by Nerissa Miller

Created on: June 22, 2009

Which will you instinctively choose? To be born rich or intelligent? Your current social, and economic status would have determined what you have chosen. Why is that so? Maslow's hierarchy of needs would have answered that question.

If you are born rich, you will probably have most things money could buy. Your expectation in life would have been different, as you could better control what you want to do with your life, and explore a lot of things that most people could not afford.

Imagine yourself enjoying one month holiday at a beach resort while your employee slog for his monthly income, and trying hard to earn his fourteen days annual leave. You could party till dawn every day without having to worry that you would be late for work, and get fired the very next day.

People that have worked to achieve the wealth they want in life may feel that intelligence is the key to success. However, when given a choice, would you want to be born rich or you would rather have the intelligence so you could work towards your goal of gaining wealth for yourself? You will be able to gain satisfaction with your achievements much more than those that are born rich. You know how to appreciate, and treasure the wealth you have gathered. Is that more important to you in life?

Rich people will want brain as they already have the wealth to begin with. People of lower social status or of a disadvantaged group may simply want to be rich. That is why a lot of people would gamble or buy lottery in the hope that they will get rich. People that are intelligent are not necessarily genius in all areas. An intelligent person may be good in certain areas such as creativity, but he may not have the social skill, the support of a good boss or be given a chance to excel in his job. You could call that lack of luck or it is fated that some intelligent people are not being appreciated for what they have contributed to their Companies or to the Society.

An intelligent person may be able to contribute more to society. They understand the consequences of their actions to the society or human kind in general. A rich man, on the other hand, may lose his wealth as he does not have the intelligence to manage it. This is, however, compensated by the employment of intelligent staff to help him manage his wealth. He may not have the intelligence to manage his stocks, but will still know if his fund manager has done a good job in increasing his wealth. If you are rich you could hire the top notch to help you increase your wealth, and you have the means to donate generously to the less advantaged in the society. A lot of rich men have done their part in donating to charities, building schools for children, and taking care of the needy. They do not have to be intelligent people to have done that. Rich man may lose his wealth if he does not have the intelligence to manage his wealth.

Intelligence, when used wrongly can be of harm to the society. You can either be an intelligent terrorist making bombs or an intelligent FBI agent. Both may not make you a rich man. Your wants and needs at this point in time will determine whether you will prefer brain or wealth. No matter which you prefer, we cannot deny that you probably will not deny that fact that being rich person will put you slightly ahead of many people.

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