And the rich get even richer

In case you were wondering if worldwide inequality was getting worse, the latest figures from Oxfam provide a definitive picture. In 2010 the richest 388 individuals held as much wealth as the poorest 1/2 of the world's population. As outrageous as that was, by 2016 the richest 62 individuals' wealth equaled that of the bottom 50% of the world's people (that's 3.5 billion folks!!!)

And so it goes on, with the accumulation of wealth at the top and the immiseration of all of the rest of us. I think it's clear that never in the history of human society, have we seen this level of worldwide concentration of wealth in the hands of a very, very few. And as the wealthy use their wealth to accumulate even more wealth, as capital's share of the world's income continues to increase and to be passed on from one generation to the next, this process seems to have no bounds.

This kind of accumulation is a product of our current system of unbridled capitalism. It stands in stark contrast to what was happening in the period between WW I and the 1970s. During that time the destruction of wealth (i.e., capital) during the two world wars and the depression, combined with government actions through taxation (both to meet the needs of war and to provide social services to their populations)  to restrain unlimited acquisition of wealth produced an extended period of wage and wealth compression.

This period came to an end in the late 1970s with the rise of  new economic theories based on the Chicago Schools (and the cheerleaders for globalization) and with the vast increase in the global mobility of capital. In the political sphere, the rise of Reagan and Thatcher, and the failure to develop a real critique of on the part of the opposition political parties, resulted in the end of any attempts by the government to maintain a robust public sphere and in the reversal of almost every form of government redistribution of wealth (and opportunity to acquire wealth) to those at the bottom.

All of which points to the critical role of government. Currently it facilitates the rising inequality with policies which favor the 1%, policies, which starved the public sphere (or privatized much of it), all the while granting huge subsidies to the wealthy. In the US Republicans have led the charge, but until the emergence of the Warren wing and the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, the establishment Democrats have followed meekly behind. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (if she is elected) all offer only insignificant palliatives, but don't support real change. Little wonder that the Democrats find it harder and harder to mobilize their constituencies and get them to the polls. What they offer just doesn't hack it.

When I was a kid my father used to say "no man should have two coats unless every man has at least one". This very simple justification for redistribution of wealth rings in my ear every time I read about the extreme inequality today. Call it socialism, call it morality, call it justice, call it freedom - call it whatever you want, let's just do it!