Capitalism & Wealth Inequality
A new Oxfam report timed to
coincide with the meeting of some of the wealthiest individuals in Davos has
brought to light some of the glaring disparities in wealth across the world.
The report showed that just 62 of the world’s richest people own as much wealth
as 50% of the world’s population.
This staggering inequality has
increased over the last five years as the poorest 50% of the world saw their
combined wealth drop by 41%. The response to this situation is often a shrug of
the shoulder and a resignation to the drawbacks of capitalism. This simply is
not enough anymore.
Capitalism
is a great system. It promotes competition, innovation and increases efficiency
and production. It is also a fantastic job generator. However, the system as it
exists now is not perfect and to pretend that there is nothing that can be done
is just not true.
Redistribution
of wealth back into the system is something that must be greatly improved. The
first step in this direction would be to get rid of the tax havens that exist,
allowing corporations to get away with paying little to no tax on their
earnings. Unfortunately though, it seems that political will to make this
happen seems to be lacking and will continue to do so until the strong
corporate political lobby is dismantled.
There
are plenty of indicators that suggest that raising minimum wage directly
affects the quality of life of the people at the lowest level. However, this
increased burden of minimum wages cannot be put on small businesses. There has
to be a distinction between the behemoth corporate earning billions of dollars
and small family owned businesses. This line in the sand can be debated upon
and arrived to by mutual consensus, however the process must begin as soon as
possible. Limiting the amount of money spent on political lobbying and
increasing the mandatory contributions towards non-political/not for profit
efforts will help bring equal growth to the entire community.
The
every ethos of capitalism prevent any ceilings or caps as to how large a
company can grow, but a close watch needs to paid to ensure these companies do
not become monopolies. As soon as a monopoly is formed, it destroys the level
playing field where competition thrives. Newer, smaller companies have no
option but to bend to the will of the entrenched corporations and most are
therefore bought out or forced out of business.
There
has been a trend for billionaires to pledge their personal incomes to
philanthropy and various charities over the last few decades. The Bill and
Melinda gates foundation is one that comes to mind which is bankrolling noble
efforts all over the world. However, is the idea of mandating some amount of
social responsibility on corporations above a certain size that outlandish?
This amount would a small fraction of the total profit earned and would make
absolutely no difference to the bottom line of the company itself, however this
money being pumped into school systems, healthcare facilities and public infrastructure
would enrich millions of lives forever.
This
report should serve as an eye opener to people all over the world that this
road we are on is just not sustainable. There is nothing that can justify 1% of
the population having 99% of the wealth in the world.
News Taken of Aditya Tawatia From
http://www.adityatawatia.com/capitalism-wealth-inequality/
Copyright © 2016 by Aditya
Tawatia, All rights reserved. No part
of this article may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or
by any means.
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