“Parody! Barely.
The Conservative’s* prayer to their goddess of greed, Margaret Thatcher. Her state funeral last year was bordering on outright worship of Thatcher and her ideological legacy of self-centred greed which with all the other branches of libertarianism/capitalism, is creating global harm on a colossal scale: fueling poverty, oppression and environmental devastation.
It’s bad enough when anyone participate’s, but even as an ex-christian, I find the sight of hypocrite’s who pretend to be religious, happily pushing the cult of greed over need; sickening. People who have no problem with the gaping wealth inequality, the poverty, the foodbanks, the homelessness.”
“*Not just the Tories, but UKIP, the US GOP, Conservatives in Canada and Australia…. and all the other greedy, selfish, sociopaths everywhere.”
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Byzantine_K
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I cannot and never will understand the cult of greed at the expense of other people, other animals, the earth itself, our very existence and the existence of future generations. The insatiable greed of the few is like an illness, a compulsion when enough is never enough. Like a gambling or other addition it leaves nothing but misery in its wake. Sadly it is mostly those of this ilk who rule the world and our lives, yet few challenge this status quo. Here in the UK benefits are being stripped from disabled people, people who are too sick to work who can in many cases barely cope with day-to-day living yet are considered fit to work and for non compliance are left destitute with no income, not even the means to obtain food, shelter or warmth, all of which are basic human rights that we all should demand. While food banks open at an alarming hitherto unparalleled rate and people die in their own homes from cold here in the sixth richest country in the world, the rich get richer.
While a child dies of hunger every three seconds in so-called developing countries, while people die of preventable disease and the want of clean water and medical care, have no shelter, no education, no hope and no future, the decadent 1 percent continue living their extravagant life styles accruing more and more wealth at a phenomenal rate.
Here in the UK thanks to the sociopathic polices of Thatcher and her even more warped successor Cameron and his cohorts the gap between the have and the have nots is growing ever wider, more so here than anywhere else in Europe.
How the super rich got richer: 10 shocking facts about inequality
“The coalition government has already reduced the top rate of tax to 45%. Now it plans tougher benefit cuts for the poor. Under current financial plans, it will reward the top 1% even more in future, by cutting income taxes further. The rest of the top 20% can expect slight increases in their net income in the years up to 2016, while everyone else is impoverished.”
“We are facing a fork in the road between having a majority global middle class, or most of us becoming a global service class employed to satisfy the needs of a tiny minority of super-rich individuals.
In spring this year, Oxfam revealed that some 85 of the world’s richest people now had as much wealth as the poorest half of all humanity. A few weeks later, Forbes magazine updated that estimate to just 67 people. Then, within days, they corrected that estimate on their website to 66 people, so fast was the wealth of the multi-billionaires rising in the world during early 2014.”
London’s wealthy elite also includes the largest concentration of Russian millionaires found outside of Moscow – at least 2,000, many of whom are also “Ultras”. It is impossible to accurately assess their wealth because so much of it is hidden. But the donations from many of them to the Conservative party suggest that they have a direct interest in maintaining the low tax – especially wealth tax – policies of that party. It is not just property that the Russians are buying.
Read the full article:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/15/how-super-rich-got-richer-10-shocking-facts-inequality
Are the super rich getting even richer?
The world’s richest 1 per cent will own more than the other 99 per cent by next year, a charity warns.
“Do we really want to live in a world where the 1 per cent own more than the rest of us combined? The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast.
“In the past 12 months we have seen world leaders from President Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk. It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world.
“Business as usual for the elite isn’t a cost free option – failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality – they get a smaller share of the economic pie and because extreme inequality hurts growth, there is less pie to be shared around.”
Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyim quoted in the Channel4 article:
Are the super rich getting even richer?
Read More:
http://www.channel4.com/news/inequality-world-richest-wealth-oxfam-poor-uk-rich
Take Action
Watch the Video and join the Oxfam Campaign Even it Up:
http://www.oxfam.org/en/campaigns/even-it-up
Inequality is out of control: Time to Even It Up!
Around the world, the gap between the rich and poor is spiralling out of control. Extreme inequality is not accidental or inevitable – it’s the result of deliberate policy choices by people in power. Together we must #EvenItUp and stop #inequality from undermining our fight against #poverty. Join our campaign now to close the gap between the rich and the rest: http://www.oxfam.org/en/even-it-up
Wealth: Having it all and wanting more – A report by Oxfam
Global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite. These wealthy individuals have generated and sustained their vast riches through their interests and activities in a few important economic sectors, including finance and insurance, and pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Companies from these sectors spend millions of dollars every year on lobbying to create a policy environment that protects and enhances their interests further. The most prolific lobbying activities in the US are on budget and tax issues; public resources that should be directed to benefit the whole population, rather than reflect the interests of powerful lobbyists.
This briefing explains Oxfam’s methodology and data sources and updates key inequality statistics, such as Oxfam’s frequently cited fact in 2014: ‘85 billionaires have the same wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population’
Download the full report:
http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/wealth-having-it-all-and-wanting-more-338125
Surely enough is enough, when are we going to take a stand against the greed of the few at the expense of the many. Time for a fair society, one that allows people to have fulfilling lives including of course the very basics which so many people lack such a shelter, food, clean water, warmth, education and health care, without exploitation of other human beings, other animals or the planet.
While the Oxfam initiative is a good start the ultimate fair world consists in removing ownership of the world’s resources from individuals who for all intents and purposes control these often essentials for the life, health and wellbeing of the vast majority of the world’s inhabitants.
“Gross economic inequality is as vile as racism, misogyny and hatred of the disabled; as damaging in effect; and as dependent on a small group of supporters who believe that just a few should have more and more and more, because they’re worth it.”
Rantings From a Virtual Soapbox 