Rich Man, Poor Man
Excerpted from Economic Apartheid in America by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman on CommonDreams.org
What kind of world is it where:
Top executives now make more in a day than the average worker makes in a year.
Of the world's 100 largest economies, 47 are nations, and 53 are corporations.
Seventy-five percent of major corporations hire a consultant to stop employees from forming a union.
The Washington monument is 555 feet tall. Say it signifies the 2003 average compensation for CEOs in the Fortune 500. The average worker salary would be only 16 inches tall, representing a ratio of 419 to one. In 1965, the worker's monument was 13 feet six inches tall, representing a ratio of 41 to 1.
The United Nations Development Program reported in 1999 that the world's 225 richest people now have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. That's equal to the combined annual income of the world's 2.5 billion poorest people.
The richest 10 percent of the world's population receives 49.6 percent of the total world income. The bottom 60 percent receives 13.9 percent of the world's income.
The wealth of the world's three most well-to-do individuals now exceeds the combined gross domestic product of the 48 least developed countries.
Half of the world's population of six billion live on less than $2 a day, while 1.3 billion get by on less than $1 a day.
That’s right – This One.
Is this the way it should be? Is this the best way for things to be? Is this the place we want our children to grow up in?
About Me
- CyberKitten
- I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.
6 comments:
No, No, and No. But are you offering a solution?
Unless all the countries agree on punitive taxation of the super rich (yeah like that's going to happen) I'm not sure what can be done.
the reason the biggst corporations are so big & so rich, is because they do give us what we need in this world. In an ideal world, I would conciensiously go to my local butchers, then my local baker, then down to the docks for my fish, followed by a trip to the farm for fruit, veg & milk. I would only buy fairtrade everything else and invest in ethical companies. I would do this every couple of days, to make sure I had fresh, local, uncontaminated produce.
in reality I buy nearly everything from my local supermarket once a fortnight, and if fairtrade/local is available I'll go for it, but if not I'll take sweatshop goods & feel bad about it. I invested my childrens money in one of the least ethical companies on the planet. I kind of boycott some of the major players, but not to the point of making my life too difficult, because, to be honest, it's difficult enough as it is, & I'll take the ease where possible.
I don't believe globalisation is a bad thing per se. I also don't believe that anyone is worth paying $100,000 a week, but it's not that unusual & I can't see any way of clawing that money back, filtering it down or spreading it around without a total change in th Western & to some extent the worlds culture.
Mrs A said: No, No, and No. But are you offering a solution?
U fortunately No, I'm not. If I had the solution I doubt if I'd be here Blogging about the problem... (chuckle).
If I think of anything or find anything out... I'll post it here.
How to solve the problem, hmmmm. That is a tough one. How can you impose a tax, when the wealthy are the ones filling the coffers for politicians. The politicians aren't going to screw their support group. Time for a revolution I think. Everyone could refuse to pay taxes until the tax structure is overhauled (in the U.S.). We do have the option whether to have our taxes withheld by our employers or just pay them ourselves. If we all did this, the IRS would be overwhelm and couldn't possibly go after everyone. Government would come to a screaching halt as the money stopped flowing. Well....it's an idea anyway. :-)
V V... Interesting idea... but I don't think it would go far enough. Fiddling with tax codes won't really redress the huge imbalence between the super rich and the super poor. I don't know what we can do about it to be honest - I was just prompted to ask some questions after seeing the figures in stark black and white....
I'm not too bad with questions.. as to actual answers... well, that's another story.
I am still a firm believer in the guillotine!
GWB said: I am still a firm believer in the guillotine!
Well... It DOES have a history of proven effectiveness....
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