Written by: Terry Link
Primary Source : Possibilitator, January 18, 2017
Two Recent Major Reports of Note
Here are two reports issued in the past ten days from two very different sources that should get way more play than they are receiving. There is a confluence between the two that I shouldn’t have to explain once you look at them. One report comes from the international development and relief agency Oxfam, which notes that
Oxfam’s report, ‘An economy for the 99 percent’, shows that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had been feared. It details how big business and the super-rich are fueling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we manage our economies so that they work for all people, and not just a fortunate few.[Oxfam press release].
Six of the eight men are from the U.S.
- Bill Gates (US)
- Michael Bloomburg (US)
- Carlos Slim Helu(Mexico)
- Jeff Bezos (US)
- Mark Zuckerberg (US)
- Larry Ellison (US)
- Warren Buffet (US)
- Amanzio Ortega Gaona (Spain)
The richest are accumulating wealth at such an astonishing rate that the world could see its first trillionaire in just 25 years. To put this figure in perspective – you would need to spend $1 million every day for 2738 years to spend $1 trillion, the report noted.
But maybe you aren’t concerned about this escalating inequality. Well then, if Oxfam is maybe just a little too liberal of a source for you, check out the World Economic Forum‘s recently released Global Risks Report 2017. The WEF is the bastion of the world’s elite politicians, corporate leaders, and a sprinkling of other big players that meet annually in Davos, Switzerland. They are meeting as I write this.
This annual assessment based upon a survey of some 700+ leaders offers a glimpse at what we might see unravel in the near future.
If the elites are concerned enough about the intersections of these global challenges, perhaps we should nudge our elected leaders to enact policies to address them, not to make them worse.
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Terry Link is a retired MSU librarian, former founding director of the MSU Office of Campus Sustainability, and co-founder and former chair of the American Library Association’s Task Force on the Environment. He recently served as associate editor for the two-volume encyclopedia, Achieving Sustainability: Visions, Principles, and Practices(Gale/Cengage 2014). He has also served as executive director of a regional food bank and as a county commissioner. Currently he is president of Starting Now, LLC, a sustainability consulting firm, a Senior Fellow for the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development and serves on numerous non-profit organization boards.
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