Skip to main content

Wealth creation and distribution is lopsided


Guy de Fontgalland, international investment banker and President of the Eurasia Management House in Tbilisi, Georgia, raises the issue of collateral damage to some 80% of the world’s population if the globalization trend continues to enable “free foxes to roam amongst free chickens” – i.e. where some 5% of the world owns 95% of the wealth.

Fontgalland states that while globalization has supported manufacturing and trade across nations; transferred production technologies to less developed countries; and helped more nations to establish enterprises in other countries it took a “wrong turn” along the way. He claims globalization helped “totalitarian regimes in the developing world to amass billions of dollars of ill-gotten wealth, spread their power-base across businesses, and armed forces, and snuff out the essential economic freedom globalization intended to bring to millions across the world.” In other words, globalization has led to a log-sided wealth accumulation process among the elites of the developed world and that of developing countries (such as Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Israel, Bahrain, Oman, and India). The result of this lopsided wealth accumulation, Fontgalland claims, is the cause of widespread protest against corruption, economically abusive regimes, and resources distribution inequalities.

The new economic model, says Fontgalland, Jeffrey D. Sachs (author of “End of Poverty – Economic Possibilities of Our Time”) and many others – including members of FairShare International – should be “fair sharing of wealth and a collusion of intelligent interests.”

The groundswell of “resentment and revenge” against perpetrators (individuals and countries) of lopsided wealth creation is currently being witnessed across the globe. Bringing people to court for the embezzlement of a nation’s wealth doesn’t address future solutions. The World Bank report, “World Development Report: Conflict, Security and Development” (2011) notes that the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing countries declined sharply since 1999, but with the vast increases in the total population across the globe, the number still living in extreme poverty was close to 1.5 billion. “Wealth must be redefined in terms of human aspirations for all,” suggests Fontgalland.

FairShare International (FSI) – of which I am a life member – is a diverse, global community of individuals, families, and businesses who are taking an active stand against the unjust distribution and misuse of the world’s resources – money, energy, water, and minerals (and people too). FSI aims to: (1) decrease the gap between rich and poor; (2) better use the earth’s resources; (3) strive for more ethical connections with others; and (4) conserve the natural environment.

FSI members do this every day by following the 5.10.5.10 formula:

5 = redistribute your personal wealth by giving away at least 5% of your gross annual income for direct assistance to financially disadvantaged communities and individuals anywhere on earth.

10 = reducing your consumption of water, energy, and minerals by at least 10% and sustaining it forever.

5 = building community through contributing at least 5% of your leisure time annually to direct, face-to-face assistance to people who could use your help.

10 = taking significant action at least 10 times a year to advance democracy.



www.finchannel.com (August 22, 2011)

www.fairshareinternational.org
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more