85 richest people as wealthy as half of the world's population

reply to post by dogstar23


You have a point but top 1% by income is actually a little over half a million per year before taxes.

reply to post by dogstar23


Actually the top 1% yearly income starts at 1.2M/year. But we aren't talking about the the top 1%. We are talking about the the richest 85 people in the world. Money that the top 1% are considered in poverty by comparison. Let's look at BIll Gates, the richest man in the world. His annual salary? 3.7 Billion dollars. Overall he is worth over 70 Billion dollars and that's after his having gifted his own charitable foundation with his wife over half his fortune. Anyway... in the past ten years, on his own (not as Microsoft, Microsoft donates to politics as well) he's donated almost 500,000 dollars to politicians on both sides of the aisle. Most of that money has gone to State ballot committees (let that sink in for a second).

ETA: The problem isn't that he is unimaginably rich. The problem is that his political voice nulls out millions of other peoples.

reply to post by NavyDoc


Doesn't matter at all what it is. No factory is any good without people to run it. No boat is any good without people to refine oil to gasoline so they can drive it. Etc, etc, and they are all especially no good to you if the earth is so screwed we all just die off.

reply to post by TKDRL




Exactly.... once they've sucked up all the wealth and killed off most of the world's population, then what?
There'll be nobody to work in their businesses?


Ah actually it's ok, they'll all be automated by then anyway, no need for labourers

reply to post by blupblup


No. Then the 1% become the impoverished and slave wage earners.

hopenotfeariswhatweneed
and a firing squad would only use 85 bullets to redistribute the wealth evenly around the globe

It wouldn't kill the 'legal entities' and they are the problem. You can kill humans but not corporate persons.

reply to post by Cuervo


U do know that most of the wealthy are democrats right? They only want more taxes so it can go to them in stimulus, corporate welfare, bailouts, and no bid contracts.

If u want your socialist utopia the Tea Party offers the best solutions. END THE FED. There would be no debt and the treasury would have the power to print the dollar instead of Private Banks, and u would be able to construct the Utopia that the leftist have always dreamed of. But I think most leftist are blinded to see this.

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TKDRL
reply to post by ImaFungi

 

They should smarten up a bit.... All that wealth being horded isn't gonna help their future bloodline any if the earth is destroyed, or if all the slaves die out. What good is their pile of money going to be then?

Except it's not really a big pile of money is it? Assets to include businesses and factories and all sorts of things that most likely employ thousands upon thousands upon thousands.

edit on 21-1-2014 by NavyDoc because: (no reason given)

Having a massive quantity of money is not a skill. If I had a billion dollars I bet I can invest in quite a few businesses and factories. If I had a billion dollars I could bet 10 million on red as a witticism.

And those businesses they invest in provide jobs. Getting and holding that amount of assets is indeed a skill set. If you were given a billon, I don't doubt that you'd lose it all quite easily.

After a generation or two, redistributed wealth would shift again into the hands of the clever.

Again, at what level do I have to get before you take my stuff and you kick me out or kill me? How much wealth am I allowed to have?

You dont have to worry, if you had 10 lifetimes you wouldnt get close. I would lose a billion dollars quite easily...wow, I dont think you comprehend how much money that is, and that the 89 people we have been talking about all have well over that. Do you realize I could put half or more of the billion in bonds and trusts and banks and cds (excuse my financial ignorance but you get the picture, I can pay someone to explain this stuff to me right?) and still give a million dollars to everyone of my family members, and still never have to work a day in my life and live better then every king who has ever lived?

What the hell do you think that these billionaires do? LOL. They invest money in factories, and businesses, and stock and bonds and use that money to make money and, in doing so, the money goes to provide jobs and opportunity and growth. I see that you have absolutely no concept of money or investing. YOu honestly think that these people sit on a huge money bed like Scrooge McDuck. They don't get where they are by being stupid.

And what I find funny is that you propose that you could invest your money and live happily ever after when you condemn those who do exactly that.

You wouldn't give all off your money to the poor and downtrodden and then become a Buddhist monk?

Now, you keep dodging the question. How much can I make before you would confiscate my assets and deport of kill me?

The point is I dont think what they do is hard, I think anyone can do what they do so I am not impressed or proud of them. You think its some amazing noble gesture that they have a billion dollars and invest some of it to make more money, the godly job creators, so one person is a black hole of economy but its ok because they make some jobs. A lot of them get where they are by being bored. My point is when you have that much money it is not hard to make more, and the byproduct of making more is making some jobs. I proposed I can do that to show you how simple it is, how unimpressive their majesty you are enthralled with is. I have answered this question over and over, if you are in that 89 of the richest. I would do away with private central banks, and have all priorities governmentalized non for profit to make sure enough food was available to all citizens, and a focus on from a young age, real education for all citizens, and everyone would be treated like a real equal citizen. Enough food is produced to consistently feed all people on earth so why is half the population impoverished and starving? This proves that it is not impossible to have a more successful civilization where half the existing humans arent in perpetual suffering and hopelessness and oppression and exploitation as slaves or at least cruelly treated work horses. So it is a problem with the system. You dont see it as a problem, because the bubble you were born into and maintained over your self over the course of your life is cozy, no need to change obviously. The same can be said about my self, but I am not thinking about myself when I am partaking in this side of the argument.

LOL. You honestly think that a billion dollars just magically appears out of thin air. If any schlub could make a billion, where's yours?


I've never said it was noble to be wealthy. I've said that simply being wealthy is not an indication of criminality, abuse, selfishness, or any other accusation your tiny mind makes up.

Your ignorance is laughable. I grew up in abject poverty--having to choose between food and heat during the winter sort of poverty. I made a promise to myself never to be poor or miserable again. Instead of partying Saturday night like my peers (who now bitch about the man keeping them down) I worked and/;or studied. I put in overtime, sacrificed pleasure, lost sleep and now I am very successful--well into the top 1% and picking up steam. My life was most likely much less "cozy" than yours and it is apparent with the blatant ignorance you have show in this thread.

You'd only strip the top 89 but leave number 90 alone? I don't believe that for an instant. Your ilk would strip and attack anyone who has more than you and anyone you think in your own twisted little mind is underserving. You and your kind are just as much a tyrant wannabe as Pol Pot and Lenin. Luckily you probably are too lazy to actually do anything as long as your welfare check comes in.

edit on 22-1-2014 by NavyDoc because: (no reason given)

My side of the argument isnt anything other then; the established ways of the current system dictates not only that not everyone can succeed in life and live a stable existence, but in fact, an overwhelming number of them may not under any circumstances be allowed to succeed in life or carry out a stable existence. It is not designed for this to be possible. There is a limited amount of money. One a few people have most of it, that means a lot of people have little of it, what dont you get about that? No matter how much hard work they do, they, not one or two or me or you, the collective they in the high high millions, will not have an existence outside of starvation and lack of other bare essentials and necessities. This is not about you or me, this is about everyone. Of course you dont have to worry about them, of course I dont have to, but that is what this thread is about, thinking about them. Your solution "they deserve it/if they work hard it will be better", My solution, "lets try to fix the problem for real, I dont have a solution, but we can find a better one then currently exists".

NO, your solution is to punish success and use force to take from people who have more than you and are thus undeserving.
My solution is freedom. Economic and social freedom brings about prosperity for the most people.

If it is true freedom you want, you must agree then in this manner of life or death, the collective impoverished and all who would be on their side, have the right to wage war against the system, and the people at the top, who is the direct cause of their suffering? How long do you think a starving lion should accept being poked with a stick?

beezzer
reply to post by stargatetravels

 

No. Hyperbole'.

I'm just concerned that it won't stop at the 85.

It'll go towards anyone with anything more than what you have.

It's not about "justice".

It's about taking from someone who has more than you.

It is justifying theft.

Next there will be talk about "equal outcome". Then we'll see some people making sweeping determinations as to how much a person should earn, should keep.

How much have they stolen from you? Got a dollar amount?

It won't go towards anyone with more than you have, someone having more isn't a problem for the overwhelming majority. This isn't "politics of envy" regardless of how loudly the guilty scream it in their attempts to deflect. These buzz words are really good at making people go against their own interests, but they aren't always accurate. Any time these discussions on income inequality come up, I hear the same dismissive talking points sweepingly applied to every point that's bought up. It's annoying.

I admire everyone that has made their money honorably through hard work. Good for them. I don't envy the rich, I don't need a yacht and a huge house, I like the simple life.

It's not envy that makes me dislike predatory bankers, and corrupt politicians who sell out their country to the highest bidder. If I ask the wealthy to stop hiding their money in tax havens, it's not cause I wish I had that much money, those taxes are supposed to go back into helping our country. If I speak out against my country becoming a plutocracy, it's not as simple as me hating the rich, I just don't see that as an effective way to run a successful nation. I hate the idea of greedy people polluting third world countries, because proper disposal of waste doesn't help them say money. Their greed is giving people cancer, and I'm supposed to shut up because...politics of envy.

i haven't heard one person make a compelling argument against having a strong middle class, all I hear are buzz words that don't apply. I haven't heard one good argument to convince me that america will be the exception when it comes to the history of income inequality. But I can't point that out cause....well.... politics of envy

If you have a yacht that's fine, as long you didn't get it by robbing me. It's not enough to apply sweeping buzzwoods. They don't always fit. You keep pointing out that it's how it's always been, but that's irrelevant to me, because I have moral standards and I think they should be applied with out bias.

I saw Glenn Beck in an interview recently on CNN where he said that "taking money from the rich to give to the poor is immoral." I don't think we can ever end the polarization in America when there are those with such fundamentally different world views. In my opinion it is immoral NOT to take from them, we have a poisoned, starving world, falling to ruin.

U guys are confusing the 1% with the .0000001%. There is a big difference. The 1% provide the jobs for Americans, they are the entrepreneurs, your manager, your CEO, etc.

U guys need to be more specific. The .000001% is the ones that want all wealth to themselves. They want to turn the wealthy into the middleclass and the middleclass into the poor class. They want it all for themselves. So when u throw the 1% under the buss, know that u are throwing your boss and the person who cuts your check.

amfirst1
U guys are confusing the 1% with the .0000001%. There is a big difference. The 1% provide the jobs for Americans, they are the entrepreneurs, your manager, your CEO, etc.

U guys need to be more specific. The .000001% is the ones that want all wealth to themselves. They want to turn the wealthy into the middleclass and the middleclass into the poor class. They want it all for themselves. So when u throw the 1% under the buss, know that u are throwing your boss and the person who cuts your check.

Rather, it's the ones defending economic imbalance that are confusing the issue and making it about defending the 1%. Those of us that see a problem in need of a solution are talking about the richest 85 people in the world. The 1% don't come close to the kind of wealth, we aren't confused about that.

amfirst1
U guys are confusing the 1% with the .0000001%. There is a big difference. The 1% provide the jobs for Americans, they are the entrepreneurs, your manager, your CEO, etc.

U guys need to be more specific. The .000001% is the ones that want all wealth to themselves. They want to turn the wealthy into the middleclass and the middleclass into the poor class. They want it all for themselves. So when u throw the 1% under the buss, know that u are throwing your boss and the person who cuts your check.

I could easily one-liner this but simply saying "im good with that." I assure you, my grievances are not just with billionaires. "Job Creators" are for the most part cut-throats looking to pay people not one cent more than the law requires and care nothing for their employees.

NavyDoc

hopenotfeariswhatweneed

tencap77
reply to post by hopenotfeariswhatweneed

 

glad to see that your solution to a person that is succesful is a bullet in the brain. i'm sure your a stone cold killer. i'm sure you could place a 45 between bill gates eyes and pull the trigger. nice. not saying that makes you bad. just glad to know that poor people ar as inherently violent as rich people. i think bender has the right idea. kill all humans. and the world would be a better place. makes perfect sense. anyway, way to try and walk back your inherent thirst for human blood. why use 85 bullets? you'd be introducing a lot of lead into the environement that way. why not just tie they're hands behind they're backs (so they can't hurt YOU!) and bury a crow bar in they're skull. no?. worried about getting blood and guts on your new tennies? understood. why not just throw them in a pool and drop a toaster in? pour gasoline on them and strike a match. push them off the observation deck of the empire state building. take them up in a united airlines plane and have the flight crew bail out after they kill the engines in the middle of the pacific? make them de-core a nuclear reactor with they're bare hands? feed them to white sharks? yes. killing 85 people will make sucha big diference. just a reminder. people with that kind of scratch have friends, and obama is one of them. i suppose you don't feel that way about your king, but the truth hurts doesn't it ?

what makes you think i am poor?...

so you think it is ok for so few to am-mas such wealth while thousands die everyday because they cant afford clean water of enough food to feed their families......?....i will take a stab in the dark and say you just dont have enough empathy to care

Putting a bullet in into someone's head is an example of a person with empathy? Hell, Webster's gonna have to redefine the word.

I laugh that you chastise someone as having no empathy when you talk of executing people simply because they have more assets than you.

so instead of answering my question u just skip it at and try and turn it around.....

lets try again....so you think its ok for a few people to amass huge wealth more than they could ever spend while thousands die everyday needlessly??.......you can try all you want to make me out to be the bad guy here but maybe you need to have a good look in the mirror......

I think this is all a conspiracy to divide us even further. I think this is a deliberate attempt and encouraging hated towards success. I think the White House is behind it.

I think we're all getting our strings pulled. Racial differences couldn't divide us, we remained united as a culture.

SO "they" use economic disparities to divide us.

Pit us against each other.

So we can't unite and see what our government is doing to us.

(we're to busy hatin' on each other)

Well, I refuse to play their game. If you want to rant and fume about the wealthy and successful, go right ahead.

I refuse to participate in this "meme" anymore.

I will spend more time looking for ways to unite, looking for more ways to bridge the gaps instead of widening them.

So continue with the hate. Gather your pitchforks and torches. Storm the castle!

I'm not going to play this anymore.

Peace out.

reply to post by beezzer


Welcome to my world!


I'm going to join your cause and boycott the thread too!

.... Heads off into the sunset with the little white rabbit...

stargatetravels
As World Economic Forum starts in Davos, development charity claims that growing inequality has been driven by a 'power grab' by wealthy elites


85 People are as wealthy as 3.5 BILLION!!!

The world's wealthiest people aren't known for travelling by bus, but if they fancied a change of scene then the richest 85 people on the globe – who between them control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population put together – could squeeze onto a single double-decker.

The extent to which so much global wealth has become corralled by a virtual handful of the so-called 'global elite' is exposed in a new report from Oxfam on Monday. It warned that those richest 85 people across the globe share a combined wealth of £1tn, as much as the poorest 3.5 billion of the world's population.

The wealth of the 1% richest people in the world amounts to $110tn (£60.88tn), or 65 times as much as the poorest half of the world, added the development charity, which fears this concentration of economic resources is threatening political stability and driving up social tensions.

It's a chilling reminder of the depths of wealth inequality as political leaders and top business people head to the snowy peaks of Davos for this week's World Economic Forum. Few, if any, will be arriving on anything as common as a bus, with private jets and helicoptors pressed into service as many of the world's most powerful people convene to discuss the state of the global economy over four hectic days of meetings, seminars and parties in the exclusive ski resort.

www.theguardian.com...

world.time.com...

www.cnbc.com...






So I'm sure this comes as no surprise to many but it still makes uncomfortable, difficult reading.
The level/gap is growing faster and wider too and I'm not really sure what, if anything, can be done about it.

edit on 20-1-2014 by stargatetravels because: (no reason given)

These 85 people are just the world scapegoats. So you can say if it was not for them the world would be perfect. Let's forget about the dropout rate . Let's forget about weapons shipments to poor nations that keep them at war. Let's forget about all the tax money that is wasted. Let's just say rich people are evil and let's be happy.

What if .. it was something like... Per X amount money you have over a ridiculous amount.. say 200 million. Than a certain % of that money over that amount should be worked into public service.. Say X amount of jobs need too be created.. hmm? i mean.. i understand that might be looked at as communism or socialism... But i mean is that such a terrible concept?

Im not saying thats how it should be.. but lets throw that out there.... And you might not understand what the public might do with that money... invest in Eco-Coexsistant comunties...The world is desperate for a change.