Inherited wealth is not a function of the intelligence of those who have it, but a function of the happenstance of their birth…
For years I hungered for and pursued education like a drowning man reaching for a piece of floating log on the high sea. I told those who wondered why I was so earnest that I wanted an education so I could get the kind of job that would afford me things I could only dream of as a child under my uncle’s roof — simple things I was callously denied, things used to bully and victimize me mercilessly. Years after I had acquired the education I wanted, years after I had earned my many degrees, diplomas and certificates, a new understanding of my hunger was revealed to me. I wanted a good education, not just for the many material privileges it could afford. I wanted a good education and its many benefits to prove to my uncle’s wife and her children that I wasn’t stupid.
But material privileges are not a function of intelligence. A stupid man in a three thousand dollar suit is still a foolish man in a three thousand dollar suit. In a rag, an intelligent and smart man will always be intelligent and smart — rags, calloused hands and all. The fact that he is not affluent or in a position of influence does not make him stupid. It just means that he wasn't born into means and privileges that allowed him to pursue his dreams and aspirations like his contemporaries. When all’s said and done, inherited wealth — and the benefits it affords — is a function of the happenstance of birth, not a sign of intelligence of the one who has it. I learned this years later after — much water had passed under the bridge, as they say. And from observing the idiotic behaviour of some stupendously-rich and influential figures. Just because a person is born rich does not automatically mean they are intelligent. Dressing rich will make that person appear smart, of course — the same way eating rich, driving rich and walking rich will. But those are all the side benefits that are having money — or specifically, being born into money — bring. They don’t add up to making that person smart and intelligent if he isn’t.
Nonetheless, in the mind of the 10-year-old child, I was at the time, to be able to afford a good education, you had to be rich. Rich was what gave you material privileges. And pieces of evidence of material benefits in your life meant you were intelligent and smart! Funny how the mind of a child works. But life has a way of putting things in perspective if you walk this earth and its many paths long enough. My uncle’s wife had fed me daily on the belief that I was stupid. But I wasn’t stupid; I was just less privileged. Less-privileged does not equal stupid.
