“Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means
do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.”
In early 2019, Oxfam reported that the world's 26 richest people own as much wealth as the
poorest 3.8 billion people who make up half the population of this planet.
10 months later, nothing much has changed, except that the rich have been getting richer
more quickly.
New data shows that the wealth of the top 1% has grown 100 times faster than the bottom
50% since 1970.
In 2018, billionaires grew their combined wealth by US$2.5 billion a day, while the
poorest 3.8 billion people lost $500 million a day.
As Seth Michaels of the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “The bulk of a generation
of economic growth has been captured and concentrated in a few hands, and many people
have barely seen any of it.”
It’s no longer possible to argue that “A rising tide lifts all boats”.
The economic growth model that advantages the few clearly is not helping the people
at the bottom.
Actually, it’s doing the opposite.
The situation would be better described as a mountain with a few rich people on top who
have access to large drinking straws.
As they drink more water, the tide lowers for all the poor people down below.
The rich-poor gap IS widening, and in 2019, something had to give.
Bring in Exhibit 1 – Global Unrest.
Mass protests have been springing up across the globe.
In Europe, France is crippled by another day of disruption and protests over major changes
to the pension system planned by the French Government.
Spain has been racked with violent protests as Catalan separatists took to the streets
after Spain's Supreme Court jailed nine separatist leaders.
Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Poland are sliding slowly towards authoritarianism
with protests breaking out across their countries.
In Hungary, the government are planning to tighten their control over theatres with protesters
denouncing this as an attack on artistic freedom.
Doesn’t that set off alarm bells here in Australia?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has recently erased the word “Arts” from the Department
of Communications and the Arts claiming it’s been incorporated into another department.
Not to mention the federal police raids that were conducted on journalists throughout the
year.
Be warned, this is how all authoritarian regimes begin.
Chip away at our freedoms until before you know it, we have little to none left.
In Latin America, protests have erupted across multiple countries with Latin American democracy
clearly in trouble.
There has been unrest in Chile where a student protest over a spike in subway fares in October
turned into essentially a mass riot.
“The rich and powerful threw the first stone”.
In Bolivia, long-serving populist president Evo Morales was forced out of office and has
since fled the country.
Protests and riots are ongoing.
Venezuela is in a complete mess.
4.6 million people have already fled the country as violence, political corruption, unemployment,
human rights violations, and chronic food and medical shortages have all become daily
occurrences.
Violent clashes have also broken out in Ecuador, Peru, and Haiti, just to name a few more.
In the Middle East, a similar story has unfolded.
Protests have broken out in Lebanon over rising living costs, lack of job opportunities, stagnant
wages, and corruption.
Protesters in Iran were brutally put down with between 200 to 1,000 people being shot
by security forces with thousands more arrested.
The corrupt Iranian Government are clearly willing to use any means necessary to maintain
political and social control.
Iraq is not faring any better.
Anti-government protests have erupted on a regular basis with scores of people being
attacked or shot at for participating in the protests.
Libya is racked by civil war with refugees flooding across the Mediterranean, primarily
to Italy.
The Egyptian economy is doing a lot better than its citizens with many Egyptians living
in poverty.
Jordan has also experienced protests this year with many of the population angry over
falling living conditions and widespread unemployment.
I could go on.
Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa, but I think you get the picture.
The citizens of the world are fed up.
They’re fed up with the rich and powerful robbing them of their livelihoods and their
freedoms.
It was only a matter of time before people started to stand up, and once it started to
happen, it spread like wildfire.
Associate Professor Henry Carey of Georgia State University wrote on these issues in
the magazine The National Interest.
He wrote,
“Each protest in this worldwide wave has its own local dynamic and cause.
But they also share certain characteristics: fed up with rising inequality, corruption
and slow economic growth, angry citizens worldwide are demanding an end to corruption and the
restoration of the democratic rule of law.
Ignored by the municipal government, overcrowded urban settlements usually lack sanitation,
clean drinking water, electricity, health care facilities and schools.
The injustices of this daily life underlie the anger of many of today's protesters.
From Quito to Beirut, extreme marginalisation of so many people living in big dysfunctional
and dangerous places has boiled over into deadly unrest.”
Exhibit 2 – Climate Change.
No matter what you think of the climate movement, or whether you believe in human-caused climate
change or not (I’m not here to convince you either way), one thing that is certain
is that the climate is changing and has become a major cause of global unrest.
Unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand, Australia is burning, and people have
had enough.
Hundreds of families have lost their homes, cities are choked with smoke, and the Australian
Government seem to be in complete denial.
Our intrepid leader, Scott Morrison, has rejected any calls for more bushfire assistance.
Despite volunteer firefighters being completely exhausted, and having spent weeks away from
their normal employment, many without pay, Mr Morrison commented,
“The fact is these crews, yes, they’re tired, but they also want to be out there
defending their communities…
We are constantly looking at ways to better facilitate the volunteer effort, but to professionalise
that at that scale is not a matter that has previously been accepted and it’s not currently
under consideration by the government.”
In other words, exhausted volunteers who are trying to save our communities from burning
down don’t deserve any pay, because “they want to be there”.
Apparently, they don’t even deserve face masks, food, or water, with the NSW Rural
Fire Brigade having to resort to crowdfunding to buy essential equipment.
Thanks Mr. Morrison.
Your leadership is much appreciated.
As I said, whether or not human-caused climate change is to blame, the Australian Government,
and many governments around the world, are seen as being indifferent to climate concerns,
which means they’re seen as ignoring their citizens, which is never a good thing to do
when you’re trying to run a country.
But despite the Liberal Party’s rhetoric, two of its MPs have actually publicly linked
the ongoing bushfires to climate change.
NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean and federal minister Sussan Ley have both admitted that
they believe in climate science, with Mr Kean saying that, “We have to do our bit to abate
carbon and reduce the impact of climate change”, and Ms Ley stating, “The dryness of the
vegetation, particularly in the north of NSW, and the reduced stream-flow is creating unprecedented
conditions.
That's what climate science has told me and I completely agree with it.”
Anyway, people are angry.
Climate protests are occurring around the world.
The rise of groups like Extinction Rebellion are just indicative of the growing number
of people concerned with climate and the environment and the negative effects that humans have
on it.
Exhibit 3 – America’s Retreat.
America is slowly retreating from its traditional role as a stabilising force.
The Trump administration have decided that America no longer needs to concern itself
with world affairs and has abandoned a number of international agreements.
These include the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Trans-Pacific Partnership which
aims to liberalise Asia-Pacific trade, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which
sets limits on Iran’s nuclear program.
President Trump argued that the TPP would be harmful to American manufacturing, in turn
reducing employment, lowering wages for local workers, and increasing inequality.
The US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran risks seriously weakening
trust and confidence in international arrangements that are essential parts of the global security
architecture.
By the US pulling out, this further destabilises the world's most volatile region.
Not to mention the ongoing US-China trade war that has left many doubts and uncertainties
dangling over the global economy.
So in conclusion, inequality is growing.
The rich are getting richer.
Governments are ignoring the concerns of their citizens.
Authoritarianism is rearing its ugly head.
And people are getting angry.
What’s in store for 2020?
Time will tell I suppose, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be very good.