'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer'

by David Grand
August 13, 2008

That's a common catchphrase and proverb that has long been used to describe the wide gulf that exists between the "have's and have's not."

But while that economic inequality has lessened somewhat today--not only here but also in third world countries--it still remains as a blithe on our society that's not going away any time soon.

One need only look at the latest reports from the U.S. Census Bureau to see that poverty is still a chronic problem, what with 36.5 million Americans (12.3 percent of the population) struggling to survive, especially during the current recession.

Poverty, as defined in the Wikipedia encyclopedia, is "the deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water; but also 'intangibles' such as the opportunity to learn and to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens."

 It says an absolute measurement of poverty would be the percentage of the population eating less food than is required to sustain the human body at approximately 2000-2500 calories per day for a male adult. (Heck, eating one Big Mac would equal that.) And extreme poverty, according to the The World Bank, as living on less than $1daily.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, there's 380 American billionaires (of the world's 1,125 billionaires) who are listed in the Forbes 400, the price of admission to which requires a fortune of at least $1.3 billion (up from $1 billion last year).

Those unfortunate souls who missed the cut off point will have to content themselves with leading the pack of the 9.3 million, in the United States, among which are 40 of the 100 U. S. Senators (often called the Millionaires Club).

As regards those at the highest plateau of success, Luisa Kroll wrote in a Forbes article dated Jan. 2, 2008, "we can expect to see a record number of billionaires emerging in such countries as China, India, Russia and Brazil this year."

She also predicts that India will soon have more billionaires among the top 10 richest in all nations, including the U.S. (Mohaudas Gandhi's ashes would rise from the sea if he knew that so much money was in the hands of so few.)

It also stands in stark contrast to the fact that  28.6 percent of the population are living below the poverty level, where even the cattle (considered as sacred by Hindus) enjoy a better life, protected as they are from slaughter and allowed to roam free.

 Speaking of those wallowing in dough, I feel sorry for Bill Gates (not really), who after 13 years of being at the top of the heap has been dethroned by his friend and sometimes bridge partner Warren Buffett, with his fortune having swelled to $62 billion in 2008. And to add insult to injury, he's even $2 billion behind Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, whose net worth is $60 billion. (Their combined wealth of $180 billion would sure make a big dent in this year's federal budget deficit of $480 billion.)

Boy, wouldn't it be something, if a large portion, if not all, of the billionaires around the world shared the belief expressed by billionaire Andrew Carnegie during the 20's, that "to die rich is to die thus disgraced." Why, It would then truly be heaven on earth. But there I go, daydreaming again.