The Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor are Getting Poorer!

Have you ever heard the expression, the 1%? Well it turns out that the rich are indeed getting richer since the recession. This also means that we the 99%, are getting poorer. I made this quick video with the aim of spreading awareness of this inequality.



For those who may have a hard time understanding my accent, below are the notes I made for the video.

The worlds richest 1% will own half of the worlds wealth by 2016.

The 80 richest people on the planet own the same amount as the poorest 50% which is 3.5 billion people.

There are 34.8 million millionaires in the world and 40% of them are in the USA.

The rich are 64% richer than before the recession and the poor are 57% poorer.

I sourced the information from the following Independant Article.

Please feel free to share the video to spread awareness. How does this make you feel?

a reply to: TechUnique

The stats regarding before the recession before and after ring alarm bells for me.

Will this 1% 99% situation ever change? I'm very negative on my thoughts here.

I wonder how many of these millionaires went from bottom up with hard work and diligence and how many were silver spooned?

Good points well said TechUnique.

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: TechUnique

The stats regarding before the recession before and after ring alarm bells for me.

Will this 1% 99% situation ever change? I'm very negative on my thoughts here.

I wonder how many of these millionaires went from bottom up with hard work and diligence and how many were silver spooned?

Good points well said TechUnique.

I share your thoughts.. I think most of these 1% are likely there because of privilege more so than hard work. Some people will see this as me being bitter but I see it as me being a realist.

Thanks for your feedback!

a reply to: TechUnique

SO let me ask you then what would be your solution? do we need a new economic model? and if so what would that be??

originally posted by: American-philosopher
a reply to: TechUnique

SO let me ask you then what would be your solution? do we need a new economic model? and if so what would that be??

My solution? Put a cap on the amount of profit a corporation can make every year, any excess being put back into the community. I would make sure the rich cannot avoid paying tax and maybe even make them pay a lot more tax than they are currently 'required' to.

I would also give more tax breaks to poorer people who cannot afford to live without struggling.

Please feel free to offer up any of your own suggestions, I'm not a politician or an economist. In fact, I'm pretty crap at maths.

Tax the rich...




...they won't go hungry!

a reply to: American-philosopher
Remove sales tax/VAT. Not apply income tax at all below a high minimum threshold. Tax income above threshold at relatively high rate. Remove all tax loopholes. Maybe some form of selective Wealth taxes (have mixed views on this). So not quite a new economic model but certainly a new taxation model.

Good info & well put.
Good accent
I like your solutions too.

An unavoidable, flat across the board tax of 2% - 10% (sure, 6%) across the board.

No more income tax, will help your poor more, then anything else. When you pay 40% of your income to taxes, most of it being income tax, it's a huge hit.

Corporate taxes in The USA are some of the highest in the world. Corporate and Personal taxes from around the world Federal tax for Corporations is 39%. State is 12%, and local is 3%, effectively you have a 54% tax on Corporations in the USA, tho, only 39% of it is Federal, where as the average is 20 - 30% in a majority of other countries, and only a few other countries are higher, like in Saudi Arabia, where it is 85% for non-Saudi owned businesses.

So, eliminate the loop-holes in our tax code. That would go a long way in making these countries pay their taxes.

The other problem is things like NAFTA, and it's various iterations. We need to do away with it, and make it easier for companies to do business here in our country, without the jobs, people don't get the income.

That is part of the reason we have such a divergence in things, the poor are getting poorer because their jobs are over-seas now, not at home. So they're spending their little bit of money to buy necessities, and the rich are getting the money, but not spending it here.

It seems to me that the rich get that way by gaming the system.

Stop the rich from influencing the laws and law makers. Punish corruption severely, both political and corporate. Never give the "too big to fail" a break or a bailout. Make it easier for the little guy to make a profit on their own small businesses. Keep our big businesses at home and boost our economy with bigger import tariffs. Give the people a bigger voice without money being the determining factor. No more closed door deals with corporate interests. Stop the government excesses and put the money where it is actually supposed to go without doing the old shell game with it.

These things are just a pipe dream, unfeasible, or totally unrealistic, because things have gotten way out of control now and, IMO, it's too late to stop it as the damage has been done. The money is now in the hands of a few, never to be had by any of the poor, unwashed masses.

Inevitable due to the nature of economics applied to society. This will sadly continue to worsen!
Too much greed and no sharing or caring!!

a reply to: TechUnique

I say any corp making over, let's say 10 million a year in profit, must pay at least 1/2 that much a year in payrole to their hourly workers.

All management and executive pay and bonuses would come out of the companies side not the 5 million from the hourly workers side.

Just as a start.

The 1% is an underlying feature of both Capitalism & Communism...


How do I feel about such?

Repulsed!

I had a couple of conversations along a similar ilk today, citing the last thing we need is another 4 years of Conservative reign.

I am so angry at the way the Tories are executing Welfare policy, a vote grabbing budget is what we are heading for, with the most vulnerable back on the chopping block, without a thought for the impact on the wider economy in terms of every section of society needs to contribute to the economy, not just those in paid employment, aure the money spent may be tax payers money, but it eeps the system cycling, for better or worse.

I am also furious at the way this government thinks it's ok to penalise further still those in part time employment, who do help themselves to an extent, sure they need some support, but they are not sitting idle on their backsides...what do the Tories bring in?

A pilot scheme to begin in April to penalise anyone not working the amount of hours the government deems accptable as a minimum with regards to how an individauls circumstances fit into their cognitive miser mentality.

So, to summerise it is no linger considered enough to be in some form of paid employment, potentially, they wish for the poorer in society to jump through more hoops in order to survive.

I sincerely hope there is a challenge in the court of human rights to this.

Oh, and while I'm on a rant....I am fed up of the people who turn around and say "I'm fed up of supporting the welfare system with my taxes!"

You know what, without that support, the house of cards would fall down much quicker economically speaking, plus it cost nothing to come into this world, yet we enslave ourselves to a system which doesn't promote personal growth, just a smug "Why can't you be more like me and support yourself, because I pay, threfore I can take the moral highground!"

Bullsnip!

I am fed up of that attitude, they also most of the time tend to be members of the 1% or bathe in their shadowy glory.

You know what...you're flawed, because their is no prize when you die for living your life as a martyr or a slave.

The other comment that infuriates the bleep out of me...."Don't have kids if you can't afford them!"

Yep, ok, let's see how quickly your society lasts if we apply that rule.

More importantly kids cost nothing to make, above all they require their parents time and love, at present their is a rise in child on parent violence here in the UK and some of the problem is the parents believing all they need to do is work, work, work to provide, sadly this is also the message society is projecting, it is a sorry state of affairs.

Ok rant over, I am entitled to my opinion and anyone who really thinks it's worth defending their opposition to my message, let me tell you now...Don't Bother, I don't care, for the simple reason I have heard all of the excuses and I am still of this persuasion, so back off.

Ok, off to go and calm down.

The idea that 1% of the population runs the world, while the other 99% of the populations are their victims, seems to be a mathematical mistake. Does not 99% far outweigh 1% in man-power, size, strength, speed and saturation?

Perhaps its time we look at the 99% as the problem.

a reply to: TechUnique

I am sure nothing will change any time soon. Wealth can be a complicated issue. Some of those millions may be tied up in company's that are good for the economy and people. I think the whole financial system is essentially a scam that politicians refuse to address. The bail outs and loans from one bank to another whilst syphoning off interest from the public purse in a never ending spiral of debt, is the way of things.

We are all brainwashed into this version of how society should be structured. This growing gap between rich and poor, both numerically and financially has been accompanied by an erosion of our rights to privacy, and legal protest is put down violently. It's all good.

I liked that video. S+F

Regards midicon.

If you really care to create abundance for yourself, you may consider looking into starting your own business. You will never get rich doing work for others. Ever since i started a business, I've managed to pull myself out of a rut and finally create a little abundance.. if i take it to the next level I can create true wealth.

If I can do it, certainly others can. It requires massive sacrifice, and dedication.. but in the end it all pays off.

a reply to: eXia7

If you are lucky, it pays off. I forget the exact stat, but a majority of businesses fail. All said and done, I lost ~500,000 when the real estate bubble imploded in the tristate area.

a reply to: TechUnique

This is a bit off topic I warn you, but what I want from all races, creeds, and colors is to unite as one embodiment against the 1% There is no reason half of the wealth should be composed in this limited percentile. They obviously aren't using it for the good of the well being of their compadres in the world, only those that are in the 1%-5%. These people may donate a million here or there to get tax breaks or even street cred., but it is nothing when it is broken down. It is done out of necessity put forth by lawyers. A minimal amount of greed upon the richest enslaves thousands, endenturures debt, and prolongs suffering.

I want the world to not only see the injustice unfolding but be able to fold it back up, to crease the mends where humanity has been seperated, but to voice their opinion and make it obvious, we are the mass-the power- the havoc-and the peace. We are the conscious that overpowers the rich. We create the world not them. Believe in peace, believe in progressions, believe in a world where we are all friends.

I guarentee if you place 5 people from every country in the world that are in poverty on an island togther, they will all work together to make it work, and would never become to the predominancy heirarchy that exist today. Some will die, sure, but in the end, no religion or greed will exist as it is all community, until the end where one sees dominance, and that dominant figure is expelled. That is one end, but in the END, we are all one, and we should act as one. Do not let borders seperate us. do not let government seperate us. Do not religion seperate us. We are in this together, might as well fight together. That's my HO.

Without something to aim for, some people just don't pull their weight, the rich are there to give workers incentive to get ahead and own the same things the rich do, we all know the workers wont own what the rich do, but no harm in trying?