OXFAM recently released a report that stated that eight of the richest men in the world (no women on the list) had as much money as one half of all the rest of the people in the world. In case you missed the article, the men were: Bill Gates, Armanico Gaona, Warren Buffet, Carlos Helú, Jeff Byos, Mark Zuckenberg, Lawrence Ellison and Michael Bloomberg.
Some, if not all, of these rich fellows are philanthropists, which is a very good thing. But because of their successes, the money just keeps coming in. If there was any ever doubt that the gap between the very rich and the poor was spreading, this report should clear up any misconceptions. One unasked question might be: how can we get some, or most, of that money more evenly distributed? The one caveat being, we need to keep the capitalist system in place since it seems to generate the wealth more equitably than say dictatorships or fiefdoms.
Communism was supposed to do that but just doesn’t seem to work for humans. In Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs (depicted above) thought they had it figured but failed in the end as they became too human-like.
How do we get rich people like the Magnificent 8 to share their wealth? Taxes by a responsible government should work but we don’t want to discourage those entrepreneurs from creating jobs for the rest of us. I suppose we, the government, would have to set some limits - limits that are seen as reasonable to new billionaires-in-waiting.
I mean to say, they should be allowed to own a city house; a country home or estate with perhaps its own golf course; an island home for winter; and perhaps a small ski chalet in the Alps. And own a nice condo apartment near the seat of government or their office. All these places to hang your hat would have staff which would help distribute some of the billions, so all in all, this is a good thing.
Rich people need to get around so they need some nice cars at each of their abodes. Maybe a car for each adult member of the family: town cars, sports cars, a nice SUV for security, and an everyday half-ton to show they are just part of the bourgeoisie. Also, the security and household staff all need accommodations and vehicles. This is all good because purchasing these things is great for the economy. The country estate would need some horses, cows and chickens and a couple of farmers to look after them. The island estate would require a nice yacht, a few runabouts, and its own airport. The place in the suburbs needs an art gallery and/or a fancy garage to show off the antique car collection. You can see how all this is great for the economy.
These rich people need to dress like swells and require appropriate jewellery and finely tailored Italian clothes. They need chauffeurs, butlers and maids just like they did in Downton Abbey because they must keep up with the Jones and professional sports players. It just wouldn’t look right for someone like Buffet to look like a poor cousin to some linebacker with a grade 12 education, would it? After all, Buffet makes his money by taking other people’s money through the stock market and the NFL linebacker just knocks other big guys off their feet.
The trick with keeping these 8 guys happy will be to let them live the lifestyle to which they are accustomed, employing people and buying stuff, and tax the excess at 100%. At some point they truly don’t need any more money so they should share their excess with the rest of us. I know that’s what I would do if I was even #9 in the world - wouldn’t you?
The problem is that no country is going to tax these ultra rich anywhere near even 50% of their profits. The rascals would just move or buy their own country or the government therein. I leave it to you and your internet search engine to see where these 8 porkers live and do business.
Somehow we must encourage the rich to distribute their wealth to the poor. A number of religions have made suggestions, with little success. The rich control the tax systems so that doesn’t work. Simply moving in and taking their money never works because we all know the story about killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
Besides, some of these people may be ‘cash-poor’ having spent their money on material things that only have a sentimental, not market value. I’ll bet they have an overdue charge card or two once in awhile. Maybe they don’t have that extra dollar or two in their pocket to share with the fellow with the tin cup on the corner.
Shucks, now I’m starting to feel sorry for them.
