Stephan: America's wealth inequality is so great, I think, it is actually incomprehensible to most Americans, going both ways. If you are worried about whether you can pay your mortgage or your rent this month, or buy the new shoes you son needs, who is growing like a weed at 14, or the braces your pretty daughter needs to straighten her teeth, how can you possibly imagine deciding to spend 100 million dollars for a new yacht you fancy? If you are that rich, how can you possibly comprehend the financial stress that afflicts both many in the lower middle class, let along the yawning money terror that confronts the poor.
The rich, the middle class, and the poor live in three different worlds that have little or nothing to do with one another, and it is a major factor in the Great Schism Trend that has torn the country apart.
The world’s 10 richest men doubled their wealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, according to a report published by Oxfam. In the meantime, 99 percent of the global population saw their incomes decrease during the pandemic while 160 million were pushed into poverty. “If these ten men were to lose 99.999 percent of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99 percent of all the people on this planet,” said Oxfam International’s Executive Director Gabriela Bucher. “They now have six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people.”
Billionaires as a whole have added $5 trillion to their fortunes during the pandemic. The total wealth of billionaires rose from $8.6 trillion in March 2020 to $13.8 trillion in November 2021, the biggest increase in the last 14 years. Meanwhile, inequality contributes to the death of at least 21,000 people per day, according to Oxfam, which describes the number as […]
lauren raine
on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 5:46 am
I can’t look at that smirking face. To have so much, to be able to do so much, and like monarchies of the past, not give a damn about the suffering of a planet endangered by climate change, or families dying from Covid, or people living in tents under the freeways. And these, like Trump, are “heros” and “leaders”?
Rev. Dean
on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 11:41 am
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: it would take me 4,000 LIFETIMES to make one billion dollars. It is time for re-distribution of the rich people’s wealth. If we did that, everyone in the world could make $30,000 to $50,000 per year, and the rich would still have enough for their mansions and servants.
I can’t look at that smirking face. To have so much, to be able to do so much, and like monarchies of the past, not give a damn about the suffering of a planet endangered by climate change, or families dying from Covid, or people living in tents under the freeways. And these, like Trump, are “heros” and “leaders”?
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: it would take me 4,000 LIFETIMES to make one billion dollars. It is time for re-distribution of the rich people’s wealth. If we did that, everyone in the world could make $30,000 to $50,000 per year, and the rich would still have enough for their mansions and servants.