Power, knowledge or wealth?

There is  this age-old debate about who’s more beneficial to society: a scholar or a rich man.

Today, I want to deepen the conversation and include another variable: a ruler.  Therefore, let’s present the question again: who is more beneficial, influential or useful to the society: a scholar, a rich man or a ruler?  In other words,which one will you choose, knowledge, wealth or power?

I will hazard an opinion and say knowledge is more useful, knowledge is more important and knowledge grants more influence.

If only there’s a record with relevant data documenting all the influential people in history so that we could compare them on the three variables.    Fortunately for us, there is.

In 1978, Michael Hart wrote “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History”  in which he listed all the most influential people in history in order of their reach and influence.

If we are to examine the first 10 persons on that list alone, we would get the answer we seek.

When we go through the first ten individuals, we realize that the most influential people in history were religious leaders, scientists and inventors – all people of knowledge.

For instance, the first person on the list is Prophet Muhammad (SAW) the prophet of Islam – a man of knowledge.  The second person is Isaac Newton who gave us the laws of motion and universal gravitation; a scientist, a man of knowledge.

The third person is Jesus Christ (may peace be upon him), a man of knowledge.  The fourth person on Hart’s list is Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, a man of knowledge.  The fifth on the list is Confucius, founder of Confucianism.

And number six is St. Paul who expanded Christianity after Jesus, also a man of knowledge.  The seventh is Ts’ai Lun, the inventor of paper – a man of talent and knowledge.  The eighth  person is Johann Gutenberg who invented the movable press and printed Bibles.

The next person on the list is Christopher Columbus, often derided as a fool, but led Europe to the Americas, gifting his people the knowledge of the world beyond.

The 10th person is Albert Einstein, who gave us  the theory of relativity, a scientist, a man of knowledge.  The list continued in this fashion from 11th to 20th: laden with the people of knowledge e.g. Galileo, Moses (AS), Aristotle, Euclid, Darwin, etc.

A ruler or a rich man wasn’t mentioned until  number 17 (a Chinese ruler Shih Huang) and 18 (Augustus Caesar).

Who were the kings and the wealthiest men in the world during the time of these 10 people?

Why weren’t they remembered?  I concede that we remember some of the rulers of those times but usually in reference to the aforementioned.  For example, we remember the Caesar during the time of Jesus only because of Jesus (AS).

Wealth is even the least influential or enduring: who was the richest man in the world during the time of Jesus Christ (AS) or Prophet Muhammad (SAW)?  The world doesn’t remember or doesn’t care.

I once asked an audience who was the richest man in Africa.  We all agreed that it was Dangote.  I asked if Dangote would be remembered in the next 200 years.  “We don’t know,”  I answered.  But we do know that there were many “richest men in Africa” before him none of whom is remembered today.

Even in the contemporary world, knowledge/talent/education is quite influential – Bill Gates would be remembered in the next centuries, not because of his wealth, but because of his knowledge and what he did with it.

In the 21st Century also, we have influential people of knowledge such as Elon Musk, a South African resident in America who wants to make electric cars commonplace as Henry Ford did with the motorcar, Musk also wants to fly tourists to space.

Also, if you examine Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018 you would discover many people of talent/knowledge on the list who don’t necessarily have money or power.

I’m not saying power and wealth are bad.  No.  Actually, it’s good to have all the three so that you can use them as tools for good.  But it is rare to find someone who embodies all the three.  And when we are pushed to pursue one, as we sometimes are, I recommend you choose knowledge. Because that choice may also land you the other two.

More importantly, it’s only knowledge that has a predictable path to its acquisition.  In the case of power, even a prince is not certain that he one day will be king.  Political power in a democratic setting is even less predictable.

In the case of wealth, 1001 books have been written on how to get rich.  You may read all of them and even implement their advice and still die poor.

Knowedge, however, has a defined path to its acquisition.  You only need to go to school – whatever kind of school.

Do you want a degree?  Go to the university for four years.  If you want to add a master’s or a Ph.D., just stay in school for more years.

Also, you don’t lose knowledge once you become a scholar.  Einstein and Newton didn’t lose their knowledge until they died.  Presidents and prime minister during their time did.

You can lose wealth too.  The world is laden with people who were once rich.

I concede that there are exceptions such as the Pharaohs and Ghengis Khan.  But what is the legacy of these dictators?

While we can point to the legacy of Lun, Jesus and Newton, what is the legacy of the Pharaohs? The Pyramids? While those are legacies that still stand today and while I concede that the Pharaohs commissioned the Pyramids, some may ask the question: who designed them?  The people of knowledge.  That’s who.

The Pyramids also show us how to combine either power or wealth with knowledge to ensure the enduring legacy of knowledge.

You can build infrastructure. You can sponsor education or build places where people seek knowledge as did Andrew Carnegie who built thousands of libraries around the world.

Mansa Musa,  the ruler of the Islamic West African Mali Empire who, according to the BBC, was the richest man who ever lived, also used his wealth to further the cause of education

“In addition to encouraging the arts and architecture,” BBC.com wrote, “he also funded literature and built schools, libraries and mosques. Timbuktu soon became a centre of education and people travelled from around the world to study at what would become the Sankore University.

“The rich king is often credited with starting the tradition of education in West Africa, although the story of his empire largely remains little known outside West Africa.”

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has also started doing the same thing by funding buildings in our universities.

The Qur’an asks us: are you going to compare those who know with those who do not? This shows that the knowledgeable person is superior to any other person – no matter what else they have.

Your knowledge will even be more enduring if you put it in a book. There is no limit to how far a book can travel. And no one needs any technology to read them.

Even God the almighty, omniscient sends His revelations in form of Books – e.g. the Qur’an, the Gospel and the Torah.

So choose one: knowledge, wealth or power?  I recommend knowledge.  Because the pen is  indeed mightier than the sword – and cash.