Posted on 01/20/2014 11:46:25 PM PST by Olog-hai
The combined wealth of the world’s richest 85 people is now equivalent to that owned by half of the world’s population—or 3.5 billion of the poorest people—according to a new report from Oxfam.
In a report titled “Working for the Few” released Monday, the global aid and development organization detailed the extent of global economic inequality created by the rapidly increasing wealth of the richest, warning of the major risks it poses to “human progress.” […]
Oxfam said that based on its polls conducted across the world, it is believed that there are many laws and regulations designed to benefit the rich. …
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Barack Obama has 10,000 times the wealth of the poorest half of his relatives.
Despite all attempts at an even distribution of wealth, the top five NFL teams have more than FOUR TIMES as many wins as the bottom five, with most of them doing this several times in a row!
They’re doing it that way because they’re counting on some leftists to misread the statistic and start claiming the rich have half the world’s wealth. And... as a matter of fact... I think I saw a “tweet” to that effect earlier this evening. If not, the countdown will be brief.
Next time I have them over to my gated compound I’ll ask them.
Painful stat for a Texans fan, bro...
They can have 0 wealth even if they “own” their home (or 2) if their mortgage is about = to the value of their home and they have other debt. I would bet that half the world population have about no wealth at all.
Dont forget those 85 people are largely tired of democracy and all for using global warming as an excuse to put the 3.5 billion under a dictator.
My wife had Brian Williams on. I was totally disgusted when he blathered about this. I yelled at the TV - “SO WHAT! THEN LET’S GET THE 3.5 BILLION TO MOVE UP!! GET THEM JOBS!”
Then he mentioned this as the major topic when world leaders meet in Davos.
To me it’s just prophetic. How else will the zeitgeist/groupthink allow the mark of the beast “...and no man rich or poor great or small could buy or sell without the mark of the beast...”. It’s under way.
“Barack Obama has 10,000 times the wealth of the poorest half of his relatives.” Yes, and Kobe Bryant makes ~35,407 times the average annual per capita income in Kenya, where average life expectancy is ~57-60 years. Reportedly, a significant portion of the Kenyan population of ~43 million make ≤ 1 dollar a day. So Kobe’s >30 million/year salary could increase the income of 300,000 of these poor people by 100 times. All of this is true, but what do these statistics mean? What are the causes of poverty, and what are the solutions? Is poverty measured by money, how many square ft. your living space is - if you have living space? Is it measured by whether you have indoor plumbing? etc. etc. The world has tons of hurts and injustices in it, but personally I haven’t seen anything that works better than a free marked capitalist approach combined with societal embracing of spirituality and charity for those in need.
Those people aren’t living on <$1 per day because of capitalism. They are largely there because of socialism, war, corruption and power hungry dictators.
Just what these 85 want for us. Dont forget those 85 approved the publishing of this story.
Yes, I agree. I also think that those like the 85 mentioned in the story have a significant amount of personal guilt (and some probably worry about a massive revolt). Their worries and guilt would be better dealt with, IMHO, by their own personal works and charity than by trying to change the system that has allowed them to become ultra-successful, and to help employ thousands and thousands in the process.
>> Anyone who stokes envy is a commie
Excellent!
Dittos to that!
Most of them inherited the wealth, they didn’t acquire it. They think they are better then the remaining 6 billion who don’t have the ultra wealth.
Seems many on this thread would agree with them.
And you think these 85 don’t control the governments?
Where would that money go? It would be spent and probably end back with a very small group of people.
Not that I advocate taking the money. The purpose of this article isn’t to take their money. Its to increase taxes on the middle class.
Seems to me that these 3.5 billion have some work to do. Perhaps that what thew 85 did...
I would guess that if you did inherit it, and therefore might not have much of an idea what it took to acquire it, your world view could get very skewed.
Poor countries aren’t industrious and do not create wealth.
The fact that some Swede started a business, hired some people, increased the value of the property he bought, and created a $400,000 home on a $10,000 empty parcel of land, does not mean that all that wealth came at the expense of a man in Nairobi, who has lived in a mud hut for the same period of time and done nothing but subsistence farm.
Those two men are as unrelated as you can possibly get. Yet, this article would have you believe that the Swede’s wealth is the direct result of the African’s poverty.
Sub-Saharan Africa is getting close to a billion people. Most of them live in rotten countries with rotten economies. But most of the huge population growth in that area is due to help from the wealthy western countries who introduced health standards and food aid.
India has about one billion people. Virtually all of them were dirt poor before India's Marxist-from-independence economic policies were junked and capitalism was initiated only about twenty years ago. India now has rich people and a growing middle class.
China has over one billion people. They didn't start a free enterprise economic system until 1979 three years after Mao died. So instead of one billion poor people, they have half a billion.
Moral of story: many of the formerly poor people of the world are getting wealthier....thanks to capitalism and those ahem "greedy" super wealthy people who helped make it all possible.
I hope 0 bummer has some charity and gives his half brother in Kenya some of the money moochelle spends on a single vacation.
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