[Golden Legacy]

Quote

The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of all household wealth, according to a new study by a United Nations research institute.

The report, from the World Institute for Development Economics Research at the UN University, says that the poorer half of the world's population own barely 1% of global wealth.

There have of course been many studies of worldwide inequality.

But what is new about this report, the authors say, is its coverage.

It deals with all countries in the world - either actual data or estimates based on statistical analysis - and it deals with wealth, where most previous research has looked at income.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ess/6211250.stm



I never had any idea that inequality of wealth was this much... half of the world's wealth, controlled by just two percent of the population? And 3 billion of the poorest people on earth hardly make up a single percentage of this wealth...

And we wonder why there are so many problems in the world?

[FlamingDuck]

That's pretty crazy. Although, aside from handing it to them directly, I don't see how it would be possible to distribute money around. Somewhere along the line, someone one is just going to take it and run.

[Saturos S.]

Well, that's probably the biggest flaw in capitalism. It allows some to become insanely rich and loads to be come really poor.

If someone could just think up the perfect system.

[Toasty]

Mabey all those poor people should get a job, or have actually tried to get something better than a highschool diploma. That's what's wrong here. It has nothing to do with the government, and everything to do with the people. Did you know that being fat is a disability, and that it qualifies you for government aid in your income? I used to be friends with a kid who's parents lived on disability (and I'm surprised I was even his friend. He was selfish, bratty, spoiled, and too scared to spend the night at someone else's house. And he was a year older than me). Anyway, they could have easily gotten a desk job somewhere. They were deffinately healthy enough to get up from the couch to grab a jar of mayonase from the fridge, yet they qualified for disability. The thing is, too many people are lazy, and rely way too much on the government to support them. I can understand it if they didn't have legs, but just because they're 50 pounds over weight doesn't mean they're disabled.

[TheEnglishman]

That's pretty crazy. However I believe it would be nearly impossible to create a system where money was shared equally. The gap is larger than I thought though.

[Lemontime]

These statistics were known looong ago.
It's still pretty shocking when you hear about it, though.. D:

[Toasty]

I still say more people should actually try to get a decent education. Otherwise, it kinda undermines the efforts you put forth when going to college. Eventually, if everyone just relied on the government for their income (withought working), jobs wouldn't be filled, and the country would just fall apart.

[Golden Djinn13]

I never knew there was such a huge margin between rich and poor still to this day. Even with so many countries bragging about their economy and how well they are doing.

[Ravenblade]

Mr T - there is this general theory that some people are just not academically gifted and cant help it - in whch case education offers them little.

Anyways, thats a minor point - the real thing i wanted to inform you of is that the 3 BILLION people you are saying 'should just get a job' would if they could! They cant, their countries are too poor to help them, and the economies too weak to provide ample jobs. Simply put, there are no where near enough jobs to go round in the world. As for education, you are aware of course that we are VERY privileged in the west to have such academic resources - Most people in the world either dont have access to education or cant afford it.

So in actual fact, the real problem in the world is us westerners who basically exploit other nations in order to keep enjoying the lifestyles we lead. You're just gonna have to make yourself feel ok with that - I mean, i guess it is harsh to be as rich as we are when so many people cant afford the opportunities to do it for themselves but then...situation reversed, i doubt they'd help us out. I guess this makes me sound really mean, but unless one of you goes and gives all his money and privileges to some poor person in India, then you're all just as bad as I am.

[Caael]

I'm not trying to promote Hitler or anything, but didnt he want equality in the world? But I really doubt he would have given a damn about the africans starving down there.

Theres not a lot we can do about the problem. It was in school that if 300 people represented the worlds population, then 2/3 would be black and I think 1/4 would have a house to live in, and 1/5 would have a bed.

The truth hurts.

[Toasty]

Hitler did want equality, but his version of equality would be a horor in our eyes. He'd kill everyone else but the Danish and German. That's what his equality was.

Ravenblade, on Jan 29 2007, 05:21 AM, said:

Mr T - there is this general theory that some people are just not academically gifted and cant help it - in whch case education offers them little.

Anyways, thats a minor point - the real thing i wanted to inform you of is that the 3 BILLION people you are saying 'should just get a job' would if they could! They cant, their countries are too poor to help them, and the economies too weak to provide ample jobs. Simply put, there are no where near enough jobs to go round in the world. As for education, you are aware of course that we are VERY privileged in the west to have such academic resources - Most people in the world either dont have access to education or cant afford it.

So in actual fact, the real problem in the world is us westerners who basically exploit other nations in order to keep enjoying the lifestyles we lead. You're just gonna have to make yourself feel ok with that - I mean, i guess it is harsh to be as rich as we are when so many people cant afford the opportunities to do it for themselves but then...situation reversed, i doubt they'd help us out. I guess this makes me sound really mean, but unless one of you goes and gives all his money and privileges to some poor person in India, then you're all just as bad as I am.

I was actually directing most of it to America. I'm glad Bush did something about being fat as a disability, and I know in places like China, they don't have as good of academic resources and whatnot. I'm mainly just talking about the bums that live in America (unfortunately there are quite a few of 'em) who find a way to get money from the government withought working for it.

[Caael]

But it's better than the fat cats sitting at the top raking in cash, even if they did slightly work for it.

[Sea of Time]

This stat has been around for a long time, I remember learning about the "inequality of wealth" a few years back, and the numbers were about the same.

It's really not fair, but the way the world is now, chances are it won't change. People are content with staying in their homes, and for the most part, not caring about what goes on in the world around them, and certainly not caring about what those people in Africa are going through.

If America wants to save the world, why not go to Africa and put three trillion dollars in there, instead of some crack "war of the generation" in Iraq (and soon to be Iran, North Korea).

[Toasty]

Because getting rid of terrorists and giving a country in the middle east democracy is just as important. Fewer terrorist cells = fewer attacks around the world. Democracy in Iraq = more stable government, which leads to a slightly more stable middle east, and thus keeps the number of terrorists at bay.

But yes, Africa could use a few trillion. But it's not like all the leaders of the countries there are poor, might I mind you.