Another way to think about it is that the 500 oligarchs of the world were able to capture a worldwide average of 26.63ยข from each person. In the course of 365 days it's as though each person in the world bought each of the 500 oligarchs in the world a full $0.26/$1.50 = nearly 1/5th of a single vending machine 20 ounce bottle of coke. Multiply that by 500 and you can have a very proper sit-down meal anywhere in the world.
Of course, maybe they generated $500, or $1000, or $3,000 in wealth to do so.
After all, the worldwide real income increased by well over twice that.
But it's that fifth of a bottle of coke that bothers me, personally. Why should bill gates get a quarter from me? He obviously didn't work for it as much as I did. If anything he should be paying me. Why, you ask?
What did I make that he uses? Why, I might as well ask: what do the 500 oligarchs of the world make that anyone uses - wait, don't answer that, I have a point to make here and it would kind of ruin it to know the answer.
My point is, the rich need to stop getting richer. It's just not right.
$2 bn / 7.6 billion = 0.263
Another way to think about it is that the 500 oligarchs of the world were able to capture a worldwide average of 26.63ยข from each person. In the course of 365 days it's as though each person in the world bought each of the 500 oligarchs in the world a full $0.26/$1.50 = nearly 1/5th of a single vending machine 20 ounce bottle of coke. Multiply that by 500 and you can have a very proper sit-down meal anywhere in the world.
Of course, maybe they generated $500, or $1000, or $3,000 in wealth to do so.
After all, the worldwide real income increased by well over twice that.
But it's that fifth of a bottle of coke that bothers me, personally. Why should bill gates get a quarter from me? He obviously didn't work for it as much as I did. If anything he should be paying me. Why, you ask?
What did I make that he uses? Why, I might as well ask: what do the 500 oligarchs of the world make that anyone uses - wait, don't answer that, I have a point to make here and it would kind of ruin it to know the answer.
My point is, the rich need to stop getting richer. It's just not right.
/s
[1] http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/global-wag...