Building an equal future

This is a continuation of my last column which focused on the Oxfam Report, “Resisting the Rule of the Rich.”

The report cited statistics and surveys regarding the increasing inequality between the rich and the poor. For example, among the cited reports is one that pointed out that 12 multibillionaires had as much wealth as the bottom 15 percent of the world’s population or 3.8 billion poorest people in the world.

In my last column, I also quoted renowned political philosopher Ingrid Robeyns who advocated for a legal limit on extreme wealth. Robeyns pointed out that just as societies define a poverty line to identify when someone has too little, we should also define a threshold for when someone has too much. She points out that it is legitimate for society to regulate the amount of wealth people hold in the same way as governments regulate pollution to limit harm to people and planet. They should also address the exorbitant concentration of wealth that has negative impact on the world. The goal is not to achieve absolute equality but avoid a kind of economic power that distorts democracy and undermines fairness.

According to the Oxfam report: “While the superrich accumulate trillions of dollars and entrench an oligarch existence, billions of people face the unavoidable hardships of poverty, hunger and death from preventable diseases because the system is rigged against them. Even while people, unions and social movements are pushing back against funding cuts, the basic necessities of life are increasingly beyond the reach of many ordinary people. Huge profits accrue to rich business owners and shareholders, while workers are squeezed by low wages and inflation. In recent decades, wages and salaries have stagnated while the price of food, energy, housing have increased, leading to a permanent crisis of affordability for many people.”

Throughout the world, including the Philippines, billions of people lack adequate housing and are forced to live in slums and informal settlements. In low-income countries like the Philippines, a substantial number of school-age children are out of school.

Learning outcomes are declining in many countries including ours, with most countries are currently off track to meet education targets for access, completion and learning outcomes.

According to the Oxfam Report, there is substantial evidence that extreme economic inequality is deeply harmful for people and the planet in many ways. Economic inequality plays a major role in the erosion of rights and political freedom and creates fertile ground for authoritarianism. Research finds that rising inequality leads to a higher risk of democracy being undermined and that inequality is one of the strongest predictors of democratic backsliding.

It points out, “Where the super rich have used their economic wealth to buy excessive political influence, people living in poverty face significant barriers to political participation and have become increasingly disenfranchised. This is no accident. Like two unstable elements, political freedom and extreme inequality cannot co-exist for long.”

In order to build a more equal future, the Oxfam Report recommends that the political power of the super rich must be curbed. The major proposal is to effectively tax the super rich to reduce their economic power and through this, their political power, including broad-based taxes on income and wealth at high enough rates to reduce massive levels of inequality.

The Report continues: “The good news is that none of this is inevitable and change is possible. Extreme economic inequality and the political inequality that it both feeds on and is fueled by, can be beaten. The economic and political power of the rich can be cut down to size. And the majority can take back political power, force government action to end economic inequality and build a fairer and more sustainable future for all.”

Oxfam is a global movement of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) committed to end poverty and injustice. They work across regions in more than 70 countries with thousands of partners and allies supporting communities to build better lives for themselves, increase resilience and protect lives and livelihoods, especially in times of crisis. It tackles inequalities to end poverty and injustice. Its vision is a world with an equal future. Poverty cannot just be wished away. It requires dedication and commitment from the majority of the population to vote for a government led by individuals who will prioritize the ending of income inequality, corruption and strengthening democracy.

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