The distribution of the world's wealth

[Matisse]

I imagine that most of you have an idea that there is a big inequality in the distribution of the worlds wealth, but sometimes it,s good to see it more graphically to try to put it in perspective..... here is a short video...

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Statistical update: the richest 85 people have the same wealth as half the world, not the top 300 people. That has how much wealth has concentrated since this video gathered data. These 85 guys have more wealth than the lower half of the population of the world combined, or the 3.5 billion poorest people.

[yelik]

We all know this but nobody does a thing about it, infact our corrupt Governments continue to sign trade agreements, pass laws and promote Globalisation which serves to concentrate wealth and power even further, all by design

[rgray222]

Under Obama's direction the Federal Reserve has been purchasing between $65 - 85 BILLION in stock and bonds EVERY MONTH FOR FIVE YEARS. This is been given a name that most Americans don't understand nor do they care to understand, quantitative easing, QE. Essentially the fed has been purchasing securities and government mortgage bonds with fake electronic cash.

The result of putting this much money into the stock market over such a long period of time is to make rich people extremely rich, the extremely rich ultra rich and the top 2% wealthy in a way that most people in the country don't even understand or can even fathom. Every time I hear Obama complain about the rich people paying their fair share I can only shake my head and wonder if even 2% of Americans know what is actually happening.

Between the $1.2 Trillion of stimulus money that did not help the economy or trickle down to the middle or lower class and the quantitative easing rich people have had a free and better ride than they have ever had in the history of the country. The wealth gap under Obama has reached record historical levels no matter how you measure it. Obama has turned out to be the president of big business, big banks, big insurance companies, big pharma and certainly for the top 2% whose wealth has grown exponentially.

Most working Americans aren't going to complain because this outrageous and unnecessary behavior by Obama and the fed has made everyone's 401K and retirement plans tied to the stock market go up as well. This was a bribe to keep most working Americans quiet while the real wealth went elsewhere.


It is worth noting that there is a huge difference (most people do not have a clue) between a million, billion and trillion. People seem to think a trillion dollars is just a few more million. Here is a look at the difference

A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.

A million minutes ago was – 1 year, 329 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes ago.
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.

A million hours ago was in 1885.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.

A million dollars ago was five (5) seconds ago at the U.S. Treasury.
A billion dollars ago was late yesterday afternoon at the U.S. Treasury.

A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians
can use the term in conversation... probably because they
seldom think about what they are really saying.
Here is some perspective on TRILLION:

Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.
The country has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years – Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.


Quantitative Easing, QE is now widely recognized by both supporters and opponents as causing the single largest shift ever in wealth, from middle class savers to rich Wall Street investors.

[jerry]

We all know this but nobody does a thing about it, infact our corrupt Governments continue to sign trade agreements, pass laws and promote Globalisation which serves to concentrate wealth and power even further, all by designwhat blows my mind is that these deals are done and are shielded from congress , none sees what is in the deals transpiring yet no one cries foul....we don't have a government we have a mob of gangsters .....we need a new war, one against this mob headed up by a bunch of cowboys, The intel cowboys That story from last week peaked a bit of optimism. Rule of law is dead. We don't have a voice, our votes don't count, ect ,ect, individually its rough.

[T Smith]

Most working Americans aren't going to complain because this outrageous and unnecessary behavior by Obama and the fed has made everyone's 401K and retirement plans tied to the stock market go up as well. This was a bribe to keep most working Americans quiet while the real wealth went elsewhere.

I can't help but wonder when this game of musical chairs stops, if it won't most likely be the average American with her 401k and retirement plan, who is going to be the one left without a chair...

[Hanson]

The video ends suggesting we change the rules. Change the rules? How are we going to do that when the rich can easily purchase any rule change they want?

[apokalypse]

"distrubution of the worlds wealth " ...when i saw the title it make me sick and frustrated, Our Corrupted Goverment always attack most vulnerable and bottom of pyramid first instead from the top.

[Ernie Nemeth]

The thing is it is we who do it to ourselves.
Which one of those who responded have shopped at Walmart this week?
How many have bought processed foods?
How many bank at a major bank?
How many work for a major corporation?

We vote with our dollars every day.

[Milneman]

*Disclaimer* When I use the term 99% I am defining a group of individuals who do not, as the video illustrates, the major holders of money. However within that 99% there are varying groups of individuals who do have comfortable levels of wealth as well as uncomfortable levels of wealth, wealth meaning financial holdings/capital. Wealth in this situation and post does not in any way indicate a level of happiness.

What if: money was only a symptom of the problem.
What if: money and focusing on the money was actually the great and powerful Oz.
What if: the 1 % of people who hold global currency are actually just as distracted as the other 99% who when broken down are actually a lot smaller than 99%.
What if: someone or some group of individuals needed us to focus on money, on 99% of us being hard done by, and 1% of us being totally responsible for the misery of the greater population of our planet by virtue of the fact that they have all the beans.

What if: having beans, or spreading the beans around, actually made things worse?

Here's the problem.

Let's divide the money among those who have never had, those that have had some, and those that do have. 20-20-20-20-20.

In 100 years, or less, we're going to end up back at the 1% model again because those that have never had will still be willing to part with what they have to get what they want. And those that are at the 1% end will up the prices so that they can get it back faster.

Well, let's just switch the people at the 1% end.

Who would you suggest you replace them with? Since when has any individual in charge of distribution of great wealth, for the most part (although not always) been free of corruption or scandal? Who's not skimmed some off the top?

So are the rules that need to be changed actually only one rule? Remove dependency on money? About 10% of the 99% are ok with this. The other 89% are not because the reality is the dependency on the mixed economy capital system is not dependent upon money.

I submit that the actual currency we are looking at is two fold: it is the need for victimhood, the need to find others to blame for the messes we find ourselves in, and the need to get someone else to clean up the mess. People trade in this all the time, people make money on this all the time. Forget the easy marks like the welfare system and the mental health corporation, take a long hard look at the reality we find ourselves in here on a forum like we are posting in right now. There is a need for people to read, and people to post. Scan through the new posts right now and count how many have a positive emotional charge that will take you forward, and compare that to the ones who have a negative charge that will keep you coming back for more. Dare I say it, the positive posts add up to about...one percent? That's just today. I suppose the percentage cumulatively and on other days may fluctuate, but people a) need to have something to worry about and b) need someone to blame for the worry they are actually quite comfortable harbouring.

The new capital is blame. Revolution in the conventional sense will only change the rules in which we acquire the capital, and will over time eventually lead to the same imbalance, a new revolution. This is real the game folks. It has nothing to do with extra terrestrials, inter dimensionals, reptiles, tadpoles, or snails and everything to do with human beings, plain and simple. The extremes that we see in conspiracy are simply exaggerations of what exists naturally and diluted throughout society as a whole.

The rule that needs to change is simple, which is why most people laugh, guffaw, or angrily challenge it.

Quit being a victim. Quit wanting to be a victim.

or to put it another way,

He who is too busy worrying about how he might die will never think about how he could be living.

[Matisse]

*Disclaimer* When I use the term 99% I am defining a group of individuals who do not, as the video illustrates, the major holders of money. However within that 99% there are varying groups of individuals who do have comfortable levels of wealth as well as uncomfortable levels of wealth, wealth meaning financial holdings/capital. Wealth in this situation and post does not in any way indicate a level of happiness.

What if: money was only a symptom of the problem.
What if: money and focusing on the money was actually the great and powerful Oz.
What if: the 1 % of people who hold global currency are actually just as distracted as the other 99% who when broken down are actually a lot smaller than 99%.
What if: someone or some group of individuals needed us to focus on money, on 99% of us being hard done by, and 1% of us being totally responsible for the misery of the greater population of our planet by virtue of the fact that they have all the beans.

What if: having beans, or spreading the beans around, actually made things worse?

Here's the problem.

Let's divide the money among those who have never had, those that have had some, and those that do have. 20-20-20-20-20.

In 100 years, or less, we're going to end up back at the 1% model again because those that have never had will still be willing to part with what they have to get what they want. And those that are at the 1% end will up the prices so that they can get it back faster.

Well, let's just switch the people at the 1% end.

Who would you suggest you replace them with? Since when has any individual in charge of distribution of great wealth, for the most part (although not always) been free of corruption or scandal? Who's not skimmed some off the top?

So are the rules that need to be changed actually only one rule? Remove dependency on money? About 10% of the 99% are ok with this. The other 89% are not because the reality is the dependency on the mixed economy capital system is not dependent upon money.

I submit that the actual currency we are looking at is two fold: it is the need for victimhood, the need to find others to blame for the messes we find ourselves in, and the need to get someone else to clean up the mess. People trade in this all the time, people make money on this all the time. Forget the easy marks like the welfare system and the mental health corporation, take a long hard look at the reality we find ourselves in here on a forum like we are posting in right now. There is a need for people to read, and people to post. Scan through the new posts right now and count how many have a positive emotional charge that will take you forward, and compare that to the ones who have a negative charge that will keep you coming back for more. Dare I say it, the positive posts add up to about...one percent? That's just today. I suppose the percentage cumulatively and on other days may fluctuate, but people a) need to have something to worry about and b) need someone to blame for the worry they are actually quite comfortable harbouring.

The new capital is blame. Revolution in the conventional sense will only change the rules in which we acquire the capital, and will over time eventually lead to the same imbalance, a new revolution. This is real the game folks. It has nothing to do with extra terrestrials, inter dimensionals, reptiles, tadpoles, or snails and everything to do with human beings, plain and simple. The extremes that we see in conspiracy are simply exaggerations of what exists naturally and diluted throughout society as a whole.

The rule that needs to change is simple, which is why most people laugh, guffaw, or angrily challenge it.

Quit being a victim. Quit wanting to be a victim.

or to put it another way,

He who is too busy worrying about how he might die will never think about how he could be living.



I remember back in the 1980's when around 15 to 20 percent of my income would go towards rent and household costs, now it's around 70 percent with the other 30 for food, clothing etc. Now i am working much more for much less, as most people i know, i don,t feel a victim but i do feel exploited, some people along the line got very rich.... To me it doesn,t make sense that we have to work twice as much for half as before, this means someone is putting it in their pockets...Before i had more time to help people, to involve myself with the community,study, etc. now i find myself putting all my energy towards working only to pay the bills... it's a trap and it's gotten much worse over the past few decades...and no, i don,t worry about how i might die, i live by the samurái code, each day is my last, and because of that i want to be able to help the people around me and live it to the fullest.... not just pay the rent...

just to clarify i'm not saying that it is a question of money, i was in a village in ecuador in the 1970's, that was very poor but happy. They had their huts on the beach, would fish in the mornings, and had a beautiful life in a beautiful place... i'm afraid to think how it is now for them....things have changed....

It reminds me of a story... there was a fisherman who fished in the morning, in the afternoon would play checkers with his friends, then in the evening would have a romantic night with his wife... then came a business man who said "You should take advantage of this situation, work very hard all day, then buy another boat and pay the others mínimum wage, when things go well buy another boat, etc... then in 20 years you can relax and play checkers with your friends in the afternoon and be with your wife in the evening"....

[A Voice from the Mountains]

The Russians, Iranians and Chinese are smart for looking at trading directly in resources and services. Gold for oil, other useful metals for various goods and services. Direct material goods and services trade with monetary values only used to consider what amounts of things are equivalent.

We could all learn a little something from this.

[Milneman]

What is the difference between someone who uses victimhood as capital and someone who claims they are exploited?

Nothing.

The only difference is the vocabulary that they use, and the colour of their perceived currency.

Which isn't to say that I don't empathize.

What I am doing is saying: so now you know the problem. Eloquently. What are you going to do about it, aside from identify it?

Thoughts?

[Milneman]

Let me clarify. I kind of left that on the blank.

I just wrote in a Skype chat with a friend, "Remember when we had telephones that stayed in the house, and if we left home and got a phone call, we missed it and life went on?"

What's stopping us from leaving our phones at home when we go out?

Remember when vegetables were seasonal? And you ate fruit as it showed up in the grocery store, and canned what you couldn't eat for when there wasn't fruit in the grocery store? I am probably one of the few people left that remembers this.

Stop buying fruit out of season.

Leave your phone at home.

Or participate and pay 70% of your income in rent.

You are making the choice to be exploited because there may not be any other way. Create the other way.

What's it my former sponsor used to say to me....put up or shut up. ;)

[apokalypse]

i find issue isn't about money but more of the way we human manage it where small percent or xx amount percent of people have massive wealth which become class warfare. i'm not saying everyone get equal amount or work for equal amount of money but put money where it need like infrastructure...this sound like Socialism or whatever but having this thought dreaming/wishing EVERYONE get basic social security where nobody live on the street or hungry and corporations become public asset. No more Economics that only focusing on numbers but not quality of life.

just notice some country have Uber where people can become like taxi driver with their own car...wish everyone be taxi driver, i could pick anyone up who travel to the destination where i was going...while waiting on the train going to the city is damn sad. IF i'm going to x place then i could put my name on the list who on the way to the destination i'm going and someone out there could pick me up. after having some thought like that and i have come to conclusion is we need to work on spirituality then anything will work...slowly over time we can get rid of Value Based(like Money) System.

i'm seriously how can people have obsession with illusion(money) trying to put others down to accumulate it more...you can be Trillionair but at the end you will be Pass Away/Die and bring with you what you do in this life either Karma or good Deeds while you was alive...i'm seriously don't understand why, the more thinking about it and look around the more i get pissed off.

last week had a conversation with my cousin, i was joking about getting her intro her friends to me, she said one of her friends is a Doctor and tell me can i get her/can i reach that level? along the line of her friend who is a Doctor in high class earning 1xxK+ per year while i'm in low/Mid class...my answer was 2 middle finger and i was thinking to myself Oh Crap, how can society move forward with those kind of thinking. Kind of sad in our society we pay so much respect and worship these people who at higher rank in pyramid like Celebrity.

[Hanson]

You are making the choice to be exploited because there may not be any other way. Create the other way.
If there may not be any other way, then I would say your choices are very limited, almost to the point of having no choice. Creating the other way may not be a realistic option, but perhaps you can do something to work in that direction, even if it appears insignificant. They say a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. If enough people start taking steps, things could change for the better.

[Matisse]

You are making the choice to be exploited because there may not be any other way. Create the other way.
If there may not be any other way, then I would say your choices are very limited, almost to the point of having no choice. Creating the other way may not be a realistic option, but perhaps you can do something to work in that direction, even if it appears insignificant. They say a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. If enough people start taking steps, things could change for the better.

Yes, I completely agree, thank you Hanson. First is to identify the problem, which was the idea of this thread, then look for solutions. If only one half of the people would take one baby step it would make all the difference, change the direction. It's scary when I think that only 85 people own half of the world ....it seems like an economic dictatorship.... that we all work for the "company" like in the mining towns, where your rent and everything you buy is from the "company"...
I think this can change, i don,t agree that whatever we do will end up the same in one hundred years... I think we can evolve and raise our consciousness... and no I don't think putting up or shutting up will help anything...

rebel had some good ideas...


The thing is it is we who do it to ourselves.
Which one of those who responded have shopped at Walmart this week?
How many have bought processed foods?
How many bank at a major bank?
How many work for a major corporation?

We vote with our dollars every day.

etc. etc.

[Hanson]

Which one of those who responded have shopped at Walmart this week?
I not only avoid Walmart, I avoid shopping.


We vote with our dollars every day.
That too is participating in the system that enslaves us. I try to avoid using dollars at every opportunity. Needless to say, I buy very little, just the bare necessities. Surprisingly, I consider my quality of life to be high.

[apokalypse]

AuqemytQ5QA

what a asshole...Working hard to be millionaire? that is what wrong with society Values(money) became the focus and measurement of human beings. I seriously don't f'cking get it, these people out of their mind so attached to physical world accumulation and obtaining Stuff but once that time comes they leave it behind.

just had this thought that 99% or XX% got screwed by both sides, doesn't matter what you do you are slavery for these 1% are the owners. People on mainstream bitching about how country in debt or no money but never ask where it goes to...

[Hanson]

what a asshole...Working hard to be millionaire? that is what wrong with society Values(money) became the focus and measurement of human beings. I seriously don't f'cking get it, these people out of their mind so attached to physical world accumulation and obtaining Stuff
Yes, it's mind-boggling that there are "successful" people like this who would throw everyone under the bus except those who aspire to be assholes like them. I think these are the kind of people that run the world, aren't they? This one just happened to drop his mask for a minute or two.