Ultimate Income Inequality: 85 People as Rich as Half the World

When the question of income inequality comes up, I don't know what to say about it. I mean, when you hear that the Walton family--who inherited their fortunes--combined are worth the same as the bottom forty-two percent of Americans, you know in your gut "that's f**ked up right there." But just the same, what in the world could be done about it? In a capitalist society, what in the world can you do? Of course, it's complicated by the fact that the Waltons didn't exactly follow old man Sam's example of "Made in America." And they fight organized labor and any effort their employees make to improve their own fortunes.

That's the hardest bit to swallow. America's richest people--mostly older, white folks--often spend their time and money squeezing even more money out of the system. Fighting minimum wage laws, angling for lower taxes, subsidies and governmental special treatment. Sheldon Adelson, the Koch Brothers and others like them inject themselves into politics for the sole purpose of enriching themselves even further, usually at the expense of the poor, the working and the middle classes. What a person or people with billions of dollars needs with additional billions, I have no idea. It proves that greed is boundless.

And still, I don't know if there's any kind of answer to be had. It doesn't help that it's just been determined that eighty-five people on this Earth have the equivalent net worth of half the world. Other than a few noteworthy philanthropic billionaires like Bill Gates and William Buffett, you can bet most of them expend a lot of effort amassing yet more money.

[Excerpt]

There Are 85 People Who Are As Wealthy As Half The WORLD, Oxfam Reports

Worldwide economic inequality is looking rather bleak these days, according to a new report by relief organization Oxfam. Oxfam's "Working For The Few" report looked at Credit Suisse's "Global Wealth Report 2013" and Forbes' list of the world's billionaires from 2013 to conclude that 1 percent of the global population controls half of the world's wealth. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post