José Mujica is the immediate past President of Uruguay who served from 2010 to 2015. He has been described by the international media as “the world’s poorest president,” simply because of his practically austere lifestyle even as president. This sage, regardless of his presidential status, lived like a pauper though he was actually not broke. His way of life is really bizarre. Well, he is a certifiable maverick who stays true to his eccentric ideals in our highly sophisticated world. As the President of Uruguay, he rejected the presidential palace offered him and lived together with his dear wife on a small farm outside the capital city. Besides, he actually cherishes that kind of queer living even in our technologically advanced world. For I believe he is the wisest politician in the world today, and we ought to learn from the following 5 vital lessons his way of life teaches us.
(1) Poverty is all about avarice and not lack of material gains:
Ha-ha, that is actually a paradox. The lexical meaning of poverty is “the condition of having very little money and possessions.” However, José Mujica believes otherwise; ironically claiming that poor people are those who are really avaricious, and not those who merely lack material things. He once declared, “My definition of poor are those who need too much. Because those who need too much are never satisfied.” In fact, cupidity is a sarcastic proof of poverty since it ensnares one in the rat race. Mr. Mujica emphasises that money and possessions should make us feel secure, content, comfortable and modest, and not the exact opposite.
(2) Philanthropy is simply priceless:
The greatest philanthropists in world history include Warren Buffet, Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Li Ka-shing, Henry Ford, Chuck Feeney etc. They have donated billions of dollars each out of their individual fortunes in their lifetimes. Yet how José Mujica does his philanthropy is incredibly amazing though monetarily insignificant. When he was the President of Uruguay, he consistently gave about 90% of his monthly salaries equivalent to $12K to charity. He stressed that he did not actually need those amounts, so he donated majority of them to the homeless and small entrepreneurs.
(3) Politics is a call to selfless service and not amassing of wealth:
In the African continent especially, politics is mostly about amassing wealth at the expense of the masses’ supreme welfare. Many selfish African politicians gleefully practise sheer corruption with impunity just to rob nations of money and possessions. They are in the minority representing the majority, but they abide in economic paradise while their people abide in economic hell. But Josè Mujica is famed for asserting that, “Some people love money and get into politics. If they love money so much, they should get into commerce, industry, or do whatever they want – it’s no sin. But politics is for serving the people.”
(4) It pays to experience struggles in life:
José Mujica was a Uruguayan guerrilla in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He was later arrested, even shot 6 times in the process, and later incarcerated for 14 years until he was set free when Uruguay returned to democratic rule. He faced real sufferings and hardships in prison as a convicted criminal. Interestingly, the prison-bound experiences were a turning point in his entire life. He once revealed that, “My years in jail were a bit like a workshop for my [life] – that actually forged my way of thinking and my values.” No wonder he has extreme care for the deprived, less privileged and have-nots in the Uruguayan society.
(5) The world needs equity and not equality:
Equity and equality are similar, but they are not the same – know the slight difference! In socialist philosophy, equity is ensuring fairness in every situation while equality is giving people the same things. So inequalities in society will forever be a social problem as long as we undermine the significance of equity. José Mujica believes that all manner of persons should be treated fairly without favour. He once remarked that, “…If we lived within our means by being prudent, the 7 billion people in the world could have everything they needed…But we think as people and countries, not as a species.”
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