Poverty Means Broke, Impoverishment Means Having No Way Out

Even wealthy people can find themselves with nowhere to turn.

"Rich" means you have money. "Noble" means you hold the power to make things happen—small nobility gives you influence in a small circle, great nobility in a large one. Wealth certainly helps you gain nobility; as they say, having money helps you be the one who calls the shots.

Wealth tells you how much money you have, but nobility determines how much of that money you can openly deploy.

In today's commodity-driven society, land isn't the primary investment vehicle, and people are mobile. So village banquets and villa-building back home are like Native Americans dancing—under modern civilization, they're purely superfluous, mere consumption that generates no real value. The posturing and showing off behind them isn't really about proving you're rich; it's about proving you're noble—in other words, "I can bring people to my call." Only when you're noble can you protect your wealth (your land). And that kind of grandeur needs nobility as its foundation. Otherwise, what do you call it? Overstepping your bounds.