We live in an era where the wealthiest people on earth made their fortunes through code, ideas, and digital platforms. The richest man might be someone who built an electric car company and a social media platform, or perhaps the founder of an e-commerce empire that exists almost entirely in the cloud. In Silicon Valley, London, and other global financial centers, wealth increasingly flows to those who can manipulate symbols, write algorithms, or trade derivatives. Physical strength seems quaint, almost irrelevant to the accumulation of capital.But this represents a profound myopia born of geographic privilege. Step outside the bubble of developed economies, and you’ll find that the vast majority of human beings still live in a world where physical capability directly translates to survival and prosperity.
In rural India, a farmer’s ability to work long hours under the sun, to lift sacks of grain, to manually operate equipment when machinery fails, determines whether his family eats well or struggles. His strength isn’t just an asset; it’s the foundation of his economic life. In African nations building their infrastructure, construction workers who can carry heavy loads, work in intense heat, and maintain stamina through twelve-hour shifts earn wages that support extended families. In Southeast Asian fishing communities, the ability to haul nets, repair boats, and work through physically demanding conditions remains the primary path to income.
Even in rapidly developing nations like China, Brazil, and Indonesia, hundreds of millions of people still earn their living through physical labor. Factory workers, miners, agricultural laborers, and construction crews form the backbone of these economies. Their physical endurance and strength aren’t just useful traits; they’re the difference between employment and poverty. A young man in rural Mexico who can work construction, lift materials, and maintain physical stamina throughout the day has immediate economic value. His counterpart who spent years studying programming but lacks access to reliable internet or technology sector jobs may actually be at an economic disadvantage in his local context.
The intellectualization of wealth in first world countries represents a historical anomaly, not a universal truth. For most of human history, and still today for most of humanity, the ability to manipulate the physical world through bodily strength and skill has been the primary source of value. Building shelter, growing food, creating physical goods, and moving materials from one place to another remain essential activities that billions of people perform daily.
Consider the tradesperson in any developing economy. A skilled carpenter who can work with his hands, understand materials, and physically execute complex projects creates immediate, tangible value. He builds homes, furniture, and structures that people need. His work cannot be outsourced to an algorithm or replaced by an app. The same holds for mechanics, plumbers, electricians, and countless other trades where physical skill and strength combine with practical knowledge to solve real problems.
What’s particularly striking is how the digital revolution has actually increased the relative importance of physical capability in many contexts. As manufacturing and digital services have concentrated in developed nations or become automated, the remaining opportunities in developing economies often skew even more heavily toward physical labor. A village in Sub-Saharan Africa might have limited internet connectivity and few knowledge economy jobs, but it definitely needs people who can dig wells, build roads, and construct buildings.
The global pandemic revealed these dynamics starkly. When lockdowns hit, it was the physical workers who proved essential. Delivery drivers, warehouse workers, grocery store employees, sanitation workers, and healthcare staff kept society functioning. Many of these roles require physical stamina, strength, and the ability to work long hours doing tangible tasks. Meanwhile, some of the most highly compensated knowledge workers found their jobs could vanish when companies reassessed what actually created value versus what was merely organizational bloat.
There’s also the matter of resilience and self-sufficiency. In communities with less economic stability, fewer social safety nets, and more exposure to natural disasters or political instability, physical capability represents a form of insurance. If you can build, repair, grow food, and physically take care of your own needs, you’re less vulnerable to system failures. A software engineer in San Francisco who loses their job faces an existential crisis. A farmer in Vietnam who knows how to work the land and has physical strength may weather economic storms more easily because their skills remain useful regardless of market conditions.
This isn’t to romanticize poverty or physical labor, which can be brutal, exhausting, and poorly compensated. Rather, it’s to recognize that the economic realities facing most of humanity remain firmly rooted in the physical world. The ability to build, fix, move, grow, and create tangible things retains enormous value precisely because these are needs that never go away.
The intellectualization of wealth in developed nations has created a cultural blind spot. We celebrate founders and innovators, often forgetting that their digital platforms and services ultimately rest on massive physical infrastructure. Data centers require construction workers to build them. Smartphones need factory workers to assemble them. Food delivery apps depend on people who can physically transport meals through traffic and weather.
Perhaps most importantly, as climate change, resource constraints, and infrastructure needs intensify globally, the value of those who can work in the physical world may actually be increasing. Building renewable energy systems, retrofitting buildings, developing sustainable agriculture, and adapting infrastructure to new environmental realities all require people who can do hard physical work combined with practical skill.
The future isn’t necessarily one where everyone becomes a knowledge worker. For billions of people, the path forward involves becoming better at working with their hands and bodies, not less. Physical strength and practical capability will continue to create value in most of the world, long after the latest app or platform has risen and fallen.
