs are created, and make sure that market-driven policies are accepted," he told the BBC.

H

owever, to (succeed), the evangelists of capitalism must conduct themselves in a manner that will appeal to the masses. People must be able to relate to them easily. They must lead a normal life, a simple life, and people must be able to say: ‘Look, if these jokers can do it, we can do it better’."

There is a reason why some people’s wealth seems obscene, while others (who just may have more) attract no evil eyes. It’s all about how a person carries their wealth. Many ridiculously rich people understand the difficulty presented by having a whole lot more money than everyone else. Where they can, they tend to associate with other rich people. (Move to Cape Town and your Maybach goes from obscene to cool).

If, however, they live in a country with great disparities in wealth, they understand they have to carry themselves in a manner that does not evoke revulsion from less wealthy individuals. The reasoning is simple: Where wealth is extremely poorly distributed, there is the desire to redistribute it by any means necessary including, as was the case in Zimbabwe, violence.

For a capitalist system to avoid such redistributions, poor people have to aspire to the lives of the rich and also be able to attain them. The US is often named as an example of a nation with great income inequality. But much of its population — both rich and poor — defend the capitalist system passionately because they can see in it a route to their own wealth. (It’s the American dream!)

For Kenyans to strengthen their faith in capitalism, even as crowds of activists point out the many ways in which it is broken, they must believe that they too could build up the kind of wealth they see on TV. Whether they like it or not, the Kirubis, Michukis and (yes) Wanjirus of this world are evangelists of capitalism.

A little more modesty from them all will go a long way to bringing wealth back to respectability. Because while we all agree it is desirable, the rich have managed to stain it such that only the most morally flexible among us are ready to get there the same way we think they did.

The writer is The Standard’s Senior Associate Editor, Business