He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich (Proverbs 21:17).

So, umm... If this Proverb is true, why is it that the rich people in our society are the ones who spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a particular bottle of wine?  Why is it that the oil barons are considered to be some of the most powerful, most prosperous people on earth (granted, the Proverb refers more likely to olive oil than crude oil)?  If this Proverb is true, why is it that our society's "playboys" -- guys like Bruce Wayne or Hugh Hefner -- always seem to be independently wealthy, able to lounge around in a silken bathrobe all day, sipping said wine or fine scotch from crystal glasses, never having to work a day in their life?

Is the Proverb just plain wrong?  Or does this Proverb point to a systemic, societal problem that will eventually catch up to us -- despite the temporal evidence that would seem to suggest the contrary?

I have to admit that I'm not completely convinced on this issue myself -- considering the fact that it's difficult to apply the adjective "poor" to a guy like Hugh Hefner (except for maybe on the moral level), and it's hard to deny that today's oil barons and wine connoisseurs are generally quite rich... But I think it's interesting -- and perhaps important -- to consider the second possibility more seriously:  that all the wealth and "finer things" enjoyed by the elite of today's societies will ultimately prove to be a facade, and maybe even a pitfall for us all.  I mean, we're already noticing what our society's love for oil is doing to our planet:  causing wars, destablizing economies, wreaking havoc on the environment.  And when it comes to pleasure and wine, I also wonder if we've placed so much emphasis on these things that we've failed to notice the degradation of society on other levels:  the widening gap between rich and poor, the rumblings of discontent in the developing world, the restructuring of world power systems following the end of the Cold War...

As I start to think about it more and more, this Proverb becomes more and more believable.  Maybe it's not a direct causal relationship; it could be quite incidental or collateral.  But it seems to me that if we don't keep our eyes open to these challenges, then it may very well ultimately catch up with us and make us very poor and very miserable indeed.