{"id":341344,"date":"2017-12-28T03:43:45","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T02:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/as-wealthiest-amass-another-1-trillion-in-2017-calls-for-a-strike-back-against-oligarchy\/"},"modified":"2017-12-28T03:43:45","modified_gmt":"2017-12-28T02:43:45","slug":"as-wealthiest-amass-another-1-trillion-in-2017-calls-for-a-strike-back-against-oligarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/as-wealthiest-amass-another-1-trillion-in-2017-calls-for-a-strike-back-against-oligarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"As Wealthiest Amass Another $1 Trillion in 2017, Calls for a ‘Strike Back’ Against Oligarchy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"The<\/p>\n

As the gap between the world’s richest and poorest people has widened to an extreme not seen since the Gilded Age, the 500 wealthiest people have gotten $1 trillion richer in 2017, according to Bloomberg<\/em>‘s Billionaires Index.<\/a><\/p>\n

The richest people in the world have been able to amass huge wealth this year thanks to a booming stock market, as billions of poor and working people around the world have seen little if any benefit from strong markets. Even in the world’s major economies, including Japan, the U.K., and the U.S., workers have seen their wages stagnate or decline<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n

Efforts by the very rich to contribute to the lower classes through charity, while commendable, have also done little to halt the growing wealth gap in a global economy in which the world’s five richest people<\/a> control $425 billion, or one-sixth of the U.K.’s gross domestic product.<\/p>\n

More than 170 of the richest people have signed the Giving Pledge, created in 2010 by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage the rich to give at least half of their wealth to charity. But since the pledge was established, according to<\/a> Oxfam, the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population has fallen by a trillion dollars\u2014suggesting that good intentions among the rich are no match for a worldwide economy with such an extreme consolidation of wealth.<\/p>\n

The wealth gap has grown large enough to leave some advisers of the rich wary of a potential sea change in the coming years, as the degree of inequality becomes unsustainable and leaders take action to stop markets from favoring the wealthy few\u2014similar to how monopolies were broken up in the U.S. in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n

“We’re at an inflection point,” Josef Stadler, the lead author of a recent report by UBS\/Pricewaterhouse Coopers on the world’s billionaires, told <\/a>the Guardian.<\/em> “Wealth concentration is as high as in 1905, this is something billionaires are concerned about…The question is to what extent is that sustainable and at what point will society intervene and strike back?”<\/p>\n

On social media, many denounced the widening wealth gap illustrated by Bloomberg<\/em>‘s billionaires index.<\/p>\n

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The #plutocracy<\/a> cometh: World’s richest 500 see their wealth increase by $1tn this year. This won’t end well for anyone. If you know your #history<\/a>, you already know this. https:\/\/t.co\/SXqHfUnnu4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Robert Brodey (@RobertBrodey) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cThese millionaires \u2013 who account for 0.7% of the world\u2019s adult population \u2013 control 46% of total global wealth\u201d<\/p>\n

Just let that sink in a moment.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/t.co\/sIo5qWvLWc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 John Belchamber (@JohnBelchamber) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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$75,000 Goal: <\/big>$38,654 raised from 1,108 readers as of 3PM EST on December 27th<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How do we convince just 500 of our planets 7.7B people to forego their $5.3 TRILLION wealth to ensure everyone is adequately fed, housed, educated, receives healthcare, and lives in an unpolluted environment?https:\/\/t.co\/hazyD5rpRn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Marc Bowden (@fotomdb) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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World’s richest 500 see their wealth increase by $1tn this year. Groundhog Day. Can 2018 be the year we finally do something about our grotesque inequality?! https:\/\/t.co\/bvs34zxJhS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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We can have a world where everyone has a decent home, the chance for an education, and access to healthcare. Or we can have billionaires. We can\u2019t have both. https:\/\/t.co\/muwcZilKRa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 UK Uncut (@UKuncut) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n