Rich get richer, Poor get poorer

 There is a popular dialogue from the Tamil movie Sivaji, starring Superstar Rajinikanth “Rich get richer, poor get poorer” {Thalaiva! 😎}. Without even drawing on the backdrop of black money that Rajini looks to portray through this dialogue, the line by itself cannot be more true.

Income inequality has been talked about for decades but the COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation much, much worse. White collared workers largely escaped the wrath of the lockdowns and restrictions which hit blue-collar workers manifold. Alas, if you earn your pay at the end of every day and you can’t show up, there is no pay to earn. Income is not unidimensional- it affects access to healthcare and formal education; things considered essential for societal wellbeing. Loss of income has a debilitating impact on lower income households, where there is barely any scope for savings that can be used to push through difficult times.

 “While we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts while others are clinging to the drifting debris”         -  António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations

Oxfam International’s report dubbed “The Inequality Virus” states- “It would take an unskilled worker 10,000 years to make what Ambani made in an hour during the pandemic and 3 years to make what Ambani made in a second.”

Let’s take a moment to let that sink in- 10,000 years. Civilizations rise and fall in that time span.

The scenario is by no means unique to India, reports of increase in wealth (in 2020) of top 10 billionaires globally range from $320B to $500B based on which publication is perused (One billion is a ten-digit number and factor in USD, how deep are your pockets? 😵).

According to Credit Suisse, 1% of the world’s population held over 44% of total household wealth in 2019.

Setting aside the exact $ values, it is apparent that the richest are far, far richer than what an average income group can even fathom.

It is more or less the consequence of capitalism. Good or bad, it is the norm of the world today. With concepts of free markets and globalization, theoretically anyone is free to make his/her millions. But the gargantuan amount of wealth amassed by a few is just obscene. It becomes a question of morals and ethics- how much beyond your needs and wants will you accumulate? Are you content looking away when lakhs go without food or clean water?

I am not making a case for communism but there is definitely a case for more of the super-rich to do more. They must not wait for legal requirements like a wealth tax to do what is humane. Having said that, there may be blockers on this road, the big bang $ values may be just on paper or there might be tax implications. But am sure if anyone can figure it out, the world’s richest can.