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Richest 2% Own Half the World's Wealth
kop writes "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. Most previous studies of economic disparity have looked at income, whereas this one looks at wealth — assets minus debts. The survey is based on data for the year 2000. Many figures, especially for developing countries, have had to be estimated. Nonetheless, the authors say it is the most comprehensive study of personal wealth ever undertaken." The study itself is available from the World Institute for Development Economics Research.
How is this "news for nerds?"
What?
I hope you all realize that most Slashdot readers (being tech geeks) will fall into this top 2% figure eventually? Most of the world is dirt poor. Is that my fault? Fuck no its not. These people have to raise themsleves out of poverty. If the government is holding them down, then they need to do something about that as well. A LOT of people died fighting for what we have. We do not need to feel guilty about it. The person who wrote this article is probably a commie asshat.
Just ask the good Jedi how they feel about "Balance" now...
all of which again benefit (to a lesser degree) local businesses
Which are owned by rich people.
Pardon me while I direct your attention to what is really going on. I couldn't help bombing in and pointing out that the reality is that the super rich have decided that the rest of the human race is to be disposed of and they are working on the project. Please don't shoot the reporter. I just reported the truth. -- I know that is politically incorrect but truth has to be faced someday.
Unless we quit our arguments over the ideology and see what is really going on, we might well just be overtaken by reality.
Never Politically Correct ~ I prefer the facts If you don't like what I say, get a life, or comment yourself.
Another interpretation of the statistics would be that the bottom 50% aren't paying much taxes because.... they don't have any money to pay taxes with.
They don't have any money because the greedy 2% are raping the planet's resources for their own benefit primarily. I picture a a water well with a village of people relying on the water from the well and in addition to having to walk with buckets to carry it, have to pay a rich (probably white) fat fucker who does nothing but collect the money from the village poor. Repeat this a billion times around the world...
You have free healthcare? Where do I sign up. I currently pay nearly $1,000 a month for health care, not including my out-of-pockets and co-pays.
Honest impartial police forces? Hmmm...I'll bet you don't live in a major city like Detroit or Los Angeles, do you?
Pensions? Yeah, right. Sick pay? My employer doesn't pay sick days, but I do get a generous allotment of vacation days that I can use.
Social Security? Look, unless you're like 50-60, I'm betting that you won't see $0.01 of your Social Security.
Like it or not, our government and our corporations are pushing us towards 3rd World standards of living due to greed. "Let's outsource everything to 3rd World countries where that measly $1,000 a year seems like a lot. Then we get to pocket the difference."
My blog
Liberals would have you believe that getting rich is a sin, and that a liberal's job is to redistribute wealth through taxation. This is nothing more than a power-hungry fantasy. Look at France. The epitome of socialism. Huge unemployment. The wealthy don't want to live there because of teh nutbars that run the country. So what does that leave? A gradual spiral into a 3rd world country.
.50 caliber rifles and start taking out their dictators and their families. Teach them to build within. No more Papa Doc. No more Chavez. No more Castro. Take these greedy, power-hungry dictators out of office. Castro is the worst. He wants to blame the US. But he could have EASILY had a good thing going, but instead, he chose to be stand-offish. And he's paid the price. The rest of the world doesn't support Castro.... why does the US take the blame for Cuba?
The liberals, socialists, and communists think that the poor deserve a slice of that pie. The poor have been told this so much that now, they refuse to work, they are lazy, they protest EVERYTHING... and what do they get? Another check from the government that barely keeps them alive. What good has it done?
40 to 50 years of socialized welfare has accomplished nothing except exacerbate the problem. It used to be 10% that were poor. Now it's 50% and climbing. Communism fell. Socialism might last a bit longer, but is on its way out. The people that ARE willing to work for a good living are NOT willing to give away 50% of their earnings to pay for those that don't want to work.
Socialism isn't the answer. Electing Hillary Clinton and socialized medicine isn't the answer, not until the lazy, fat, and stupid start to earn their keep and contribute.
As far as 3rd world countries go, I think the dictatorships are a BIG problem. Aid money, food, and supplies go to line the dictator's pockets. South east Asia just had a dictator with a bride in a poor country get married... to the tune of 50,000,000 dollars... while the poor people of that country live on $200 per year. It's time to get out the
So when does the revolution begin?
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Thats socialist and it doesn't work
/. for...
zOMG that's FUCKING BRILLIANT. Just the kind of sharp analysis I come to
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
And people you are why no one likes liberals.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
A cut in the capitol gains tax is a targeted cut in the taxes of the rich. Currently if I was sitting on a huge pile of cash and invested all my money and then lived off the gains of that money I would pay in taxes about 15% of my gains because that money is taxed as a capitol gain instead of as actual income. Considering that the income tax rate for people in the top 35% in America is around 33%, you would be stupid to make your money through a normal income. A lot of CEOs like getting paid in stocks because when they sell the stocks they pay capital gains taxes instead of income tax(need to double check, but I'm pretty sure that's the case).
You can try and argue that a cut in the capital gains tax helps everyone, but you simply need to look at who can afford to invest in stocks and who benefits the most. A capital gains cut is definitely a targeted tax cut for the rich. I should know better than to post a response to someone who uses conservative blogs for their analogies. Of course you think bush's tax cuts were wonderful, your ideology forces you to.check out the best blog ever:
http://oehlberg.com
> > You have free healthcare? Where do I sign up. I currently pay nearly
> > $1,000 a month for health care, not including my out-of-pockets and co-pays.
> Canada.
Oh, you mean "health care". I thought you meant health care.
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
And as an American, I automatically hate anyone who practices geographical prejudice like you do.
So one American troll on slashdot is why people hate us? Fine. You're more than enough reason to hate self-loathing residents of first-world countries who seem think we deserve to all be living in a third-world shithole only because others also do.