Richest 1 Percent Control Half of World’s Wealth

Where is the world heading, and where are the populism and egalitarian mass movements when we need them? Where are the enlightened leaders brave enough to speak the truth? Has Big Money forever silenced people who would stand up for the poor and underprivileged?

Where is the outrage of the masses? What will it take to turn governments around so that the elected leaders will represent the majority of people instead of a minuscule minority who have money? Tax them, tax them, tax them and let’s recalibrate our elected representatives to stand up for common sense and fairness. What’s going on in most of the world’s developed countries is economic rape.

Just 1 percent of the world’s population controls nearly half of the planet’s wealth, according to a new study published by Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.

The study says the 85 richest people control $110 trillion, or 65 times the total wealth of the poorest 3.5 billion people.

Other key findings:

— The world’s 85 richest people own as much as the poorest 50 percent of humanity.

— 70 percent of the world’s people live in a country where income inequality has increased in the past three decades.

— In the U.S., where the gap between rich and poor has grown at a faster rate than any other developed country, the top 1 percent captured 95 percent of post-recession growth (since 2009), while 90 percent of Americans became poorer.

“Oxfam is concerned that, left unchecked, the effects are potentially immutable, and will lead to ‘opportunity capture’ — in which the lowest tax rates, the best education, and the best healthcare are claimed by the children of the rich,” the relief agency writes.

Support Oxfam, which works for economic fairness and justice throughout the world.