It is an age of envy. Envy by politicians, the media and academia. This envy has been normalized worldwide. Those who are successful enough to have accumulated wealth through their hard work and creativity, are demonized and their wealth taxed more.
There is a bad habit out there – and that is to wrongly associate wealth creation and accumulation, with greed and human exploitation.
The people who propagate this lousy mindset of envy, are from the left-wing political spectrum. By left-wing political spectrum, I mean that they believe in bigger government interventions in the economy. In their flawed view, the wealthy are wealthy at the expense of the poor, and therefore the government must intervene by forcefully taking from the wealthy and giving to the poor.
What is hypocritical about their mindset, is that it is more envious of rich business people, not rich entertainers, athletes and politicians. They do not obsess about millionaire entertainers, athletes and politicians – they obsess with business CEOs and founders. That proves their inconsistencies and their corrupt value system.
This mindset is not what Africa needs at this stage of economic development. We will be better off with more billionaires than less billionaires. Because as the legendary economist of the Hoover Institution, Dr. Thomas Sowell once said, “The only thing that will reduce poverty is wealth. And the people who create the wealth reduce the poverty.” Our desire to accumulate more wealth helps and will help in the fight against poverty in the African continent. Wealth creation creates jobs and expands business opportunities.
Now it is very important to clarify something. When I talk about the need for the pursuit of wealth accumulation in our society, by that I do not mean we should pursue wealth accumulation through illegal and immoral means. We must not create a continent where people steal other people’s assets to enrich themselves.