Rich/Poor Oliech
The interaction with the various forms of social, cultural and economic ideas and practices, either physically or through literature and/or the Internet is what guides my thought on these two words:
- Rich
- Poor
Cambridge defines this word in a manner that tells you that the word cannot be defined in itself fully without attaching it to a particular thing or aspect.
I chose this definition simply because it is the one that truly resembles the truth about the word's use; as an adjective.
The same dictionary defines poor as lack of material possession so in other words it is the opposite of rich.
The recent debate in Kenya, propelled just from a person's perception of a picture, is that Dennis Oliech is poor. Now, I might have accepted that perspective of the lad only if one thing was fulfilled. Context.
This is the case. If I was in the western countries or a believer in their system, I would have just decode the statement as just the lack of money or property measured to a certain standard, probably a certain dollar value. However, there is a different perspective.
A person in China or Russia would find it very difficult to call another one poor with finality. Rare cases occur though as every market has a mad man. "Rich' will be comfortable when used in the first person pronoun in plural; we. (We are rich).
When I come to the context of the global village, especially as an African, I try to fuse the two scenarios with an African mind in there too. I find it difficult to call someone poor as it may demean the person and to call the person rich leaves me with the question 'rich in what?'
From that angle, I cannot simply say that Dennis Oliech is poor without saying in what. Similarly, I cannot oppose the statement by just saying that Dennis Oliech is rich without specifying rich in what. Adding the "in what" will put the issue into a certain context that allows people to figure out who Dennis Oliech is and what he has and what he lacks. Failure to have the contexts, and to continue in such a discussion, means that the first person who initiated the perspective of this footballer's poverty was the only person who exercised his/her mind by trying to analyse the photo and drawing conclusions and that we have allowed his/her brain to service us with the interpretation his/her brain came out with without exercising our ability to think as well.
All in all, Oliech is rich in concern and love for his mother and sometimes, only such richness is what is needed.
Maurice N. Kamau
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