We live in a time of the greatest expansion in technology, healthcare, education and innovation that the world has ever seen. We flap wildly like the fabled Icarus with Green-house gases threatening to melt the wax. However, we soldier on, we innovate, we adapt like we have always done before. It is our ability to adapt and unify in the face of common danger that has allowed us to adapt and regenerate ourselves as a race and a species. It is no accident that the human race is the one that has dominated society. However, though much greatness has been accomplished and evolution has led to advancement there has always been a primitive avaricious gloom to the species as well.
The desire towards greed and materialistic hoarding is by no means a recent phenomenon that has materialised out of the ether. It has always been that gnawing feeling at the back of one’s head or that cartoon devil on one’s shoulder. Moreover, it is by no means my intention to demonise the pursuit of money. Indeed we all need a certain amount to maintain ourselves. However, when the situation reaches the crisis point then it does raise the question of why we have allowed it to reach such a level?
Merchants have existed in one form or another for Millennia. They have always succeeded – or failed – due to varying amounts of deception and determination. However, has there ever been a time in human history when 85 of them owned more than 50% of the world’s population?
The utter farce that the modern capitalist system has become does not need to be dissected here.
Such statistics dig their own graves.
Photo From: http://seventhoughts.blogspot.com.es/2010/12/rich-and-poor.html
Scribblings and Broken Glass 
These really are shocking statistics. Here’s another one: the USA would only need to reduce its defence spending by 1/3rd to provide enough resource to give everybody in the world clean drinking water. How can we change things?
It’s truly shocking isn’t it David? The saddest truth being that changing the situation is virtually impossible on any kind of scale. For my part I work for small homegrown charities where possible. I see little else in terms of a solution
I’d think there were plenty of instances of such income inequality. Don’t forget the feudal system in Europe, in Asia, and in ancient “civilizations” like Greece and Egypt. But I don’t hard data about this claim.
Hi Christian,
I understand where you are coming from. It seems highly unlikely that we would have currently reached the point of the greatest inequality.
However, when you also consider we have more slaves in the world today than any point in human history*.
Then it’s difficult to see otherwise. Don’t you think?
https://www.freetheslaves.net/sslpage.aspx?pid=301
Sorry, but I don’t have data on that topic, either. In feudal states there were only few official slaves, but if you are bound to the lord of the land it sure sounds like slavery to me. I think we are not aware about how miserable life was in the feudal states if you were among the 99% then.
Very true points indeed. However, you’d hope that we would have moved past such levels of inequality by this point in human development….