Are You Worthy? Or Are You Valuable?

The idea of being born free and equal was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). A document crafted with the help of Eleanor Rosevelt, and announced on 10th December 1948 by the United Nations.

This was a few years after World War II where almost 120 million people perished, or 5% of the world’s 2.3 billion population then. By today’s scale, that would mean wiping out the entire East African Community. A staggering toll of death and destruction.

This document inspired UN member countries to enact laws ensuring that as long as you were born a human being, you had certain rights.  

The Bible says, ‘We are all created in the image of God’ which signifies inherent dignity and worth. Thus, worthy even before we add or deduct from our lives. The image of God - able to reflect him morally, intellectually, and spiritually.   

Yet, our dark history shows us devolving from Eden. Cain killed his brother Abel because of jealousy.  He then went forth to roam the Earth with a mark, that protected him from any person exerting vengeance. It was said if anyone killed Cain they would suffer vengeance seven times over.

Cain left an example for siblings, cousins, clans, nations, and civilizations to follow. Where they would rise against each other, and the victor would take the spoils and subjugate the loser.

Slavery is as old as mankind, where human beings are treated like cattle, possessions to be controlled, and used at one’s desire with an elaborate narrative shared with the children of the slave, and the slave owner to keep both in line with their station.

Throughout history, a web of narratives has been spun to keep people bound—stories so old and familiar that they often pass as truth.

“This is the will of the gods,” or later, “This is the will of God,” became a sacred refrain, sanctifying monarchies, slavery, and caste systems. It taught people that their suffering was divine order, and questioning it was rebellion against heaven itself.

“You are inferior by birth, blood, or nature” whispered another voice, embedding the idea that some were destined to rule while others were fated to serve. This lie sustained racism, slavery, and gender inequality—turning human worth into a matter of lineage.

“Safety is in obedience. Change is dangerous,” warned the cautious voice of fear. It walled people inside oppressive systems, discouraging rebellion and stifling dreams. It fueled xenophobia, making outsiders a threat, and smothered curiosity, labeling the unknown as perilous.

For the poor, the enslaved, and the downtrodden, there came a cruel hymn: “Endurance is your highest calling.” Suffering was framed as virtue, a badge of moral strength. This story bound people not only in chains but in patience—patience that kept them from demanding freedom or something better.

“Might makes right” thundered over battlefields and palaces, teaching that power was its own justification. Strength became truth. Violence became order. Resistance seemed futile when brute force ruled as king.

And beneath them all was the quiet murmur of resignation: “This is just the way the world works.” A fatalistic acceptance that injustice is natural and inevitable. This final story made the others endure—convincing people that the world could never be otherwise.

These narratives, though ancient, still echo. They bind not only bodies but minds. Liberation often begins with seeing the story—and daring to rewrite it.

It has been scientifically established that trauma can be passed through generations, with one example of the grandchild of a holocaust survivor exhibiting claustrophobia and palpitations, even though they never experienced the traumatic events. Research in epigenetics show that severe stress and trauma can alter how our gene expression and these changes can be inherited. Such findings reveal that the wounds of past generations can linger not just in memory, but in the body itself.

There are countries where the systematic devaluation of people is done from generation to generation, whether through a caste system, racism, class, gender, ethnicity, and the list goes, embedded by societal biases and power structures.

This subservient nature becomes cherished in the mind, for one to believe and hold true to their reality believing they can never pass a certain threshold.

Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.” 

The Prussian education system, which many education systems in the world model, served the purpose of creating subservient people, uniform and orderly following the rules and directions of the empire.

It was centralized, compulsory, and focused on discipline and obedience to the state, aiming to produce loyal citizens who would effectively serve in the military, prioritizing math, science, and religious instruction, while emphasizing memorization and strict adherence to authority, rather than critical thinking.

The education systems of the world are broken because uniformity is no longer a distinction. Having a degree doesn’t guarantee a job, a stable income, or security.  

Yet, people are willing to sacrifice their individuality to follow the rules and directions of the state, hoping that the education dictated to them will suffice. For many failed or failing states an illusion that causes constant tension between governments and their population. But for others the sacrifice of one’s freedoms is acceptable. Read China, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Having said all this, your WORTH is not a corporate indulgence. But a cross you must individually carry and be invested in discovering. Governments and religions may give a semblance of identity, but your worth must be forged in hardship, truth, and the right mindset.

Hardship helps refine us to become better and discover ourselves more. Hardship is wasted on the foolish and irresponsible. It is through hardship that we are pointed to the right path in a maze of many paths. Through hardship, we learn to listen intently to the direction that connects us to our spirit and essence.

The truth is uncomfortable and difficult to pursue. Few are willing to seek truth because it requires confronting and questioning social norms. Questioning social norms is tantamount to interrogating the power and authority of those who keep the norms working. Social norms allow for social cohesion, even if that cohesion benefits a few. What is ideal for the group doesn’t necessarily conform to the truth.

Here are a few truths that defy social norms.  

Freedom and security rarely coexist.

Happiness is an inside job.

And belonging often requires betraying yourself.

Truth goes against the pleasures we seek, the comfort we crave, and the normalcy we desire. Truth can break families, destroy belief systems, and contradict our reality. 

The scarcity mindset is in plenty despite this being the most abundant century to be alive. We are surrounded by negativity, regret, and self-loath in the things people say, and do. Why? Partly because our existence is curated as industrial, manufactured for the moment, to serve someone else’s goal, while promising us momentary happiness. We live and breathe to consume.

It is difficult to contradict this mindset because our very education systems, which we interact with for most of our childhood, are based on us being part of a cog. We take in a raw input, process it, and bring out a processed output, and hopefully with greater efficiency, a manufacturing process that makes us replaceable by technology.

We are tutored to be squares, when at heart we may be oval or other shapes.

It is the reason why disengagement in the workplace has become an international pandemic. A 2024 Gallup report shockingly stated that 77% of workers globally are disengaged. 7 people in a room of 10, are disconnected from their work. That is horrendous. We spend most of our waking days at work. Yet this is with a sense of being unproductive, dissatisfied, feeling undervalued, and with limited growth opportunities.  

To step away from this dreary existence some say “I Quit!!” Then contend with facing fearful, stunned, and shocked faces. And questions like, “How will you survive?”, or even “Are you mad?” And these questions may come from people you love and regard highly.

The need to fit in is so strong, and the fear of being ostracized so great, that many would rather put their heads in sand, and move on.

To cope we create stories, that allow us to accept our unexceptional existence.

And many of these stories become places, things, and experiences we seek to run away to, at least for a moment.

It is in this convolution where worth and value merge.

When you feel worthless because you failed an exam, or worthless when your neighbor has a car, a house, a pet, and friends, and you don’t. When our value dictates our worth.

Let us contemplate value.

A carat of rough diamond mined in Congo goes for less than 10$. Once it is cut, it retails in a high street shop for more than $ 3,200.

Fun fact. Congo is the fourth largest producer of diamonds. In 2023 it exported rough diamonds worth $247M. Most of it goes to Surat, India for cutting and polishing. Surat in 2024 exported $15.97B of cut and polished diamonds.     

Why?

The Congolese who mine these diamonds are impoverished artificially. It’s a longer story going back generations. The antagonist is the King of Belgium and his private estate Belgian Congo.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a Wild West, where the strong go to mine to their heart’s content, and with no qualms. Where war is used systematically to ensure the cost of resource extraction is kept artificially low.

Below is a long-winded public relations statement we accept with no qualms.   

The price of a diamond comes from the mining and the retail of the diamonds. Because of the time-consuming extraction, investment-intensive beginning, and scarce nature of diamonds, the price to mine a diamond will always be a significant part of the price of diamonds. Retail also marks the diamond prices up significantly due to the enduring demand for diamonds as a staple for jewelry. Also, the long process and the many players on the path from a rough diamond to a finished ring further increase the final tag price.

 

Let us assume your value is comparable to that of a diamond. Intrinsically there is something you possess, that someone with a keen eye can see and say this is a certain caliber of diamond. You could be a natural, lab-grown, treated, fancy, or colorless diamond. And your inherent value could serve many uses. Not just the ornamental jewelry we adorn, but also for industrial cutting, medical devices, and semiconductors. Value is predicated on use, mostly.

Value balances on supply and demand. The rarer the diamond, the higher the demand. Supply and demand can be artificially controlled. Based on want rather than need. Cartels exist for this reason. Diamond supply can be controlled, and the demand driven up, to increase value.

Yet value only increases before a discerning, and well-resourced audience.

You and I have inherent value. Locked in the talents and abilities we possess.

Talents and abilities have to be mined under extreme effort, a dirty and ungrateful process. Ask Serena Williams, Michael Jackson, or David Rudisha what it took.

I want you to consider the slave-like deathly conditions of miners in unsanctioned mines in Congo. They mine for a meal and to exist for the day. A cycle of poverty, and they are kept that way to ensure the owners of the mine keep growing wealthy.

We have hubs and centers of excellence that are able to nurture and elevate many incredibly talented people to extraordinary levels. Consider Silicon Valley, Hollywood, London Financial Center, and Ivy Leagues.

We desire to get a talented child to these Ivy Leagues knowing the perceived value they gain will allow them social connections and access to resources others only dream of. Every effort they undertake is watched and rewarded greatly. As would polished and cut diamonds sold on Fifth Avenue.

For the rest of us, our talents and abilities may be exploited. You may be hired cheaply, to sustain a modest existence, while others make a killing from your efforts. They depend on you being ignorant, deceived, or have low self-worth.

The poor Congolese miner is kept in check with misinformation, threat of violence, and ignorance. They only sell to sanctioned buyers with an elaborate cartel supply chain to get the diamonds under control and in short supply.

Diamonds are normally cut by a limited number of people, who take years to learn the craft while being apprentices to a master. This is a craft mainly guarded and hidden from many. The city of Surat in India is home to over 90% of the world's diamond-cutting companies.

The evolution of Surat’s diamond industry is a powerful illustration of how the value of a person—particularly the skilled karigars (workers)—can transform an entire sector. Initially, India was merely a low-cost processing hub for lower-quality diamonds, while high-value cutting took place in Israel and Belgium.

However, this narrative changed under the visionary leadership of Sevantibhai Shah. He recognized the potential in Surat’s karigars, investing in their up-skilling and creating a manufacturing environment for high-value diamonds.

The karigars, who largely came from agricultural backgrounds, played a pivotal role in this transformation. They worked tirelessly to master the art of precision diamond cutting, blending traditional craftsmanship with newer technologies.

From the 1960s to the 2000s, their journey evolved from using simple loupes to adopting advanced tools and machines. They adapted, reduced waste, and focused on quality, turning Surat into a global hub for premium diamonds. When individuals—like the karigars—are given training, mentorship, and access to technology, they elevate their personal value and transform entire industries.

This underscores a broader truth; your value lies not only in your effort but your potential to grow, innovate, and progress upwards. When human potential is nurtured, it becomes the cornerstone of lasting excellence and industry evolution.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to read this blog! I'm Edwin Moindi, a Life and Habit Coach dedicated to helping people understand their habits, navigate their emotions, and cultivate emotional intelligence for a happier, more balanced life. I'd love to hear your thoughts—feel free to reach out and share your insights or questions!