Did you know that the 85 richest people in the world have about as
much wealth as the poorest 50% of the entire global population does? In
other words, 85 extremely wealthy individuals have about as much wealth
as the poorest 3,500,000,000 do. This shocking statistic comes from
a new report on global poverty by Oxfam.
And actually Oxfam’s report probably significantly underestimates the
true scope of the problem, because Oxfam relies on publicly reported
numbers.
At the very top of the food chain, the global elite are
masters at hiding their wealth. In fact, as I have written about
previously, the global elite have
approximately 32 trillion dollars (that
we know about) stashed in offshore banks around the world.
That would
be about enough to pay off the entire U.S. national
debt
and buy every good and service produced in the United States for an
entire year. These elitists live on an entirely different planet than
the rest of us do. In fact, according to Oxfam, the richest one percent
of the global population has
65 times more wealth than the bottom half of the global population combined.
There is certainly nothing wrong with making money. In fact, the
founders of the United States intended for this nation to be a place
where free markets thrived and where everyone could pursue their
dreams. Unfortunately, this country (along with the rest of the world)
has moved very much in the opposite direction. Today, we have a
debt-based global
financial
system which is dominated by gigantic predator corporations and big
banks.
Working together with national governments, these corporations
and banks have constructed a system that I like to call “
Corporatism” in which the percentage of all global wealth that is being funneled to the very top of the pyramid steadily grows over time.
The Founding Fathers were very correct to be very suspicious of large
concentrations of power. In the early days of the United States, the
federal government was very small and the size and scope of corporations
was greatly limited. Our nation thrived and a huge middle class
blossomed.
Read more Top 1% Has 65 Times More Wealth Than The Bottom Half And The Global Elite Like It That Way
