Mujica’s Definition of Poor: Always Craving More
Mujica, who earns the equivalent of US $12,000/month,
shunned the Presidential Mansion to continue to live in
his modest house on a dirt road in a rural area outside
Montevideo. He chooses to have a simple lifestyle, he
says, so he has time to live how he wants to live.
More impressive is the fact that he donates around 90%
of his monthly salary to causes that benefit the poor, and
small scale entrepreneurs. This brings the amount he
lives on, approximately $800/month, to that of the
average Uruguayan’s. While that may be modest, he
doesn’t feel poor. Mujica believes it’s not what one has,
but having an endless craving more, that makes one
poor.
Not Acting Presidential Enough in Some Eyes, but an
Inspiration to Others
Mujica’s past gives clues to why he chooses to live how
he does in the present. He is a former leader of a leftist
guerilla group, Tupamaros, that used (admittedly
violent) Robin Hood-like strategies on behalf of the
poor. His activities with the Tupamaros landed him in
prison for 14 years, where he says he spent much time
in solitary confinement.
While his days of violence are in the past, his leftist
leanings live on, and are clearly reflected in the policies
he supports today, including same-sex marriage,
abortion rights, renewable energy, and (to the chagrin of
many Uruguayans) legalization of marijuana.
Not surprisingly, Mujica has his critics, including those
who feel he doesn’t “act presidential.” But, as one
Uruguayan acknowledges, Mujica is someone the
common people can identify with. And I can’t help feel
he is demonstrating the best type of leadership of all:
living through example, with choices that reflect an
understanding that a simpler life is better for the Earth,
for the larger human community, and doesn’t have to
equal a sense of deprivation.



Sources :
http://m.aljazeera.com/se/2013102294729420734

http://www.pachamama.org/blog/the-worlds-poorest-president-may-also-be-the-richest-meet-jose-mujica