Inequality is the scourge of our time
by bernt & torsten
You probably have already heard this, I thought it was important to reiterate the inequality of our time. Eight people, as many, as can fit in a minibus, own as much as the poorest half of the world’s population.
Now the richest people would not travel in a minibus, I would rather travel in a limousine and a director of private jets.
Oxfam’s report, ‘An economy for the 99 percent’, shows that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had been feared. The poorest half of the world’s population has fewer assets and more liabilities than has been known.
Big business and the super-rich are fuelling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics.
Every tenth person in the world is forced to live on less than two dollars a day. The richest get richer, it is rarely hard work and impressive talent. Inherited money, profitable relationships with corrupt regimes, low-paid workers and advanced tax evasion are the keys to the super-rich community.
In the Oxfam report, the poorest countries lose every year at least 100 billion dollars in corporate tax planning. The money would be enough to save millions of lives and provide education for the 124 million children currently not in school.
Walls will not help
The fact that neither tariff walls or walls of concrete offer some solutions are, strictly speaking, is another matter.
World inequality is a moral problem, but it is also something more. The super-rich and their greed have become a threat to democracy, peace, and security. A threat to civilization.
In the Oxfam report ‘An economy for the 99 percent’, you can learn what we can do to correct the inequality – are the governments around the world willing to change or are they going to continue serving the richest.
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