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Monday, January 16th, 2017

Just Eight Men Have the Same Wealth As World’s Poorest Half: Oxfam

Author:     Lucy Westcott
Source:     Newsweek
Publication Date:     1/15/17 at 7:05 PM
Link: Just Eight Men Have the Same Wealth As World’s Poorest Half: Oxfam
Stephan:   What do I mean by the rise of Neo-feudalism? There are seven billion people in the world, eight of them Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg, have as much wealth as half of the world's population --  3,500,000,000. Note they are all men about whom one really knows virtually nothing, and who are essentially accountable to no one in terms of how they exercise their power. We have a created a form of capitalism that has only one social priority, short-term profit, and it is literally destroying democracy through much of the world. It takes a conscious effort on the part of a society, such as is seen in the Nordic nations, to keep social wellbeing first. In America we are so riven by the Great Schism Trend that we seem to be unable to do that.

Released to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum meeting of political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, and the impending inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Oxfam said that new and better data on global wealth distribution indicates that the poorest half of the world’s population—more than 3.6 billion people—has less wealth than previously thought. Better data has improved numbers from India and China in particular, it said.

Oxfam based its calculations on global wealth distribution data from the Credit Suisse 2016 Global Wealth Databook, while the Forbes billionaires list, last published in March 2016, provided data on the world’s wealthiest people. Paul O’Brien, vice president for policy and campaigns, called the numbers “mind-boggling” and the “sobering reality of 2017” in a statement on Sunday.

The eight richest men in the world—Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg—have a combined net worth of more than $426 billion, according to Forbes data.

The report shows “that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had previously been estimated and details how big business and […]

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1 Comment

  1. Mark R on Monday, January 16, 2017 at 7:28 am

    This article demonstrates the gargantuan distortion that crony capitalism rendered by government has caused our world. Out with crony capitalism and in with ubuntu contributionism. Restore community, contribute 3 hours volunteer work per week and taper off the money system. It is quietly starting in countries across the world Take back our planet!