The Geography of Wealth and illusion of real wealth

So the question kinda goes Nigeria is a poor country. Its GDP per capita is ranked 52nd. In this poor country, you have someone who is rich who can afford to fly in private jet planes, have people to carry his bags, luxurious cars to take him places, and even the police walk beside him. They are living in a mansion, going on international trips every now and then, they don't have a dearth of anything. They have plenty of servants to take care of household chores, too.

On the other hand, you are living in the United States, a country with the highest GDP But you're just an average Joe living in the US, who has to work overtime to pay for his home loan, has a car that's just average, struggles to send his kids to college, and is scared of the high medical bills that hospitals. He has to do all the household chores himself, because the maid service is very expensive, gets to breathe fresh air, but has to mow his own lawn, take out the trash himself and gets to go on only one vacation in the entire year. Tell me, would you want to be the rich person in a poor country now, or would you want to be just an average Joe in a rich country?

So as someone who comes from what many will say is a poor country being rich in a poor country sounds great until you realize money can’t fully buy things like clean air due to environmental pollution, reliable healthcare, rule of law & rights, safe roads, or institutions that actually work. You can have a big house and a fancy car, but you’re still dealing with pollution, corruption, bad infrastructure, power cuts, sketchy courts, and constant VIP management just to get basic stuff done(Connections they call it in my country). An average life in a wealthy country I believe is just smoother, though I might be wrong, this is my opinion and not a lived experience. Healthcare works even if you’re not a millionaire. Police and courts mostly function. Your taxes hurt, but you see where the money goes.

Also, wealth in poor countries is fragile. One political shift, one bad policy, one corrupt case, and suddenly your money doesn’t protect you anymore. In rich countries, even average people have strong legal and social safety nets, with regards to the enforcement of the law, it keeps almost everyone rich or poor on their toes. Only real downside? You won’t feel special. In a poor country, money gives you status and power I’ve had rich people travel out of the country and complain about how they are much more “free” in Nigeria, this is just due to them being ale to get away with a lot of things in Nigeria(poor country) that they cant dream of getting away with abroad or in more developed countries. In a rich country, you’re just another guy in line at the shop. In Norway, he was a fairly run-of-the-mill fellow with a salary that wasn’t exactly remarkable. Grocery prices were ridiculously high, he said. Life was almost unaffordable, even though his salary was high even by European standards; Scandinavia is an expensive place to live and taxes are high. I have a friend whose income, which was by no means spectacular in canada, allowed him to live like a king in Nigeria. In fact he cut a deal with his boss to work remotely half the year and be physically present the other half of the year. Thus, he spent half a year in the Nigeria lounging near beaches in Lagos and frequenting fancy resorts . “For the money I can take one person out to dinner in canada, I can feed twenty people here,” he said, “and the food’s pretty solid, too.” The more you see of the world, the more you’ll notice that the average European or American is remarkably well-off compared to the average person just about anywhere else in the world. Sometimes “being rich” is just a matter of geography.

I also have a friend who has been on both sides of the spectrum. I asked him this same question and he said “When I was in Nigeria, I came from an upper middle class family of doctors, having our own house. There were house maids available to do all the domestic chores and all the perceived benefits, Cheap deliveries in 10 mins, gated societies with all luxury spa/club elements etc. I was not technically ‘rich’ as some would define in Nigeria, but if you look at the raw data of average income in Nigeria, I was definitely wealthy. I was a pampered kid. Now, I am currently living in the UK. It is a ‘wealthy’ country if you look at per capita income of people. That being said, I definitely have way less of ‘comfort and luxuries’ that I had back at home. I make my own food, I don’t have luxury of daily cleaners, In other words, I grew up from being a pampered boy to a self sufficient independent man (and I am still learning!). However, if there is one thing that I definitely feel wealthy about, it is the realisation that everybody here has a nice quality of life. In the UK, I drink water from TAP because it is that safe). Even the food standards are pretty reliable. I would even say that some people in UK live quite a sheltered life, and especially those who have lived their entire life here would probably never know what goes on in other parts of world, which is a good thing. That shows how social security should be and how ‘government taking care of its citizens’ is perfectly possible in a capitalistic market. Having seen both worlds, I would choose living in wealthy nation and being average over ‘rich in a poor country’. The former makes you live in a society while the latter makes you live in ignorance till you face the reality of others around you”.