10 lessons from the poorest president of the world
10 lessons from the poorest president of the world
Uruguays José Mujica, the "poorest president in the world", lives in a 1-bed house, drives a beetle and gives away 90 % of his salary. We share its wisdom
I've always had a very specific idea of Uruguay. Hidden deep in the stomach of the continent, it was a spacious level with gentle hills, Laconian gauchos on thoroughbred horses and high grass culesons that troubled in the sun.
I am sure that my version of Uruguay exists somewhere, but the one I found was very different. Instead of a South American Arcadia, I found a modern country with liberal views and impressively progressive laws.
Uruguay was the first South American country to legalize the same -sex civil partnership at the national level, and the second country to Cuba, which legalized the abortion. It has no official religion and has renamed many of its traditional Catholic holidays: Christmas is Día de la Familia (Family Day) and the Holy Week is now Semana de Turismo (Tourism Week).
The most progressive is perhaps the fact that Uruguay is the first country in the world that legalized the production, sale and use of marijuana. It's not just your ideas for drugs, sex and religion that you cancel from others. Uruguay was the first country in the world in 2009 to provide every school child a free laptop and WLAN.
It is also one of the few countries of the continent in which the entire population has access to clean water. In 2013 it was named land of the year by The Economist.
José "Pepe" Mujica: The poorest president of the world
A large part of this incredible balance can be attributed to José "Pepe" Mujica, President of Uruguay between 2010 and 2015. Mujica, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was characterized by his blunt leadership, refreshing openness and his fiery speaking skills. When he resigned in March, he was probably one of the most popular, albeit lesser -known revolutionaries in the world.
alt = "The poorest president of the world meets Obama"> Mujica: "The tie is a useless rag that limits your neck" (Image: The White House, Public Domain)
In this case, "revolutionary" is used literally and not only to describe Mujicas comparatively radical ideas. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mujica was a member of Tupamaros, a Uruguayan guerrilla group that was inspired by the Cuban Revolution.
mujica was shot six times and spent 14 years in the military prison, most of the time under hard conditions and solitary confinement. He was released in 1985 when Uruguay returned to democracy.
Today the stocky, dough-faced atheist lives on a one-room farm in the eighty year old and, like in his presidential days, donated 90 % of his income for charitable purposes, a habit that brought him the nickname "The poorest president in the world". In the following we present 10 of his most insightful quotes that not only offer politicians but also simple people.
on consumption
"If every mighty three or four, five cars has 400 square meters to live and a house on the beach and a plane to fly here and there, it is not enough for everyone ... If today's world population strives for consuming like the average American, we need three planetary earth." (Source: Al Jazera)
on his presidency
"A president is a high -ranking civil servant who is chosen to perform a function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a tribe who knows everything. He is an official ... I think the ideal lifestyle is how to live the vast majority of people to serve and represent." (Source: Al Jazera)
alt = "The poorest president in the world" (Image: Cancillería del Ecuador, Creative Commons)
to the donation of 90% of his salary
"I have a way of life that I don't change just because I am president. I earn more than I need, even if it is not enough for others ... it is not a victim for me, it is a duty." (Source: Al Jazera)
on the environment
"We can now recycle almost everything. If we lived within our possibilities, the seven billion people in the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should move in this direction. But we think as humans and countries, not as a species." (Source: The Guardian)
on gay marriage and abortion
"Abandonment is as old as the world ... Gay marriage is older than the world. We had Julius Caesar and Alexander the big one. They say it is a modern thing, but it is older than we do. It is an objective reality. (Source: O globo)
about being described as the poorest president in the world
"I am not the poorest president. The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live. My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I am the son of my story. There were years in which I would have been happy to have just a mattress." (Source: The Guardian)
alt = “poorest president”> (Image: Roosewelt Pinheiro/Abr, Creative Commons)
on the redistribution of wealth
"I think the richest pay to eliminate poverty in the world ... It is nonsense that we throw away so much and make useless things throw away when women run five kilometers to get two jugs water." (Source: The Economist)
about his time in prison
"I always thought that I would get out at some point. You can see that I was a pretty stubborn character. I thought I would get out and continue to be a political fighter. And you know that I did it within two hours after getting out, and I've been going on since then." (Source: The Economist)
at the new beginning
"I am not tired of saying young people that those who are defeated to fight, it is always worth starting in all areas of life, not only in politics. I think that life is a wonderful adventure. And it is worth starting 20 times. These dark, terrible years have given me a lot. For example, I don't hate what it is for a luxury? (Source: The Economist)
about addiction
"The only good addiction is love. Forget everything else." (Source: Al Jazera)
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Read more about "Pepe" in "The Robin Hood Guerillas: The Epic Journey of Uruguay’s Tupamaros".
Mission statement: Frente A Aratiriri, Creative Commons
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