Profiting from Pain

[ks.234]

Oxfam has today released its report called Profiting from Pain. It is a report on the vast and growing gap between vast wealth and extreme poverty. According to Gabriella Butcher a new millionaire was created every 30 hours during the pandemic

In the 24 months of the pandemic Billionaires wealth increased by the same amount as in the previous 23 years.

Total billionaire wealth is now the equivalent of 13.9% of global gross domestic product (GDP), up from 4.4% in 2000.

The incomes of 99% of humanity have fallen because of COVID-19,28 with the equivalent of 125 million full-time jobs lost in 2022

 

[Subito]

And the ultra-wealthy are wracking their brains trying to figure out ways to get even richer. “Come on lads, we can do better than this!”

 

[Spraggons Den]

It seems the traditional methods of,limiting the wealth of the rich through taxation are failing due to their use of tax avoidance schemes. I heard accountants the other day crowing that a client only payed 20k on a 15 Million pound estate in death duties.

 

[Nero]

Well, to be fair, some of the delegates at Davos have been asking to pay more tax. You can’t blame them for the rules.
All this bollocks about trickle down has to be eliminated in our ruling elite.

 

[ks.234]

Is there a link between a new Billionaire a day being created during the pandemic and tax rises imposed to pay for the pandemic?

 

[Andy Stephenson]

You can't take it with you when you die, so why would anyone spend their life just accumulating more and more.

Surely once you have enough to be comfortable and see you out, why carry on.

If I'd been a millionaire I would have retired years ago and listened to a lot more music!

It seems stupid to strive to gain more and more and more wealth just for someone else to benefit when you go.

Andy

 

[anubisgrau]

They ain't Russian so they are safe.

 

[stevec67]

You can't take it with you when you die, so why would anyone spend their life just accumulating more and more.

Surely once you have enough to be comfortable and see you out, why carry on.

If I'd been a millionaire I would have retired years ago and listened to a lot more music!

It seems stupid to strive to gain more and more and more wealth just for someone else to benefit when you go.

Andy

Because it's not about the money. Anyone who says "I'd stop at the first million" wouldn't get there, because why not stop at 800k, 500k, whatever. It's the use of the money as a measure of success. I used to know a guy, a nasty piece of work, who founded a business and bullied his way through life before selling it and taking £11M. Job done then. No, within a year, aged 60-odd, he bought another company. Because it's not about having money to spend. He already had that. Big house, car, expensive holidays. But that didn't give him recognition and self worth.

 

[Ponty]

Because it's not about the money. Anyone who says "I'd stop at the first million" wouldn't get there, because why not stop at 800k, 500k, whatever. It's the use of the money as a measure of success. I used to know a guy, a nasty piece of work, who founded a business and bullied his way through life before selling it and taking £11M. Job done then. No, within a year, aged 60-odd, he bought another company. Because it's not about having money to spend. He already had that. Big house, car, expensive holidays. But that didn't give him recognition and self worth.

This is absolutely true. When I look at the people I know with serious wealth, they just can’t stop and sit still. Some have lost it all at some point. Most are workaholics, hugely driven, do what they do and the money follows. These guys are wired differently, it’s noticeable and good luck to them. Of course, many folk have passively seen their wealth increase dramatically over the last couple of years as a result of economic policy inflating their net worth but couldn’t run a bath, let alone a successful business.

 

[ks.234]

The point of the report is that as extreme wealth has grown, so has extreme poverty. We cannot call ourselves civilised when extreme wealth exists as a consequence of extreme poverty. UnGodly, yes. Civilised, No.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

When I look at the people I know with serious wealth, they just can’t stop and sit still. Some have lost it all at some point. Most are workaholics, hugely driven, do what they do and the money follows. These guys are wired differently, it’s noticeable and good luck to them.

I have thought for some time now that there is an amoral, sociopathic side to many 'successful' businesspeople. In some cases, it might extend as far as psychopathy. I can't, in all conscience, wish good luck to people like that.

 

[Dozey]

This is absolutely true. When I look at the people I know with serious wealth, they just can’t stop and sit still. Some have lost it all at some point. Most are workaholics, hugely driven, do what they do and the money follows. These guys are wired differently, it’s noticeable and good luck to them. Of course, many folk have passively seen their wealth increase dramatically over the last couple of years as a result of economic policy inflating their net worth but couldn’t run a bath, let alone a successful business.

My SIPP is now worth more than a million, but I can at least run a bath.

 

[Ponty]

My SIPP is now worth more than a million, but I can at least run a bath.

Quite! If I had £11M in the bank per the example above, I’d be mucking about on a nice yacht somewhere warm. That’s why I haven’t got £11M in the bank!

 

[ks.234]

I find it depressing that a report on extreme poverty get diverted into personal wealth and how worthy the very wealthy are.

A reminder

• The incomes of 99% of humanity have fallen because of COVID-19,28 with the equivalent of 125
  
  
• It would take 112 years for the average person in the bottom 50% to make what someone in the top 1% gets in a year30.
  
  
• The incomes of the richest have already recovered rapidly from the hit they took at the beginning of the pandemic while the incomes of the poorest have yet to recover, which is driving up income inequality.
  
  
• In 2021, the poorest 40% saw the steepest decline in income, which on average was 6.7% lower than pre-pandemic projections. This has led to rising income inequality which has been declining since the 2000s as measured by the Gini index, but which in 2020 increased by 0.3% in emerging and developing economies.

Those caught in extreme poverty are not there because they are not worthy, or because they’re too dim to run a bath. Such language is offensive

 

[stevec67]

Nobody has said that the very wealthy are worthy. Different from most of us, certainly. However the example I gave above I have already described as a nasty piece of work and a bully. That's hardly worthy.

 

[Nero]

Danny Dorling has written and presented about this at length. Actually, you don't have to be as rich as Croesus to exacerbate the equality gap. The 1% is not that high a bar to reach. But it's frightening the wealth that's concentrated in the hands of very few people.

 

[ks.234]

Nobody has said that the very wealthy are worthy. Different from most of us, certainly. However the example I gave above I have already described as a nasty piece of work and a bully. That's hardly worthy.

Yes, mine might’ve been an over reaction. My apologies.

However, the central issue that extreme poverty is getting more extreme at the same time as extreme wealth is growing as a result of government spending on the global health crisis, seems to have got lost.

Covid has been an asset for the rich and a liability for the poor.

We must surely start asking why

 

[Nero]

Trickle down economics

 

[Dozey]

Reminds me of holidaying in other peoples misery.

 

[Gingerbeard]

I can’t help but wonder what’s the point in the Sunday Times Rich List? Is it to make the rest of us feel inadequate? or an exercise in willy waving? it does help to illustrate the Ops point though. I just don’t see the point of it…