Written by Burch Wood  

As I was reading the first chapter of Prahalad’s The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, I was struck by some of the similarities between the impoverished of the developing nations and those of developed nations.  This resonates with me because I come from an area that is traditionally socio-economically depressed.  My own history working in a gas station (which serves all walks of life), going to school with some kids that still didn’t yet have power, and my own family’s history tenant farming helps me to see many of the things Prahalad points out as intuitively true.

            Having grown up in a town that, to some extent, exists economically because it has an interstate running through it, access to consumers is very important.  Access issues (despite the interstate) exist even now there.  Much of the mountainous areas of the county still use dirt and gravel roads with little likelihood of seeing pavement in the near future.  Some in those areas still don’t have power or telephone.  Even my childhood home, despite being located just off a U.S. Highway and being less than two miles from the interstate, has no access still to broadband.  Knowing the limitations in an area that is served by an interstate and only 30 minutes from the most visited National Park in the U.S., I cannot begin to imagine what barriers to access must exist in places that are much more “off the map.”

            Another thing that Prahalad gets absolutely correct is the brand consciousness at the bottom of the pyramid.  My granddad spent much of his life tenant farming and running a bread truck in Northeast Georgia.  My dad had four other brothers, all of whom were expected to help out on the different farms they would live on.  Grannie made most all of their clothes.  Even so, they would get one or two pair of “store-bought” overalls or the like a year.  The greatest care was taken of these because they were “store-bought” and, thus, special.  They didn’t have much, but they were very conscious about what they couldn’t always afford in the stores.

            As far as being connected and enjoying new technology, anyone who has ever been to a rural area should be able to tell you that communication is their most precious resource.  Whether it be traveling by horse or post, spoken on a party line, or sent by email or text, communicating with others is probably ranked as the most important thing after work (and to the natural busy-bodies, probably THE most important thing).  Often in rural communities, this takes the place of movies, television, blogging, and all other forms of gossip and communication that we frequently utilize as luxuries.  Also, anyone who has ever had to farm with limited resources, little control over the weather, and other pitfalls, understands that if there is a smarter way of doing something (any kind of technological advance), they want to know about it.  It’s no mistake that so many famous inventions in the U.S. were developed as we made farming better!

            Last, I wanted to touch on dignity at the bottom of the pyramid.  Many of the poorest people I have known have also been the most proud.  Every accomplishment that they make in the face of their own adversity is a major one.  They do not like being given things, but actually prefer to earn them in their own right.  They may, as Prahalad suggests as a model, ask to buy things in smaller quantities because they can only afford a portion.  Granting them even this small and inconsequential courtesy allows them to maintain their dignity.  It allows them to maintain the role of provider for their family, and teach their children the value of self-reliance.  It also allows them to contribute to their own economies, to build something bigger than themselves.  These are all very important things to the human condition.