scraps from the rich man’s table

by michael | Jan 22, 2023 | news

Oxfam Canada has produced an eye-watering and cardiac-causing Report called Survival of the Richest (January 2023). The report is detailed, factual and impossible to ignore, if one chooses to read it and let it soak in.  Also, see an article by Dr. Trevor Hancock about the same, who points out the numerous ways in which the wealthy, abetted by governments and helpful tax systems, pay less tax than the average nurse or teacher.  

For example. 1) “Top rates of tax on income have become lower and less progressive, with the average tax rate on the richest falling from 58% in 1980 to 42% more recently in OECD countries. Across 100 countries, the average rate is even lower, at 31% [p. 12].”  2) “…one of the richest men in history, Elon Musk, has been shown to pay a ‘true tax rate’ of 3.2%, while another of the richest billionaires, Jeff Bezos, pays less than 1%. [p. 12].”  3) “New Oxfam research also shows that the richest are key contributors to climate breakdown: a billionaire emits a million times more carbon than the average person, and billionaires are twice as likely as the average investor to invest in polluting industries like fossil fuels [p. 9].”

There is a large cadre of supporters who worship at the altar of the great (wealthy) man because either they are lieutenants or executives or third party supporters like tax accountants and lawyers.  And then there are, far removed from the holy space around the great man, the pundit whose motivation is ideological and therefore fundamentalist who are paid to help sell news so that they (both employer and pundit) can scrape off a few scraps that fall from the great man’s table.

The world does not have to be this way.  Indeed, between 1940-1980 the world was different.  The relative (especially in countries once called by the epithet, ‘third-world’) equality of wealth and opportunity between humans was reasonable.  

This relative equality was created by the main tool of progressive taxation (not, of course,  in every country).  Governments built up an educated citizenry and created a mutually supportive (risk spread among many to reduce the $$ cost for each) social structure that enabled more persons to be healthy and employable, thus strengthening democracy.  Progressive taxation, at the same time, allowed enough space to reward the genius of entrepreneurs and capacity to create profit for corporations without the disparity under which the world now functions, 

But for some folk the next dollar is the only thing that counts. The Report, as does Hancock’s article, argues that it is more than past time that governments bring back that nasty tool called progressive taxation.  This is not a new argument.  Other individuals and entities have called for the same.  This Report is not only well-written and readable, it is also full of detailed facts and numbers. It commands attention and calls for action. 

Most persons will not read it. Some feel despair and  find it easier to let inertia carry them along. The ‘polycrises’, as the Report names our global problems, are overwhelming. However, we peasants, far below the rich and powerful, can do more than sort our recycling. We can actively, on our own or with others, join (with other groups and individuals who have been fighting the good fight) to push governments to change tax policy.  The wealthiest individuals, and corporations will decry, denounce and (hopefully) despair, at this change.  They will portray themselves as unjustly treated.https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-budget-2022-bank-tax-1.6412530 Governments will baulk at upsetting their corporate connections.

So what?  To quote Hancock: “what’s not to like-unless you are a billionaire or millionaire lacking any form of social conscience?”