Whenever possible, we should try to connect people with love,
unite separated groups, connect jobs to the unemployed, bring comfort to those who are grieving, bring resources to those who need it, bring knowledge to those who want to learn, and give light to those in the dark.
INTERMEDIARY
Tiến asked the old professor:
“ Dear professor, I am honored to be guided by you for my Ph.D. thesis. I will try my best to not waste your effort, your time, and your reputation. Dear professor, I want to write a thesis about the big billionaires in the world, and figure out whether or not they have similar characteristics. ”
The old professor with the thick glasses said:
“ In the present time, Jeff Bezos is the richest billionaire with a total asset estimated at 150 billion USD. Bill Gates is second with 95.3 billion USD. Can you figure out what are the similar characteristics between these two people? ”
“ Jeff Bezos is the intermediary, he connects sellers to consumers under a very strong online system. Bill Gates owns Microsoft, which professionally produces software which are sold all over the world. I cannot see the similarities between them. ”
“ They have a common characteristic. Jeff Bezos acts as an intermediary by selling existing products from various companies. Bill Gates sells his own products. Despite this, they are both able to bring their products to the consumers on a large scale. There is a Vietnamese saying: No commerce, no wealth. ”
“ Professor, I know that saying but I think it is somewhat cruel. For those who are not equipped to reach the consumers at a large scale, they rely on merchants to determine the value of the products. Most of the time, the merchants will pay the producers as little as possible to maximize their own profits. ”
“ I used to think like you. However, I have come to realize that producing products takes a lot of labor but it’s not difficult. Meanwhile, it is tough to find appropriate consumers for those products. In the production process, labor and resources are needed but trading needs luck. Luck is a major factor to success in trading. All of the successful merchants are lucky people. I don’t have the knowledge to understand how luck works. The merchants are valuable in that they can connect the producers to the consumers. Without them, the economic system will fail.”
The intermediaries who connect people to one another are doing us a great favor. They unite the society. We need these people to create solidarity between ethnic groups as well as religious groups in a country. Producers need merchants to connect with consumers. Music composers need singers to connect with the public. Writers need publishers to connect with readers.
Many good things need an intermediary to reach others. Many philosophies, speeches, concepts need a messenger to deliver their messages. Those who volunteer to be intermediaries to bring goodness to others may even receive more blessings than the producers themselves.
Whenever possible, we should try to connect people with love, unite separated groups, connect jobs to the unemployed, bring comfort to those who are grieving, bring resources to those who need it, bring knowledge to those who want to learn, and give light to those in the dark.
Written by:
Janna
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