The wealth of paupers Gaudi and van Gogh
WHAT is depression? It’s seeing your bank account balance, watching Brexit developments, and reading Trump tweets and the Barretto exchanges.
As a deviation from more pressing issues, media lapped up the recent squabbles within the Barretto family. I don’t know but my memories bring me back to popular game shows like “Family Feud,” “The Price is Right,” “Wheel of Fortune,” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
Texting your wife “I love you” using a different name. Life-threatening is correcting the message by texting “Sorry, wrong send.”
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Many will disagree with me but I never considered Antoni Gaudi as an architect. For me he was a sculptor at heart. His monumental work, the church of the is a sort of spiritual sculpture that crafted nature to proclaim faith. His Catalan origins explain his rebellious attitude towards anything conventional.
And so is the Dutch genius Vincent van Gogh. For me his mastery of color and unusual brush strokes can sing beautiful notes way ahead of his time. Yes, very few are aware that he frequented The Louvre in Paris and studied the masters. Before he arrived in Paris, van Gogh’s work had
masters like Rembrandt, and the new
resulted from hunger.
Both Gaudi and van Gogh died as paupers — examples that immortality is not measured by the weight of gold in one’s pocket.
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“News?”
The personal fortunes of famous royal families all over the world are nothing to sneeze at.
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, with a net worth of $43 billion, is the richest royal in the world.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei comes in at a distant second with a total wealth valued at $28 billion.
The third richest is Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al- Saud, whose fortune is valued at around $ 18 billion.
Fourth is Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates with $15 billion.
King Mohammed 6th of from Morocco comes next with $8.2 billion, followed by Prince Hans-Adam 2nd, of Liechtenstein with $7.2 billion.
Queen Elizabeth is reported to have an estimated private wealth of $530 million. And she doesn’t have to pay any taxes on her wealth. Please note that the English monarch’s asset does not include the crown jewels and the Tower of London as these are the property of the English monarchy that have grown over many centuries.
Not to be left out is the Vatican’s wealth. The Vatican is said to have invested heavily in banking, steel, chemicals, insurance and real estate. International bankers estimate its wealth to be around $10 to $15 billion that earned its name as the largest tax-free institution in the world.
That is why I always lament at the way some of our bishops, priests and nuns today try to meddle in our political affairs by joining rallies of left-leaning advocacies. I remember that one of my favorite Vatican
and not any ideology.
Pope John Paul 2nd during his 1995 visit to the Philippines said this now famous phrase: “See the world around you with the eyes of Jesus himself. The Gospel says that when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Even St. Mother Theresa was always at the bedside of the needy during perilous times and was never seen wasting her time carrying protest placards or plotting to take down a government.
Dear countrymen, we Filipinos have the sole right to create the path we wish to take. We wrongly regard nationalism and patriotism as one and the same. Others have no right
that we should take. Offers can come from the outside world to make it easy for us but bear in mind that it is our feet that will sense the pain or comfort and not theirs. We can never blame them for the experience. There will be times that we will stumble along the way but the most important thing is our resolve to rise up based in our own resolve
begging. Caramelized promises can lure us to take shortcuts but in the end we will be accosted with unjust and amortized dependence and addiction to follow their wishes.
Some may brand this as arrogance or false pride. I size this up as the will to survive with honor and dignity. And that is who we are. We are Filipinos.
Good work, good deeds and good faith to all.