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Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do (Read 1685 times)
mothra
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Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Jan 19th, 2017 at 2:54pm
 
Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do: our economics is broken



Today, eight people have the same wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population. Stop and think about this. It is a mind-boggling concept.

Last year we said we would have needed a double-decker bus to transport the 62 people we thought owned the same as the poorest 3.6 billion on the planet. In 2017, thanks to more accurate data, we find that in fact this group would fit in a single golf buggy.

Today nearly 800 million people – one in nine – across the world will go to bed hungry or undernourished. The adults will wake up uncertain when they will next eat, whether they will have work, fearful for their health and the costs that illness in the family might bring. The eight men – yes, they’re all men – and their fellow billionaires will wake up having slept rather better, and their wealth, invested across the world, will have increased by countless millions even as they slept.

It would be easy to vilify the eight, to make each individual a poster boy of the growing chasm between the richest and the rest. But painting these individuals as the villains would be unfair. The eight include some of the world’s largest philanthropists and those, such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, who have spoken out against the shocking scale of inequality in the world. These eight men are not themselves the cause of the poverty so many still live in. But they are the most powerful representatives and beneficiaries of an economic system in which wealth accrues more wealth; where wealth means power and influence, which in turn leads to laws and practices that help the rich get richer.

So this is not an exposé of eight people, but of a broken economics. Narrowing the gap between the richest and the rest requires us to take on a more challenging task than asking eight men to change their behaviour. It requires us to create a more human economy; one that does not result in 1% of the world’s population owning the same wealth as the other 99%. One that encourages and rewards enterprise and innovation, yes, but one that also offers everyone, regardless of background, a fair chance in life and ensures when individuals and businesses succeed, they do so for the benefit, rather than at the expense, of others.

Too often today, our economy rewards rather than discourages bad behaviour. Tax avoidance costs poor countries more than $100bn annually that could be used to provide clean water, lifesaving medicines or education. Rich countries, including the UK, lose countless billions more. Yet governments, anxious to defend their own corporate sectors and perceived national interests, have failed to adequately respond to companies’ use of tax loopholes, corporate power and new technology to avoid paying their fair share. Small, taxpaying businesses are forced to operate at a competitive disadvantage against multinationals, encouraging them to find their own dodges in a desperate effort to level the playing field.

Nowhere is the old proverb “money begets money” more apparent than in how companies seem determined to stuff the pay packets of their top executives, whatever the economic weather. Here in the UK, a FTSE 100 director can expect to pocket about £5.5m a year. A leading UK CEO now earns almost 130 times the wage of their average employee, up from just 10 or 20 times as recently as the 1980s.

Meanwhile, those without economic power feel the pain: the producer in a developing country, the low-paid UK worker, the woman juggling work and childcare, are squeezed until their pips squeak, all in the name of returning as much money as possible to predominantly wealthy shareholders. Last autumn, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that their fellow Britons were in the midst of decade of lost wage growth, the worst for 70 years. Justifying such a growing divide in terms of merit will be hard. A recent study by CFA, the global association of investment professionals, found the link between the pay and performance of 350 top executives to be negligible.

In a survey of 700 experts, published ahead of its annual gathering in Davos this week, the World Economic Forum pinpointed inequality as the number one threat to the global economy during the year ahead. It also cited it as a key factor in continuing extreme poverty, political instability, violence and the polarisation of societies. Yet there appears little hope of substantive change being proposed by leaders at WEF. In the short-term at least, GDP growth will remain their answer to all ills.

We have made huge progress in reducing global poverty, and wealth creation has played a major part. But the real incomes of the world’s very poorest have gone up by just $3 a year over the last 25 years. We need to recognise that economic growth and wealth creation are not in themselves enough to ensure decency and dignity for all.

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If you can't be a good example, you have to be a horrible warning.
 
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mothra
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #1 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 2:55pm
 
A properly functioning economy requires our companies to see themselves as vital contributors to society, rather than a means of extracting wealth from it. It demands that governments set the rules in a way that reward, rather than penalise, them for good behaviour. It requires us to better balance the important incentives for people to save, invest and create jobs with an approach to sharing the benefits that will allow countries to run the public services that all citizens need, the poor far more than the rich; that allows people to earn a real living; and that supports the most vulnerable.

Moving towards a more human economy also means looking seriously at different approaches to corporate ownership – such as cooperatives and other forms of wider involvement – and how they can help in giving a greater number of people a greater stake in both the national and global economies. There are individuals and companies that are already trying to do it right but they are the exception not the norm.

Responsible and responsive leadership – the theme of this year’s Davos conference – requires governments and companies to really step up if we are to eradicate extreme poverty as the world committed to so bravely in the sustainable development goals just 16 months ago.



https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/16/eight-people-earn-more-bil...
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If you can't be a good example, you have to be a horrible warning.
 
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aquascoot
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #2 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:29pm
 
this will inspire the superior man to immediately purchase the auto biographies of these 8 extraordinary men and study them in detail. (higher consciousness)

this will inspire the losers and mediocre to get out the pitchforks and go into an apoplectic and animal like rage .
(the lower consciousness of "the mob")
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Mattyfisk
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #3 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:48pm
 
aquascoot wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:29pm:
this will inspire the superior man to immediately purchase the auto biographies of these 8 extraordinary men and study them in detail. (higher consciousness)

this will inspire the losers and mediocre to get out the pitchforks and go into an apoplectic and animal like rage .
(the lower consciousness of "the mob")


Exactly. Having a monopoly on the world's resources, real estate, company shares and money is an inspiration to all the rickshaw pullers and rubbish pickers.

Not many of the extraordinary men like to be inspirations though, dear. Most try to hide behind the scenes. They're modest, you see. When that law was proposed to publish the amount of tax their companies pay, they rightfully protested - they need to stay invisible, you understand, in case they get kidnapped or something.

No, Aquascoot, no names, no pack drill. The best inspiration to the masses is a big keep out sign.
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AuntieM
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #4 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:53pm
 
I think the only way we will see progress, at least in the US, is to do away with Citizens United, PACs, and all the dark money in our government.
Every political contribution needs to be transparent, and linked to the Social Security Number of a US Citizen.

A corporation is not a citizen.
Money is not speech.
The government can not be for sale.
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longweekend58
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #5 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm
 
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.
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AUSSIE: "Speaking for myself, I could not care less about 298 human beings having their life snuffed out in a nano-second, or what impact that loss has on Members of their family, their parents..."
 
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Gordon
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #6 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:02pm
 
longweekend58 wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm:
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.


Pretty much, a rising tide lifts all boats.

I'd love to see some wealth distribution figures from 500 years ago.
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IBI
 
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miketrees
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #7 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:13pm
 



The Vikings did wealth redistribution
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TheFunPolice
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #8 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:24pm
 
aquascoot wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:29pm:
this will inspire the superior man to immediately purchase the auto biographies of these 8 extraordinary men and study them in detail. (higher consciousness)

this will inspire the losers and mediocre to get out the pitchforks and go into an apoplectic and animal like rage .
(the lower consciousness of "the mob")

Do you ever wonder why the twin towers came down?

Now friggin' Perth geniuses want to invite plane attacks in the land of milk and honey!

You're superior man crap is all about filling your standing armies with grunts who don't question d***s like you!
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......Australia has an illegitimate Government!
 
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Baronvonrort
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #9 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:25pm
 
Bill Gates has donated around $30 billion to charity with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Warren Buffet is also involved with them.

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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.
 
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aquascoot
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #10 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 7:34pm
 
Baronvonrort wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:25pm:
Bill Gates has donated around $30 billion to charity with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Warren Buffet is also involved with them.



quite correct.

we evolve from employee (the lowest ) to boss to investor to philanthropist.
Zuckerberg is also in that top 8 and will become a major philanthropist i am sure.
and look at Trump. he could just spend his billions but instead he chooses to keep on contributing, even despite the hate from the "mob". (the mob contribute little but a cry baby narrative and a demand to be looked after)
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #11 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:34pm
 
longweekend58 wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm:
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.


You never know, Longy, that children's book you're writing could become a bestseller.

You're that good, remember. Slip an argument for paedophilia in there and you can enter your own writing challenge.
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Mattyfisk
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #12 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:39pm
 
Gordon wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:02pm:
longweekend58 wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm:
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.


Pretty much, a rising tide lifts all boats.


Not where all those billions live, it doesn't. A rising tide lifts profits in the Cayman Islands.

Tidal, innit.
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Gordon
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #13 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:42pm
 
Mattyfisk wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:39pm:
Gordon wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:02pm:
longweekend58 wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm:
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.


Pretty much, a rising tide lifts all boats.


Not where all those billions live, it doesn't. A rising tide lifts profits in the Cayman Islands.

Tidal, innit.


It floats the turds too.  How's Harris Park today?   Smiley
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IBI
 
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AuntieM
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #14 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:10pm
 
aquascoot wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 7:34pm:
Baronvonrort wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:25pm:
Bill Gates has donated around $30 billion to charity with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Warren Buffet is also involved with them.



quite correct.

we evolve from employee (the lowest ) to boss to investor to philanthropist.
Zuckerberg is also in that top 8 and will become a major philanthropist i am sure.
and look at Trump. he could just spend his billions but instead he chooses to keep on contributing, even despite the hate from the "mob". (the mob contribute little but a cry baby narrative and a demand to be looked after)

Except Zuckerberg's "charity" is a fraud and a tax dodge.

Unlike the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the newly-created Chan Zuckerberg Initative (named after both the Facebook mogul and his wife, Priscilla Chan) is an LLC. This frees up the Initative to do everything from invest its endowment in private corporations as well as fund charitable efforts and participate in politics.
http://usuncut.com/class-war/mark-zuckerberg-charity-scheme/

Mark Zuckerberg did not donate $45 billion to charity. You may have heard that, but that was wrong.

Here’s what happened instead: Mr. Zuckerberg created an investment vehicle.

Sorry for the slightly less sexy headline.

Mr. Zuckerberg is a co-founder of Facebook and a youthful megabillionaire. In announcing the birth of his daughter, he and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, declared they would donate 99 percent of their worth, the vast majority of which is tied up in Facebook stock valued at $45 billion today.

In doing so, Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan did not set up a charitable foundation, which has nonprofit status. He created a limited liability company, one that has already reaped enormous benefits as public relations coup for himself. His P.R. return-on-investment dwarfs that of his Facebook stock. Mr. Zuckerberg was depicted in breathless, glowing terms for having, in essence, moved money from one pocket to the other.

An L.L.C. can invest in for-profit companies (perhaps these will be characterized as societally responsible companies, but lots of companies claim the mantle of societal responsibility). An L.L.C. can make political donations. It can lobby for changes in the law. He remains completely free to do as he wishes with his money. That’s what America is all about. But as a society, we don’t generally call these types of activities “charity".

What’s more, a charitable foundation is subject to rules and oversight. It has to allocate a certain percentage of its assets every year. The new Zuckerberg L.L.C. won’t be subject to those rules and won’t have any transparency requirements.

Continue reading the main story
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/business/dealbook/how-mark-zuckerbergs-altrui...



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UnSubRocky
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #15 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:12pm
 
We should just get a group of us have-nots, find those 8 men, and then take all their stuff. We outnumber them.
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #16 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:24pm
 
Gordon wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:42pm:
Mattyfisk wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:39pm:
Gordon wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:02pm:
longweekend58 wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm:
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.


Pretty much, a rising tide lifts all boats.


Not where all those billions live, it doesn't. A rising tide lifts profits in the Cayman Islands.

Tidal, innit.


It floats the turds too.  How's Harris Park today?   Smiley


Smell-free, dear. We send our sewerage to your fine suburb.

Divine.
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #17 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:26pm
 
UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:12pm:
We should just get a group of us have-nots, find those 8 men, and then take all their stuff. We outnumber them.


Tjurds of all countries unite, no?
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #18 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:29pm
 
Money is not the problem.

You have to factor population growth into the equation. Society cannot produce wealth at the same rate that it produces the children of poverty stricken parents. Mathematically, the poverty stricken will eventually overrun the planet.

It is a bit like the old argument, why not spend NASA's budget doing something on earth, were it counts? The thing is we know we can do both at the same time, we have the knowledge and the muscle.

Money is fiction, it doesn't exist except in a ledger. But the idea of money is the best medium of exchange yet devised. Even communists use it. The only problem with it as means of exchange is that if you divide it up evenly, it has less value. That is why the IMF and the World Bank don't give money to poor people.

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No political allegiance. No philosophy. No religion.
 
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Bobby.
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #19 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:41pm
 
Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do -

it's the problem with capitalism -
like a game of monopoly where there's only one winner
& all the others go bankrupt.

However communism isn't the answer either -
communists mostly live in poverty no matter how well they are educated.

Remember the Queen of England is the richest woman in the world
but she would rather be a 20 year old poor woman with a long life ahead of her.
Our wealth is in our age not a number in a bank account.
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Gordon
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #20 - Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:57pm
 
Mattyfisk wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:24pm:
Gordon wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:42pm:
Mattyfisk wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 8:39pm:
Gordon wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:02pm:
longweekend58 wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 4:56pm:
They heve accumulated this wealth during a time of unprecedented prosperity for EVERYONE. our standard of living has never been higher, our health has never been better and out education never more advanced.

I'm trying to work out what is so bad with our lives now that we have to criticise those who did even better?

Good on 'em.  Would like to be part of that group, but so far, no luck.


Pretty much, a rising tide lifts all boats.


Not where all those billions live, it doesn't. A rising tide lifts profits in the Cayman Islands.

Tidal, innit.


It floats the turds too.  How's Harris Park today?   Smiley


Smell-free, dear. We send our sewerage to your fine suburb.

Divine.


No only high class jew poop gets cleaned at Bondi.

BTW just kidding about Harris Pk, I love the place and made a shittonn of money from the curryshitters there.

Next time you're in Brisbane Street take notes of the names of one of the blond blocks of 12 Wink

Now that's what I call wealth distribution.

Rich currys steal from poor currys, bring the money to Sydney and give it to me.
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IBI
 
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #21 - Jan 20th, 2017 at 2:43am
 
issuevoter wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 10:29pm:
Money is not the problem.

You have to factor population growth into the equation. Society cannot produce wealth at the same rate that it produces the children of poverty stricken parents. Mathematically, the poverty stricken will eventually overrun the planet.


You have to factor in poverty-stricken parents realising that to get ahead in the world, they need to limit the number of children they have. Happened in Australia after the 1950s, and it can happen in third world countries that want to catch up with the rest of the world.
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #22 - Jan 20th, 2017 at 3:16am
 
So when the trend has continued for another decade or two, and the top 8 owning more than the bottom half becomes the top 4 owning more than the bottom 75%, will it still be "good on 'em, maybe if I just keep my head down, work hard and pay my taxes on time, maybe someday I can be one of them"?

No?

What about when the top 1 owns more than the bottom 99%?  Then will you realise the world we've built is the ideal habitat for corporations, but not so great for human beings?
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In the fullness of time...
 
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #23 - Jan 20th, 2017 at 3:37am
 
Baronvonrort wrote on Jan 19th, 2017 at 6:25pm:
Bill Gates has donated around $30 billion to charity with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Warren Buffet is also involved with them.



all tax deductable ..
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ॐ May Much LOVE and CHRISTS LIGHT be upon and within us all.... namasté ▲ - : )  ╰დ╮ॐ╭დ╯
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Re: Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do
Reply #24 - Jan 20th, 2017 at 11:46pm
 
... wrote on Jan 20th, 2017 at 3:16am:
So when the trend has continued for another decade or two, and the top 8 owning more than the bottom half becomes the top 4 owning more than the bottom 75%, will it still be "good on 'em, maybe if I just keep my head down, work hard and pay my taxes on time, maybe someday I can be one of them"?

No?

What about when the top 1 owns more than the bottom 99%?  Then will you realise the world we've built is the ideal habitat for corporations, but not so great for human beings?


Somehow, I don't think that any one person will own the wealth of $40 trillion in today's terms.
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