Are the Rich Killing the Poor?
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Are we living in the Age of Greed?
A $1,000,000 dress.
An Aston Martin at $300,000.
A $2,000,000 diamond necklace.
A 60m pool.
A 6,000 m2 mansion worth $100,000,000 or more.
Those are just a few of the things that the poor never dream of even in their dreams. The poor hungry and thirsty man of the Sahel dreams of clouds and water. The resident of the City of Joy never sees joy, but dreams of a better life. Maybe at times of making a short appearance in one of the sequels of Slumdog Millionaire. The resident of the City of God prays God constantly but remains submerged in violence, crimes and trafficking. He probably dreams of the peace at the summit of the Pico da Neblina.
The Disaster Caused by Greed
There are an estimated 800 million undernourished people on the planet. $2 per day would be enough to feed them. If we assume for a moment that the "greed limit", i.e the fortune of a person beyond which it would be considered greed, is $10 million, that would mean there would be billions and billions available to:
1. Develop a new type of agriculture so that not one person on the planet will ever sleep on an empty stomach. This will at the same time create millions of jobs throughout the planet.
2. This would be accompanied by research on how to prevent the rise of sea levels because of melting ice caps, e.g by transporting drifting icebergs to the Sahara or the Sahel and transform these deserts into oases, or by installing pipelines to create artificial seas in vast arid areas of poor zones of the earth.
This shows that the survival of humanity is related to the survival of the poor. By killing the poor, the greedy are pushing humanity toward destruction.
YOUR TURN!
Are the Rich Killing the Poor?
Yes, you're right!
Mel cownzowfsky says:
Absolutely correct! The rich ARE killing the poor! To them, we poorer souls are considered little more than a disease. Just because, most of the time but not always, the killing is done rather slowly via unfair taxes, currency debauching, (quiet wars against mainly the middle class) that include corruption and graft, inflation and job elimination etc. but also by intentionally adding any number of toxic things (even if not immediately deadly) to be knowingly added to our food, air and water. But if we take a closer look at all of the wars fought, at least, within the last 100 years (if not much farther back than that) some privileged few got very rich from setting one nation against another and then supplying the weapons and 'drum beating' 'patriotic propaganda in order to get young men to volunteer for the military service(s). Have you ever thought why it is that almost all soldiers that are put in harms' way are very young? ...They're considered 'cannon fodder!' Most of the officers, frequently boot-lickers of the rich, manage to keep themselves far from the 'front lines. It's greed to the nth power. But the rich (with more emphasis on the ultra rich, than the moderately rich) are never satisfied with enough, they want it all. The British are past masters at doing this sort of thing. They play both sides against the middle, and manage to get richer no matter which 'country' wins the wars.
While it is true that some people who have 'management' skills have become rich not necessarily or always to the detriment of the poor, the old adage,'power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely, is still fully accurate.
The 'monkey brains' who disagree with this simply haven't got a clue as to what is actually going on, or are part of the conspiracy themselves!
GrowWear says:
Making people poor makes them a commodity. I'd be surprised if it's "not" completely contrived. ...For those proud to say that they've done well so far, don't forget that a sickness can put you out of work and bring your life crashing down around you. A bit of research will show you what the banks do when you're behind on the mortgage. Life knocks everyone to their knees at some point, and the banks are standing by to kick you while you're down. Best advice for anyone these days is to tear up the credit cards and pay cash only and for only what's needed.
artbymichelle says:
Perfect example is the silver spoon Koch brothers, (Koch Industries) Buying their way to crush the unions so there is no money on the other side to fight them in elections. That way they can get there payed off members of congress to eliminate the EPA and any other regulatory agencies that put a bump inhibit them from getting any richer. These agencies are there to protect the people who don't have billions of dollars. Koch Industries or "Americans For The Prosperity" funded all of the Tea Party events while Rupert Murdock's Fox News promoted them. I guess there is a price tag for everything. Keep a watch on them. They managed to pull this off so far. Now all of the Governors they have chosen are trying to suppress the vote of the poor and minorities. Very, Very scary stuff!
Rafick says:
I completely agree with Tony. In fact $30 million would be largely sufficient (if not more than sufficient)... It represents $2,000 per day over 40 years!!!
Tony says:
The law should dictate that no one person can have a personal wealth of more than 50 million, anything over that should be used to pay for third world aid and disaster aid. Anyone holding money above 50 million is a greedy, selfish person, and is, whether they like it or not, ensuring that people are dying everyday from starvation. It stands to reason, if you hold money that you have no chance of spending in your lifetime, then you are depriving other human beings of living a normal life. There is no reason or excuse to have so much money and keep it for yourself, when thousands die everyday needlessly!
dogface says:
Not directly, but yes.
Tiggered says:
Too often they do.
sukkran says:
well said. i totally agree with you.
Deepak says:
I agree with you, but some wealthy people are very generous.
alyssa87 says:
yes i agree but what can be done if they are lucky enough or God gifted them with wealth and loads of money, its the rich people responsibility to understand the needs of a poor and treat them equally
A-Redneck says:
Yes I believe so. While those who work hard or receive wealth from their anscestors are deserving...more should be shared. There should not be such an inequality of wealth between people. That is a horrible injustice.
No way, Monkeybrain!
akarki says:
lot of rich people are having good skills of organizing activities, so they create jobs and wealth, necessary for creating new jobs...and so on. I never dreamed this activity, i did like no big responsibilities and quiet life, so i admire their skills. Unless they steal for that wealth, obviously.
I think, to many children kills the poor, because leads to lack of education for those children.
Super population of the Earth is an other issue, leading to grow the number of poor.
Cinnamonbite says:
Nope. I made average decisions in my life, so I am only middle class. I was afraid to take risks so I did not aim high, only average. it was a conscious decision. I came from dirt poor and I did better than my family who were willing to settle for doing less and living in nasty conditions-just to avoid working too hard. Sorry, I've lived the life and I have NO, "rich guilt."
glockr says:
I disagree. I don't believe that money/wealth is a zero sum game. Wealthy people don't get their wealth by stealing it from poor people, they create it. Bill Gates for example - he created a software product that millions of people wanted to buy and in the process made himself extremely wealthy. Along the way, he made many other people wealthy by the jobs provided by his company. I don't see how he "stole" his wealth in any way. I was taught to not covet what others have and it seems like judging how much others should be "allowed" to make is a form of coveting.
Squidoolinepro says:
mmm, I agree that 'some' rich are probably guilty of that but not all.....Like Kitty said below, I believe it depends on the person and she gave a great example.
Either way, something is definitely off and things could be in better balance.
The Rich are Getting Richer, the Poor Poorer
Look how big are the 10 biggest fortunes on earth (2011):
1. Carlos Slim, Mexico, $74 billion
2. Bill Gates, USA, $56 billion
3. Warren Buffet, USA, $ 56 billion
4. Bernard Arnault, France, $41 billion
5. Larry Ellison, USA, $39.5 billion
6. Lakshmi Mittal, India, $31.1 billion
7. Armancio Ortega, Spain, $31 billion
8. Eike Batista, Brazil, $30 billion
9. Mukesh Ambani, India, $27 billion
10. Christy Walton, USA, $26.5 billion
Total for Top 10 richest: $406.1 billion
No, they are definitely not slumdog billionaires!
1.2 billion people (20% of the world's population) live on less than $1 per day.
Almost half the world - well over three billion people - lives on less than $2.50 a day.
80% of humanity (about 5.6 billion people) lives on less than $10 per day.
This is the Age of Greed. Never in history have we had so many people killing their fellow human beings without using weapons. Their greed is doing the job. Greed is a weapon of mass destruction. I think it is time that we declare it a crime against humanity. It is true that many super-rich have started to donate large amounts of money to charity, and I praise them for that, and I have been writing extensively on their actions, for example in Bill Gates' $600 Billion Challenge,Bill Gates' Karma and Five Charities Bill Gates Supports, and I've even said that maybe they are the ones to change the world. However, they are still too rich. For example, Warren Buffet has agreed to donate $30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but he is growing richer and richer, and has already recovered what he has donated. If the rich are growing richer and richer, this can only mean that the poor are getting poorer and poorer. Resources and wealth are not unlimited, so income disparity is bound to increase.
Orhan Pamuk, SNOW
Books about Greed
Squid Angel Blessings
Please leave a comment
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GrowWear
May 16, 2012 @ 12:38 pm | delete
- Yep, still believe it -- even more so. Usually, the "pulled myself up by my bootstraps" folks are of the white race, and they have yet to see that it was that "privilege" that had anything to do with it. Or to see that corruption, greed, and resource theft has anything to do with poverty.
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akarki
Jan 23, 2012 @ 2:38 am | delete
- this is definitely a though provoking lens. I think, not any charity is the way to help the poor, but education. I would like to see everybody to direct on the squidoo the money given to charities specifically for education. I would not take away the wealth from the rich like Bill Gates, who did earn his money, and who do believe in educational programs and probably mange it better than governments.
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akarki
Jan 23, 2012 @ 2:38 am | delete
- this is definitely a though provoking lens. I think, not any charity is the way to help the poor, but education. I would like to see everybody to direct on the squidoo the money given to charities specifically for education. I would not take away the wealth from the rich like Bill Gates, who did earn his money, and who do believe in educational programs and probably mange it better than governments.
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GrowWear
Oct 31, 2011 @ 11:10 am | delete
- I think of the poor with compassion and empathy. Period.
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bernie74
Aug 1, 2011 @ 10:14 pm | delete
- This is a thought provoking lens and I must admit I agree with the others it does depend on the person, I am no where near rich but I still donate to charity and try to help out as much as I can. I think it goes both ways, I think some rich people are greedy and need to learn how to help others who cant help themselves but I also think there are some poor people who should be doing more to help themselves. This is not always the cade for all but just for some. Thanks for sharing
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artbymichelle Jul 28, 2011 @ 12:37 am | delete
- Great lens! Keep up the great work!
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sukkran May 9, 2011 @ 10:13 am | delete
- important topic and well written article. ~blessed~
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kitty222
Apr 8, 2011 @ 1:18 pm | delete
- That's something to think about. I'd say it depends on the rich person. Some are greedy Scrooges who don't care that there are people starving on the streets. Saddam Hussein had his chance to leave Iraq with his fortune and refused, and look where it got him. Others are like Henri Landwirth, a Holocaust survivor who came to America looking for a fresh start, worked his butt off and became the successful part owner of some Holiday Inns in the Disney World area, and basically walked out on it to found charities like "Give Kids The World." Google him if you don't believe me.
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A-Redneck
Apr 7, 2011 @ 9:55 am | delete
- A very thought provoking lens on a very sad subject of our modern times. With our increased knowledge should come increased empathy to our fellow man. Thank you so much for bringing this subject to squidoo.
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