Growing inequality: the war on the poor

amodernmanifesto:

The latest figures for global inequality show a worrying trend. It is a well worn phrase that the ‘rich get richer whilst the poor get poorer’, but in the last few years the extent of the wealth accumulated by the richest people in the world has sky rocketed.

The campaigning charity Oxfam released a report in early 2013 on the crisis of rising inequality across the world. The report highlights the never before seen levels of wealth that are going to the very top of society. The reality of unequal wealth distribution are more stark and revealing than even Occupy managed to capture with their call for a struggle against the 1% . Oxfam’s research indicates that in fact the top 100 wealthiest people earned £240 billion in 2012. They claim;

“The richest 1 percent has increased its income by 60 percent in the last 20 years with the financial crisis accelerating rather than slowing the process” (read full report here)

Even the World Bank acknowledges the growing crisis of wealth distribution; “The top 1% has seen its real income rise by more than 60% over those two decades“.