- Former Uruguyuan president said the wealthy should not enter politics
- He shared they cannot relate with the struggles of poor and ordinary folks
- They are the minority and should not represent the majority
- He believes if they want to help the country, they should focus more on commerce and industry
MANILA, Philippines – He may have stepped down as Uruguay’s head of state, but the words of Jose Mujica still resonate very loudly.
Sharing his previous interview with CNN, the site Culture of Awareness bared Mujica — known as the ‘World’s Poorest President’ for his austere lifestyle and disdain for luxuries — and his reason why politics should be kept out of hands of the wealthy.
Mujica, who drives around in a 1987 Volkswagen and donated 90 percent of his salary as president to charities, said the rich should not enter politics because they cannot relate with the struggles of ordinary people and are poor representatives of the masses.
“We invented this thing called representative democracy, where we say the majority is who decides,” he said. “So it seems to me that we (heads of state) should live like the majority and not like the minority.”
“They tend to view the world through their perspective, which is the perspective of money,” he added. “Even when operating with good intentions, the perspective they have of the world, of life, of their decisions, is informed by wealth. If we live in a world where the majority is supposed to govern, we have to try to root our perspective in that of the majority, not the minority.”
While he does not have an issue with people who seek money, Mujica said he believes they are more suited to filling their time with commercial pursuits than with politics.
“I’m not against people who have money, who like money, who go crazy for money,” he said. “But in politics we have to separate them. We have to run people who love money too much out of politics, they’re a danger in politics… People who love money should dedicate themselves to industry, to commerce, to multiply wealth. But politics is the struggle for the happiness of all.”
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