It’s a logical extension of what has gone before. If we follow the path of least resistance, this is where we end up. But now, 50% of the world’s wealth is controlled by 1% of the people. Does that seem like a good idea? Is this a recipe for stability? Is it fair? If we could design a capital and social system from scratch, is this how we’d make it?
Global capitalism is working mighty fine for the 1%. It is working well for many of the other 99% that control the other half of the wealth. But it is not working at all for the people on our planet that don’t have access to adequate food, shelter, or even clean water; not by their own fault but by the accident of their birth; people with no access to opportunity to participate in capitalism because of where and when they were born, or people who washed out of the system; they just weren’t able to compete, or people who were excluded; denied the opportunity to compete. There are efforts at compassionate capitalism and global philanthropy, but the number of people left behind and the work to help them as yet undone, is evidence that unrestrained capitalism, with voluntary compassion, is not working out so well.
I would like to say something clever about how to fix all this; how to make our world more fair; a better place, but I would have to know a lot more than I actually do to suggest anything constructive, so I’ll just send out a picture of some chachalacas on a deck rail instead.
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