Richest 2 percent own HALF the world
Coincidence? Not a chance - by design.
Two percent of adults command more than half of the world's wealth, while the bottom 50 percent possesses just 1 percent, according to a U.N. development institute study released on Tuesday.
While income is distributed unequally across the globe, the geographical spread of wealth -- which includes property and financial assets -- is even more skewed, the study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the UN University showed.
"Wealth is heavily concentrated in North America, Europe and high-income Asia-Pacific countries. People in these countries collectively hold almost 90 percent of total world wealth," the survey said.
The Helsinki-based institute said this was the first global research on the topic, for which there are only limited data. The study is based on figures from 2000.
Institute director Anthony Shorrocks said if the world's population was reduced to a group of 10 people, one person would hold $99 (50 pounds) and the remaining nine would share $1.
Now, you tell me - how long would that scenario last if that person didn't have a standing army and a police force to protect 'his wealth' from the other nine?
"The super-rich are even more grotesquely rich than 50 years ago," he said.
According to the study, a couple in 2000 needed $1 million in capital to number among the richest 37 million people in the world, the top 1 percent. More than half of that group lives in the United States or Japan.
"The USA and Japan stand out because they have large populations and high average wealth. Although Switzerland and Luxembourg have high average wealth, their populations are small," Shorrocks said.
Average per capita net assets in Japan were $181,000, while in the United States the average was $144,000.
The study found that net assets of $2,200 per adult would put a household in the top half of the wealth distribution.
At the bottom of the list came nations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, with capital of less than $200 per head.
Still, many in the wealthy West are house-poor, with assets well below this number due to mortgages and other debt.
That would include most Americans.
"Many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and -- somewhat paradoxically -- are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth," the report said.
NONE of this would be possible without the legalized monopolies - instituted through fraud and deception - of 'debt-based money' and 'intellectual property'.
The combination of both, enhanced by globalization, allows a handful of individuals to become the sole benefactors of human civilization - technology, industry, trade, and knowledge - all by leveraging ECONOMIES OF SCALE.
Keep these articles coming. It's fascinating and easy to read (compared with "dry" theory articles).
They hardly need the standing armies and police forces these days. People are so blinded by the works of journalists, lawyers (no offense q), marketers and teachers, somehow the sheer perversity of such statistical truths is completely lost on them - if it ever reaches them in the first place.
ep
with this small scale example (10 people), it's impossible to ignore - the truth of the inequity becomes painfully obvious.
therefore, one person would definitely need a standing army to hold on to 'his wealth'.
but, the way the system is now - the vast scale, the broad scope, and all the professionals employed to distract the masses, etc, very few people are able to figure it out, let alone fight it for the monstrosity that it is.
Most people who fight it usually lash out at anyone or anything they see in front of them, not knowing who or what to blame. Eventually, they end up blaming themselves, as does the rest of society - hence the pervasive loss of dignity and self-esteem in our culture.
It's so tragic - such a monstrous crime these bastards are committing.