By PY Koh

We have all been suspecting that there is something wrong with the trend of wealth distribution. It simply does not seem quite right that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

Often people lament how hard it is to make ends meet, trudging along from one stressful situation to another to put bread on the table.

Many of these people work no less hard or no less determined than those who earn millions, and the big difference somewhat boils down to chance and luck.

Inevitably the question is, should society continue to reward success with excessive wealth, to the point where a rich man earns in a day what a poor man can in a year. Is this fair and just?

Here is an interesting excerpt from an Oxfam report about this economic dysfunction causing income inequality:

“New estimates show that just eight men own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world. As growth benefits the richest, the rest of society – especially the poorest – suffers.

“The very design of our economies and the principles of our economics have taken us to this extreme, unsustainable and unjust point. Our economy must stop excessively rewarding those at the top and start working for all people.”

Indeed something must be done, as we believe in the rights and equality of all humans; on top of that we believe in the spirit of humanity.

The findings according to the Oxfam report that may shock you:

1. Since 2015, the richest 1% has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet;
2. Eight men now own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world;
3. Over the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over US$2.1 trillion (RM9.3 trillion) to their heirs – a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people;
4. The incomes of the poorest 10% of people increased by less than US$3 a year between 1988 and 2011, while the incomes of the richest 1% increased 182 times as much;
5. A CEO of a FTSE-100 firm earns as much in a year as 10,000 people working in garment factories in Bangladesh;
6. In the US, new research by economist Thomas Piketty shows that over the last 30 years the growth in the incomes of the bottom 50% has been zero, whereas incomes of the top 1% have grown 300%; and
7. In Vietnam, the country’s richest man earns more in a day than the poorest person earns in 10 years.

So when can we start putting back the balance of fairly and justly rewarding people for their labour, and of reducing the suffering and helping the poor?

PY Koh is an FMT reader.

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REFERENCE:
www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/bp-economy-for-99-percent-160117-en.pdf