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posted by
martyb
on Saturday January 27 2018, @12:43PM
from the I-got-mine!-And-Yours.-And-Yours.-Annnnnd-yours,-too. dept.
from the I-got-mine!-And-Yours.-And-Yours.-Annnnnd-yours,-too. dept.
The 1% grabbed 82% of all wealth created in 2017
More than $8 of every $10 of wealth created last year went to the richest 1%.
That's according to a new report from Oxfam International, which estimates that the bottom 50% of the world's population saw no increase in wealth.
Oxfam says the trend shows that the global economy is skewed in favor of the rich, rewarding wealth instead of work.
"The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system," said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International.
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Only 1% of World's Population Grabbed 82% of all 2017 Wealth
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squatcho, n.:
The button at the top of a baseball cap.
-- "Sniglets", Rich Hall & Friends
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mmcmonster on Saturday January 27 2018, @05:17PM (4 children)
I am, by most scales, well to do, if not considered rich.
I have a high-six-figure salary in the health care field, with respect from my colleagues who acknowledge behind my back that I'm a hard worker and good at what I do. I have $2.5 million in liquid assets, have a million dollar house (custom build, not a McMansion), and my entire debt is $30k on my car (at 1.2%, I'm taking as long as possible to pay it off). I have never taken a loan from family or even accepted cash from them (other than $100 at times as birthday gifts).
That being said, I would never say that I am a self-made man. My parents gave me a stable home growing up, driving me to and from extracurricular activities on nights and weekends as needed.. They supported me throughout school, such that I never had to pay tuition or work during high school or college.
I am a member of society and quite happy to pay whatever taxes requested to keep society going for the next generation. I volunteer on off weekends and make sure my kids do as well (when we are not taking them to their extracurricular activities).
By the time my kids are old enough to be earning a living they are going to be better off than most and have a leg up on society. They won't have loans and will understand index fund investing and living below their means.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 27 2018, @05:36PM (2 children)
And I applaud you for all that. I would however call you a self-made man. You owe your parents nothing financially or morally for your raising. The choice to bring you into this world was theirs thus so was the responsibility to raise you. There are usually going to be plenty of mutual debts of love and loyalty for them and you exchanging plenty of both but those don't really factor in here.
Any contributions you care to make to create a better world for your children or even simply posterity I applaud you for as well. Demanding others do so as well under threat of imprisonment or death I cannot back you on though. I know of no way to make that a morally sound position.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:54PM (1 child)
By now we all get that, Uzzard. But you do understand, do you not, that what you do not know is not exactly relevant to anything at all. Community College, bro! The only cure for ignorance is learning. Money is not an acceptable substitute.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:37PM
You obviously have quite the journey ahead of you then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @05:59PM
Great. There are two schools of thought here, first that your parents funding your education is unfair, second that it is fair because opportunity is cross generational and every parent has the opportunity and responsibility to provide for their children. I believe the second to be true, my parents were not wealthy but provided for my education although I insisted on taking a bar job. We lived in a lower middle class area where I grew up exposed to vicious reverse snobbery, supporting myself became a matter of personal pride and self respect. On reflection it's only important that you make the most of available opportunities.
I've known many supposedly "self-made" people who would never admit their finances are a result of inheritance and many supposed inheritance beneficiaries who are, in reality, self-made. Success in most fields requires the work be put in.