In these so called
“difficult times” it is hard to grasp the difference between the
rich and the poor. As you and I continue to struggle to maintain a
decent standard of life, and millions fail in that attempt, the
wealth of the richest parasites looks more and more like monopoly
money. According to the Forbes “rich list”, the combined wealth
of the world's 1,426 billionaires is a staggering $5.4 trillion. If
they decided to fall out with us and form their own country, they
would be the fourth richest country in the world, just behind Japan
but ahead of Germany. Think of it, a country richer than Germany, with a population of just 1,426??
At the other end
of the scale, approximately one person every 3.5 seconds of each and every
day, dies of hunger-related causes, a staggering 25,000 each day, most of
these are children. At least 80% of the world's population lives on
less than $10 a day. The world is a wealthy place but the split is
criminal, with the poorest 40% of the world's population having 5%
of the total income and the richest 20% accounting for 75%.
In a world where
25,000 a day die every day because of hunger, there is an abundance
of food. The problem is not the shortage of food, the problem is the
system. In this capitalist system everything has to make a profit,
the system traps people in poverty and the spiral is downward.
Malnutrition means ill health and you are less able to earn your
living, and in country after country that is a slow spiralling down
to death.
At one end, a small
army with money to burn, obscene wealth for a handful of pampered
parasites, private jets, yachts, mansions dotted across the world,
the purchase of islands for family homes. All this off the sweat,
tears and death of the many. At the other end, a multitude of hungry
people, mother after mother watching her child slowly die of hunger.
By any analysis,
the system is unjust, immoral, plain wrong, stinkingly corrupt,
unsustainable and not fit for purpose. That is not in doubt, the
question is how long will we allow this murder for wealth to
continue? How many more mothers will see their children slowly die of hunger
while surrounded by food, before we say enough is enough? In a world
of abundance, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to take food and
distribute it to all who need it, those who stand in the way have to
be pushed aside.
