And to their credit, some of them are trying.
According to a new media brief from Oxfam, one of the world’s largest international aid organizations, there are now 1200 billionaires across the globe. Among these 1200 billionaires, “the top 100 billionaires added $240 billion to their wealth in 2013–enough to end world poverty four times over.”
That’s startling, but it also speaks volumes about the inequality we now face across the globe. While some of the world’s most elite have indeed relinquished their wealth in the name of philanthropy, a great share of the world’s richest continue to live exorbitant lifestyles while 1.3 billion people scrape by on less than $1.25 a day. Oxfam reports:
600,000 individuals make up the world’s .01 percent, and among them, 1200 are billionaires. In the UK, the US, in Asia, and Africa, inequality levels have grown…Globally the incomes of the top 1% have increased 60% in twenty years.
As a concrete illustration of how far inequality has grown, Oxfam points out that despite economic shrinkage and recession across the world, the luxury goods market continues to grow by double digits every year. Never has more caviar been consumed or more sports cars been purchased, they write, even as news reports paint a picture of people in Greece literally burning home doors for firewood to keep warm.
Economically speaking, a certain level of inequality is acceptable and conducive to growth because it encourages people to take risk and innovate, but inequality to the extent we see today is detrimental in the long-run. It is not just an ethical issue; environmental degradation, political ramifications, and social unrest can all be linked to inequality. In India, the poverty that has led to growing slum populations has also resulted in salient waste and sewage issues. And don’t forget, it was indignation at inequality that catalyzed the Arab Spring in 2010. While the uprisings may have positively led to the toppling of dictators, the deeply entrenched inequality still continues to agitate much of the Arab world as it tries to regain stability.
Why has inequality soared to such great heights? Depending on your perspective, you may argue that the deregulation of financial sectors have led to unchecked profiteering. Or, you may argue that the natural conditions of landlocked countries have inevitably created poverty traps that many countries struggle to escape. There are many reasons, and many of them overlap. Oxfam is now also suggesting that part of the answer lies in a fixation of trying to end poverty through a narrow lens that only sees only half the picture.
In the last decade, the focus has been exclusively on one half of the inequality equation – ending extreme poverty. Inequality and the extreme wealth that contributes to it were seen as either not relevant, or a prerequisite for the growth that would also help the poorest, as the wealth created trickled down to the benefit of everyone.
Tackling inequality means not only looking at the poorest, but also at the richest, they assert. That is why Oxfam is now calling for an end to extreme wealth by 2025. They recommend refining policies, extending free public services, clamping down on regulation, and introducing more progressive taxation.
A call to end extreme wealth is certainly going to be controversial, as any perceived limitation to the pursuit of prosperity will invoke ire and bring forth debates on free will. At the same time, the poverty gap is only going to get larger–and perhaps insurmountable–if extreme wealth grows at such an exponential pace while poverty reduction lags behind.
What are you thoughts on this subject, VNHELPers?
Base images by quinn.anya & just clicked (Flickr / Creative Commons)
Tags: poverty