It’s impossible to keep up with the richest

Richest will be richer, poorer ones may be poor for a long time unless something substantial happen. I have accepted this fact long time ago. There’s no way that I would be richer than my CEOs (all the three organizations I have worked for and still working) or in fact majority of those people who already own enough for generations. One latest report by Oxfam reported in many medias confirmed this. It said that based on its latest 2015 report, the richest 62 billionaires of the world already owns as much wealth as half of the poorest world’s population. That’s 62 versus 3.5 billion people. Yes, this is happening everywhere in the world and not just within my beloved Malaysia. Go google for related articles even for Singapore, UK or even the US and understand more if you wish.
Oh yeah, Oxfam also reported that 1% of people own more wealth than the other 99% combined. The poorest 50 percent meanwhile saw their wealth dropped by 41 percent between 2010 and 2015. It did not offer any further breakdown but if we assume their earnings being almost the same, it meant that the rising prices might have eroded what they were earning versus what they could afford. One word, inflation. The more important point from this information is this. Do we want to remain within the world’s poorer half? Quickly jot down on a piece of paper, how much did we have in 2010 and how much do we have today, as at end 2015? Minus out all the ‘useless’ depreciating stuffs that we have?
Oxfam proposed the following to tackle this issue effectively. They are to crackdown on tax dodging, to pursue for higher investment in public services and to provide for higher wages for the low paid. Most importantly, close down tax havens tax havens which are increasingly used by rich individuals and companies to avoid paying tax. This has deprived governments of the resources needed to tackle poverty and inequality. There’s no need to start debating about which government would do better or which would do worst. In fact I am very sure that most of us would be able to form a better government than most of the governments of the world, right? Haha.
I think Oxfam is fighting battle they could never win. However, it’s important that we take note of these findings and quickly realise that if Oxfam could not help us directly, it’s best that we help ourselves. Read more books about the different types of investments that is available in the market. Upgrade ourselves to get a promotion for higher pay and thus more investment ‘ammunitions.’ Let’s keep updating ourselves of whatever is happening today and be savvier in whatever we do. It’s tough to change the world, it’s slightly easier to change ourselves. Happy changing.
written on 19 Jan 2016
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