The megarich have already recovered from the pandemic. It may take the poor a decade to do so

[orangecrush]

New York(CNN Business)Nine months. That's how long it took the world's top 1,000 billionaires to recoup their fortunes after the coronavirus pandemic hit.

More than a decade is how long it could take the world's poorest to recover, according to Oxfam International's annual inequality report.

The report, released on Sunday ahead of the World Economic Forum's virtual meeting of political and financial leaders, typically held in Davos, Switzerland, lays out the virus' disparate impact around the globe. The pandemic could increase economic inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened, Oxfam found.

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"We stand to witness the greatest rise in inequality since records began. The deep divide between the rich and poor is proving as deadly as the virus," said Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam's executive director. "Rigged economies are funneling wealth to a rich elite who are riding out the pandemic in luxury, while those on the front line of the pandemic — shop assistants, health care workers, and market vendors — are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table."

The coronavirus, which has infected nearly 100 million people and killed more than 2.1 million globally, has thrust inequality into the spotlight. How people cope has differed by race, by gender and by income.

For instance, close to 22,000 Black and Hispanic Americans would still be alive, as of December, if these groups died of the virus at the same rate as White Americans, according to Oxfam.

And 112 million fewer women would be at risk of losing income or their jobs if men and women were equally represented in sectors hurt by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the wealthy are generally weathering the Covid storm quite well. Though stock markets collapsed in the early months of the pandemic, they have roared back — thanks in part to the unprecedented economic assistance provided by governments.



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[Blue Owl]

1. K&R for visibility

[Laelth]

2. +1 n/t

-Laelth

[Moostache]

3. As bad as COVID is, and as much as it has taken from us, not enough for some

I know I will never be whole again after the losses COVID inflicted on my family, but mine are mostly emotional losses, scars that will never heal and loss that stalks me in the night to remind me that its not OK and its never again going to be OK...

But the horror is not enough to make the ultra-wealthy understand that they do NOT 'deserve' the wealth gap that is killing many and scarring others for life. They see "opportunity" and "profit" and "unprecedented returns"...yet they know nothing of loss, or pain, or privation or starvation...

I thought a global pandemic would shake them awake, but I was wrong.
I thought the suffering of so many in such a short time would make them see a new world is not only coming, it is necessary for humanity to survive on the Earth and for millions upon millions to simply live free from poverty and illness and usury and debts.

Food.
Water.
Shelter.
Healthcare.

These are NOT goddamn privileges - they are FUCKING RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS.

Education.
Remuneration.
Recreation.

These are also not the sole providence of the wealthy, at least not in a society worth living in or defending.

Joy.
Love.
Hope.
Rest.

These are NOT only emotions and feelings for the rich to fully imbibe and savor...they are the bedrock of a meaningful life and a healthy society that looks to EXPAND these to all instead of CONCENTRATE them to a very few.

This world KNOWS what is wrong. No one wants to say it out loud for fear of being calling 'radical' or 'hateful' or just plain 'evil and insane'...well FUCK THAT, I'm too exhausted to give any more fucks to that cause of decorum...we need to ELIMINATE all billionaires, period.

Via confiscation in fines or taxes or both, trust-busting, re-regulation and re-distribution and re-establishment of an actual "COMMON GOOD" as the framers immortalized in the preamble. Billionaires - and their related investments, money hoarding habits, profit rakes, and policies to keep themselves in power and their families in unearned or unwarranted comfort while BILLIONS struggle...no more.

Eat the fucking rich...if they will not divest and put their fortunes to work to leave legacies WORTH remembering, then fuck them harder. Richard Branson? Jeff Bezos? Rupert Murdoch? 3 fucking people worth more in wealth that 3 BILLION others? Execute them and give their estates to the state for auction and the funds to the bottom 5% of all income earners in the world...most would not even be Americans...but that is what we need.

The lasting tragedy of COVID-19? It did not kill fast enough to infect and eliminate the wealthy...by the time a truly useless piece of shit like Trump was infected, science had a way to save him...not that any of the millions of others were given that same chance...no, he is unworthy to still be drawing breath and now that he is no longer the POTUS, I truly do hope that foul endings find him and all like him. Dark times, darker thoughts and darkest wishes on his head.

Poverty made worse by homo sapiens inability to evolve beyond the "scarcity of the bananas" - meaning a mentality that cannot see beyond a few meals into the future and assumes that if they are not in a group or position to control the flow of bananas, then they are doomed to die.

Tax wealth, NOT work.
Tax fortunes, NOT the unfortunate.
Take what they will not give, because there is no situation where anyone is 'worth' a $1,000,000,000 fortune.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

6. I would rec this a billion times KnR

What you said..it needs to be done.

The wealthy need to pay for exploiting and impoverishing the world. Fuck the rich thier feelings wants desires and greed.

They in my eyes are trash. Narcissistic trash that needs to be thrown out.

They are so much the creators of misery war and suffering of Innocents.

If they do not share,and they have proved they don't share,TAKE IT.

They are not entitled above others. People have tried to get these
Rich motherfuckers to care,but they don't.

Remove thier power and privledge take it back and share it with the poor and suffering. and knock each billionaire down and take away all their assets let them fall down to earth, and crash each and every one. Only than will they see the suffering they cause when they are in it than they can choose to see. If not than fuck them more.

Break these assholes down to the point they can't escape the truth.
They are no better than any other human and do not deserve to take it all.

[roamer65]

4. Eat the rich.

[zipplewrath]

5. Not just the rich

People on pensions saw little if any change to their income during this crisis. I know in my case that my income didn't change and my expenses went down because of all the things I can't do. The cost of gas went down and I was using less anyways. No travel, no restaurants, no bars, and really a huge collapse of "discretionary spending" opportunities at all. Oh, and my IRA, while taking a hit in the spring, has done moderately well this year. Unfortunately, many of these people are the middle class retired population in places like The Villages, Fl. As such, they were more likely to support Trump because they felt little if any direct economic impact.