Wealth? What Wealth?

"In 2011, the six heirs to the Walmart empire commanded wealth of almost $70 billion, which is equivalent to the wealth of the entire bottom 30 percent of US society. There has been no improvement in well-being for the typical American family for 20 years. On the other side, the top one percent of the population gets 40 percent more in one week than the bottom fifth receive in a full year. In short, we have become a divided society. America has created a marvelous economic machine, but most of the benefits have gone to the top." 

"...many of those in the financial sector got rich by economic manipulation, by deceptive and anti-competitive practices, by predatory lending. They took advantage of the poor and uninformed, as they made enormous amounts of money by preying upon these groups with predatory lending. They sold them costly mortgages and were hiding details of the fees in fine print."

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel-prize winning economics professor at Columbia University. (Source: Der Spiegel)

May Day 08 - The Food Crisis

It is May Day. The day we celebrate the social and economic accomplishments of international labor. Well, this year the focus of the day is on food. That's right. In our incredibly modern and advanced world we are facing an international food crisis. Today, there were demonstrations and riots around food and income inequalities across the globe. And you thought Gas prices were high.

Sadly, workers and children will be the hardest hit, as 100 million more people worldwide sink into poverty. Read the Washington Post article on the subject here. Poverty already affects much of the third world, with over a billion people existing on less than $2 US per day. Just think about that. Then contemplate that number getting much bigger, because that's where this is all headed. We're already fighting wars over oil. Now, it appears, we may be faced with conflict over food. Just peachy.

Analysts tell us that schools will be especially hard hit, as many schools now feed their students. Indeed, some of the students in the third world attend school just for the meals. Now those will be gone, and children will be relegated to labor to try and close the poverty gap. Read about some of the reasons why we're facing this crisis here and the negative effects of our rush to Ethanol here. And read about its effects on Africa here.
food crisis
poverty

Classism & Corporate Greed Devalue People Power

A number of recent news stories have highlighted the fact that people power is a thing of the past. In fact, it is becoming clear that corporate greed, consumerism and classist polarization of the world (developed vs. non-developed nations) have resulted in the largest, wholesale devaluation of individuals and families in recent history. That is a strong statement, but consider the evidence.

A recent news article reports that indigents in India are being kidnapped, sedated and surgically relieved of one of their kidneys - destined for the black market in live human organs for transplant. Another article documents the worldwide threat this trend represents. In the US, patients are being denied life-saving surgeries, procedures and treatments due to lack of adequate insurance coverage and exclusion from dwindling public health programs. This, while large Pharma companies like Roche, Wyeth & Bristol reap record profits.

Profits over people, a theme that appears in every market in every country on the planet. The current financial crisis, initiated by the sub-prime mortgage loan meltdown in the US, is evidence of what happens in an age of corporate excess and regulatory permissiveness. The real outrage is that we're bailing out business, and leaving the very real people and families involved drowning in a financial whirlpool.

Now comes the news of a worldwide uptick in poverty, just as food prices are on the rise. In the US, according to the Census Bureau, 36.5 million people live below the poverty line. Worldwide, 2.8 billion people live on under $2US per day, and 25,000 die each day of hunger or hunger-related causes. In the poorest of poor countries, Haiti, the locals have been reduced to preparing and eating dirt cookies. That's right. Check out the video below.


I've posted here about the work of Partners in Health and Dr. Paul Farmer in Haiti. My family offers modest financial support to this Herculean effort on a regular, quarterly basis. You can do the same by following the link above.

Human life is being devalued across the globe, in a variety of ways. Certainly corporate greed is driving some of this phenomena.

"...citizens' anxiety, however, centers on the transition of society to corporate rule, where the concentration of economic power rests in the hands of a select economic elite... In short, citizens are realizing they no longer control their local areas or life choices, but are disposable economic units or serfs of the corporate empire." (source)

Another example of the stunning devaluation of humans is the explosion in worker exploitation across the developed and rapidly developing world. In China, vast armies of migrants are preparing Beijing for the Olympics though they enjoy no protections, no benefits and no health care. Dubai, a Middle-Eastern oasis that is often called the world's largest construction project, relies on over half-a-million migrant workers who are paid about $6US per day and housed in crowded camps far away from the gleaming high-rises that are evidence of their labor. Closer to home, the US labor force is being transformed by globalization in a variety of negative ways. What were once high paying professional jobs are being outsourced. Plants and jobs are going overseas, where worker and environmental protections are often non-existent, at an alarming rate. In their place, low-end jobs with restricted benefits are now offered.

There is, however, no greater devaluation of human life than pointless war. We are reminded, with the news yesterday that the American military accidently killed 9 Iraqi citizens including a child, of the human costs of war on a daily basis. International agencies agree that legions of Iraqi citizens have been killed since the US invasion. And there are many American families, especially in rural America, that have experienced the loss of a young son or daughter in this conflict as well. In Afghanistan, whole villages have been mistakenly targeted and bombed. It is no wonder the Taliban are back in even greater numbers than before. In Africa, tribal and post-colonial animosities are driving holocaust after holocaust. I feel quite comfortable using that term, as millions of lives and families are involved.

The US was founded by patriots who envisioned a government "...of the people," using authority "...by the people" and "...for the people." We've come a long way from that idealistic notion, as now it seems we exist only to consume and enrich corporate oligarchs. Our own government has become "by the lobbyists," "for the corporations," and "...of the very rich." As my friend Jeff Golden says, "...it is time to take America back." It is my hope that individuals everywhere can take back their rights, their respect and their financial dignity from those who would oppress the masses for personal gain.

Take a Vocab Quiz & Help End Hunger

Here's how it works. Point your browser to Free Rice and take a quick vocab test that will definitely increase your wordpower and make you smarter. For each correct answer you submit, some rice is donated to feed the hungry worldwide. You could configure a personal improvement program involving a few minutes per day, and help feed a starving family in the process. What's not to love? If you want to know more about world hunger, and the individual people who are dying today from starvation, cruise by the sister site, poverty.com. And thanks to the BBC World News service for this article - my source of wonder and inspiration in this matter.