Statistics, figures, are so elusive. A few times I've asked my students -- 225 people have as much money as how many people on this planet? My students say two million people, or 80% of the people in the world. They can't remember, or don't choose to remember. They can't be bothered to pay attention. Two million, two billion, 80 per cent, 47 per cent. How can one bring such figures to life.
I try to bring figures to life by rounding out such figures. I try to tell them that 200 people have as much money as one half the people on this planet. This still does not impress them. They don't seem to care. So what. So 200 people have as much money as half the people on earth. They earned it my students tell me.
I don't think I can get through to them. They have been brought up in a capitalistic society that stresses personal initiative so strongly, that it almost obscures any sense of responsibility to others. They just think those two and one half billion people should work harder and maybe they too will become billionaires. In a sense, my students don't see the relevance of the game of monopoly: they don't see that once one man accumulates most of the money -- all the other players have no chance to catch up, and eventually, those 225 people will dwindle to 150 people and then 10 people -- and the six billion others on this planet -- in this ugly game of monopoly, will have nothing, absolutely nothing.
I can't get through to my students -- the next generation. I cite other statistics to them and they are absolutely unmoved. They don't care; they don't remember. Other statistics? If we taxed these 225 people 4% - -just a piddling 4% -- pocket change as far as these billionaires are concerned -- if we taxed them 4% we could --"achieve and maintain universal access to basic education for all, reproductive health care for all women, adequate food for all and safe water and sanitation for all." Not one of my students said anything when I read this to them. Not one said that we should tax these people 4% -- that we should forcefully take away 4% -- which is 40 billion dollars -- from these 225 people who have a trillion dollars. My students are unmoved. They don't care, they don't remember, they don't want any kind of fairer more equal treatment.
These 225 people should be allowed to keep the money they earned, my students keep saying to me.
I despair. I feel the game of monopoly is bound to continue. Those who have will get even more. Those who have not will lead more & more desperate lives: 50% then 60% then 70% of the people on this planet will not have adequate food or water or sanitation or health care or education.
Why am I telling all of you all this? What am I asking of all of you? What can we do?
We can do very little. In my opinion the only thing we can do is something that challenges the principles of capitalism: you should NOT have the right to keep all you earn. All I can do is forward a principle that has been tainted horribly because the Communist have adopted it: From each according to his ability; to each according to his need.
Those 225 people have great abilities -- and because they are very able, we should take from them. And what we take from them should be redistributed among those who are less able -- two and 1/2 billion people who have very little--and who are not very able, fifty percent of the people on the planet.
Capitalism has won a horrific victory. It reigns supreme. The game of monopoly is the only game in town, the only game in the world -- and it is very, very clear that a few people own everything and the rest of us own very, very little.
Copyright © 2004 Henry Morgenstein