Vast inequality is the root of all evil

Posted on November 19, 2014 in Equality Debates

TheStar.com – Opinion/Readers’ Letters – Re: The wealth gap explodes, Nov. 15
Nov 19 2014.   Anis Zuberi

We are living in a restless, violent and conflict-ridden world. Governments are using harsh methods to achieve social stability by relying on law enforcement authorities that are armed with lethal weapons and taking military power to deal with “hot-spots” to maintain world order. Unfortunately, we cannot find peace by using a heavy-handed approach to control the current social unrest.

It is simply unacceptable to the poorest 3.5 billion people, half of the world’s population, that their share of wealth is equal to the richest 85 billionaires, as reported by GlobalPost/Oxfam.

According to billionaire Warren Buffett, “there’s been class warfare — and my class has won.” He is right but at what cost and is it sustainable?

States are allocating phenomenal resources on armies, intelligence agencies and militarized policing but the world is getting more and more insecure. Governments are becoming more intrusive. We are looking at each other with suspicion. Our airports are turning into Fort Knox.

If this world is a village, then the village heads will have to address the mother of all root causes of widespread discontentment: income disparity and concentration of wealth in a few hands.

The political parties should abandon this mantra of lower taxes, which benefits mainly the rich classes, close down the tax havens that hold trillions of dollars in hidden wealth, increase social spending, find a way to separate state and money (like the separation of state and church) and whatever other steps are necessary to stop this destructive concentration of wealth.

State power should not be used to facilitate the rich class to multiply their wealth at the cost of commoners. The cycle of violence, lawlessness and instability will escalate further if governments will not redress the economic grievances of the majority that is poor and deprived.

Anis Zuberi, Mississauga

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