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HE, who is rich, makes the rules, or so it seems.
Yes, wealth can make one powerful, even beyond one’s wildest
imagination. This is one great lesson that we’ve learned since
time immemorial.
The thing is—most people look
up to cold cash as the only thing that matters in this planet. Yes,
wealth can be deceiving. But just like everyone else, I was also
interested to earn money the way Manny Villar has done it.
With a little ingenuity, we were
told by Senate President Villar of a formula called Sipag at Tiyaga
(hardwork and perseverance), which means: having a good education,
working in one’s business and getting elected to a political
office.
Sidestepping one’s traditional
approach to defining and getting wealth, could we earn millions in
less time than what Senator Villar could imagine? Exactly, this is
the lesson taught by leading business thinker Stan Davis and
co-author Christopher Meyer in their book Future Wealth (Harvard
Business School Press, 2000).
They describe a world in the
not-so distant future in which everything of value—including human
capital, talent, and other intangibles—will come to be traded in
efficient financial markets. Companies will invest in their
employees—not only in training and development, but literally in
their well-being.
This means business units will be
thought of as units of financial risk whose worth are judged by
their intellectual capital resulting to individuals thinking less
about jobs and more about how they invest in their own human
capital.
The situation is similar with the
way politicians think with their network and connections. Remember,
politics is addition, right? Generally, politicians like to find a
recipe that works for them and stick with it. For example, I know of
one politician who is so dirty low that I dare not mention his name
here, or else I might accidentally treat him as a human being.
You know what I mean here, you
dummy! If you’re of a voting age, knows how to read and write, and
is not a fan of local movies, you should use an elaborate and
sophisticated evaluation of all the candidates’ qualifications,
using either the Koran or the Bible as a standard measure.
The problem here is that
religious ministers who are interpreting the “rules” are also
part of the problem. So what happens when you try to consult a
minister is, you’re progressing briskly through the “rules”
and suddenly you come across the real instruction that God obviously
dreamed up moments before passing it to lay people, which in this
case is basically—what you learned from the kindergarten.
Really, if you feel like
exercising your right to vote in the coming election, then you
should get into “discernment,” which means having to think more
than ten times before you choose between traditional dirty
politicians and entertainment characters.
If there’s no choice, then your
next step is to go with those who are less guilty, which means
you’re limited only to those who are not so-famous, reasonably
educated, and without money to buy a poor man’s vote.
But then, if you do not want to
vote for any reason, like an imminent death or physical
incapability, all you have to do is to contact your minister again
for that much-needed prayer.
Now blame cable TV. That’s
where I’ve been getting these ideas about wealth and religion,
which have something to do with the “Theory of Quantum Profit”
the way Bro. Mike has described it in so many Tagalog words laced
with a strong Visayan accent made afloat by Air Supply.
I must confess that one time, I
tried to follow his teachings, but I am hampered by a brain that for
more than three decades has firmly believed that Air Supply is only
a musical group that sang “Here I Am.” Don’t you understand?
Rey Elbo is a business
consultant specializing in human resources and total quality
management as a fused specialty. Readers’ feedback may be sent to
reyelbo@pworld.net.ph
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