12th August, 2022
“Rich people stay Rich by living like they’re poor;
Poor people stay poor by living like they’re rich.”
In 1888, the Curacao city government decided to build a bridge to connect the two ends of a canal.
Few councillors proposed a standard toll tax, but officials wanted it to be a progressive tax.
They decided that rich people from the city would pay a higher tax amount to cross the bridge.
The critical question was how to identify who is rich and poor very quickly?
At that time, wealthy people used to wear shoes.
So, the government officials decided to charge a tax – if a person was wearing a shoe and crossing the bridge, then tax will be charged and it will be free for those crossing barefoot.
Simple, Easy, Difficult to avoid and a Brilliant idea.
But it failed miserably.
Why?
The rich simply took off their shoes & crossed the bridge.
The poor did not want to be seen as poor, so they would wear shoes or borrow shoes to cross the bridge.
When we lack self-esteem, we turn to things that make us feel better about ourselves.
Shopping to fill an inner void can easily cause people to spend more than they earn. Clothes and accessories make a buyer feel happy and therefore they continue to spend to stay temporarily happy.
We are bombarded on a daily basis by how society thinks we should look and dress.
The fact of the matter is the TV and movie industries purposefully choose the most attractive people who barely exist in our daily lives.
When all you see is someone really attractive, really wealthy, or even really good, it’s inevitable we start feeling inadequate and trying to copy them.
Rich stay rich by spending less. The poor remain poor by spending more trying to appear rich.
Ask yourself, are you “borrowing shoes” to cross any “bridge?”, if you are, please stop and stay blessed forever.