16-05-2025
VOX POPULI: Remembering Jose Mujica, the voice of a global conscience
Jose Mujica, former president of Uruguay, delivers a speech in Fuchu, western Tokyo, in 2016. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
What does it truly mean to be poor? Or perhaps the more pressing question is this: What does it mean to be rich?
The recent passing of former Uruguayan President Jose 'Pepe' Mujica—often called 'the world's poorest president'—invites deep reflection on these questions. He died at the age of 89.
'A poor person is not someone who has little, but someone who needs infinitely much and wants more and more,' Mujica declared in his now-iconic speech, delivered in Spanish at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The powerful address propelled him to global recognition.
He also famously stated, 'I am not poor; I am sober, light in baggage. I live with just enough so that things do not steal my freedom.'
Why do those words still strike a chord today? Perhaps it's because we are living in an era marked by the erosion of our affluence.
Japan's gross domestic product ranking among nations continues to decline. Economic growth has stalled. Society itself is shrinking. And in this environment, many may feel a subtle urge to sneer at the hollowness of material wealth.
On the other hand, what exactly is poverty?
A powerful answer emerged in a letter from a university student published recently in The Asahi Shimbun. The student, involved in support activities for orphaned children, wrote that poverty is 'being stripped of the ability to choose how you live.'
The remark reflects a deep sense of frustration and helplessness.
Unrestrained, capitalism has a tendency to concentrate wealth in ever fewer hands. That is why Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates remarked in a recent interview, 'I'm trying to set an example by giving 98 percent of the money I have.'
The comment followed his pledge to donate virtually all of his estimated $200 billion (29.07 trillion yen) fortune over the next 20 years through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Wealth and poverty are not fixed concepts—they evolve with the times. In the early 20th century, when poverty was often indistinguishable from starvation, Japanese economist Hajime Kawakami (1879-1946) examined the meaning of luxury in his influential work 'Binbo Monogatari' (A story of poverty).
'Just as a person can die of thirst,' he observed, 'one can also die from drowning.'
Let us return to the words of Jose Mujica: 'We did not come to this planet merely to develop ourselves, just like that, in general. We came to this planet to be happy.'
His question lingers across generations: What, in the end, is human happiness?
It is a profound inquiry—one without a definitive answer, yet one that remains eternally relevant.
—The Asahi Shimbun, May 16
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
