What a poor man needs just to survive is what a rich man wants just to satisfy his greed

This proverb means that the little money that the poor man has to live on is at the risk of being snatched from him by the greedy rich man.

I have seen and heard stories where some poor laborers, after working for some companies or some rich persons, were poorly remunerated or were paid far less than what was agreed on.

I am a witness to a case where a company called G4S, after pensioning some of their workers, was reluctant to pay them their pension allowance and other money that was obligatory for them to pay. Eventually, these pensioned workers had to resort to court.

This proverb is very visible in our communities. Many persons, companies, and institutions have cheated their way to great riches making this proverb true that the rich take what the poor man needs to survive just to satisfy their greed.

The poor man and the rich man story is from of old. It is widely believed that the rich man became rich by usurping money from the poor.

In my view, it is not always true. The very rich people I know in this world are what they are through clever innovations and serviceability. The likes of Dangote, Mark Zuchovic, Bill Gates, etc. are so rich because of their innovation, creativity, etc.

There is another category of rich folks who have developed a subtle way of making money by taking advantage of others, especially the poor. For this category, no matter how much they have amassed for themselves, they are yearning for more and would usurp the little that the poor have to live on without feeling any compunction.

They do not have any compunction because that is what they have been doing all along to become rich.

In my country, for instance, partisan politics is one back door people use to get rich quickly. It is all about fighting, bribing, or buying your way into power and once you lay hold of power or a higher office, you usurp and misuse the poor taxpayers’ money.