If you're so smart ...

... why ain't you rich?

The other day on the tube I saw an interesting before and after video. It was in a major Chinese city—I forget which one—showing a scene from 20 years ago, a broad boulevard nearly choked with bicyclists on their morning commute. Flash forward to today: the same avenue now choked gray with exhaust from the curb-to-curb, bumper-to-bumper cars and trucks, no bikes in sight. Be careful what you wish for.

I've been rich and I've been poor. Poor is better

Rich folks worry constantly about their wealth and about themselves. Poor people only have to worry about themselves.

Rich people tend to stomp a large carbon footprint. Poor folks tend to wear out their shoes walking to bus stops.

Rich folks have to be suitably attired for tee times and tea times. Poor people only have to be sure the right message is on their T-shirts.

Rich people are concerned about their neighbors having an effect on their property value. Poor folks only get concerned when their neighbors have an effect on their sleep.

Rich people need poor people, else how can they tell that they're rich? Poor people only need each other.

Even Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you ...." Maybe he wasn't so sure about the rich, eh?