Contrary to what many think the touted Economic Growth in The World has increased the divide between the Rich and The Poor.
With Communism long dead and buried, the Media in the hands of the Rich, one does not get to know what the less fortunate have or feel about this economic prosperity.
last Sunday I watched a Talk show Neeya , Naana, in Star Vijay Tamil TV Channel on the Chasm that exist between the college Going youth of the affluent and the less fortunate.
The difference between the rich and poor did exist even when I was in my college(1967-70)
But the conscious behaviour of the well to do was negligible.
Now the attitude and the behaviour of both the classes are belligerent towards each other.
So is the divide between the Rich, Lower middle and middle classes in India.
After the dawn of the IT Industry, a new class of neo Rich has sprung up, mainly from the lower middle class.
By nature,the Middle classes in India try to be what they are not even while when they were not affluent.
But with this IT money this has increased alarmingly.
Even for small things that can be done by themselves poor people are hired.
While one used to go out to buy vegetables by walk or at the most by a Scooter, people now use a car or send a servant maid.
They no longer buy cinema tickets by standing in the Theaters.
Nor do In find them stand in queue in Railway Stations to reserve tickets in advance, .
What can be bought in a push cart selling vegetables, people go to Supermarkets of even Hyper Markets to buy Vegetables.
Servants , Servant maids are engaged, in many cases as ‘living in ‘are engaged in house hold work and are paid anywhere between 5000 to Rs 10,000 per month.
Often I find these maids have children who have left their children in Free Hostels for study.
And they seem to relish their jobs.
Those who employ them, the neo rich, flaunt their money carelessly.
This is restricted to Homes.
One would this group in the malls, where they spend money recklessly, paying at least 200 % more for the same product that can be bought very economically outside.
Whom do you find at these Malls as Sales girls and Salesmen?
People of the same class whom on engages for work at Home.
These boys and girls are of the same age group that buys things flaunting their money in a vulgar fashion.
These use a Five hundred Rupee or a Thousand Rupee note very carelessly and often leave this at Home around every place.
Leave alone the issue of tempting these needy into stealing, are these people aware the resentment they are building in the people who are working for them?
This, on a Macro Scale is being witnessed in the Society, Government,Media.
The Government aided by Media is obsessed with stock market and Gold Prices and you find extensive coverage of this news next only to Rapes ans Scams in the Media.
There seems to be no reporting on the issues of the poor or their grievances.
I have heard, with out their knowledge, the way these less fortunate look at these things.
Without going into specifics, can say that they are seething with anger at these people, the system.
While we try to convince ourselves we have achieved what we have by hard work, they think that we have usurped these opportunities from them and the system is designed by us to cheat them, deprive them.
What they are waiting is an Opportunity and a Demagogue of Leader r to ignite a Revolution, which I feel will be cataclysmic.
On the national level we think we are growing.
But we are disrupting the Social order.
Whatever we may say it is a fact that the world is controlled by the Rich than ever before and is run by the Rich , of the Rich and for the Rich.
Read this.
50 % of World wealth is controlled by 85 Rich people.!
”
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.
Source: F. Alvaredo, A. B. Atkinson, T. Piketty and E. Saez, (2013) ‘The World Top Incomes Database’, http://topincomes.g-mond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/ Only includes countries with data in 1980 and later than 2008. Photograph: Oxfam
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 helicopters 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.
Winnie Byanyima, the Oxfam executive director who will attend the Davos meetings, said: “It is staggering that in the 21st Century, half of the world’s population – that’s three and a half billion people – own no more than a tiny elite whose numbers could all fit comfortably on a double-decker bus.”
Oxfam also argues that this is no accident either, saying growing inequality has been driven by a “power grab” by wealthy elites, who have co-opted the political process to rig the rules of the economic system in their favour.
In the report, entitled Working For The Few (summary here), Oxfam warned that the fight against poverty cannot be won until wealth inequality has been tackled.
“Widening inequality is creating a vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest of us to fight over crumbs from the top table,” Byanyima said.
Oxfam called on attendees at this week’s World Economic Forum to take a personal pledge to tackle the problem by refraining from dodging taxes or using their wealth to seek political favours.
As well as being morally dubious, economic inequality can also exacerbate other social problems such as gender inequality, Oxfam warned. Davos itself is also struggling in this area, with the number of female delegates actually dropping from 17% in 2013 to 15% this year.
How richest use their wealth to capture opportunities
Polling for Oxfam’s report found people in countries around the world – including two-thirds of those questioned in Britain – believe that the rich have too much influence over the direction their country is heading
Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam-85-richest-people-half-of-the-world
Related articles
You must be logged in to post a comment.