More than 250 ultra-rich people from 17 countries, including Disney heiress Abigail Disney and actors Brian Cox and Simon Pegg, have signed an open letter urging world governments to tax the rich.
“Inequality has reached a tipping point,” states the letter, which the signatories presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Our request is simple: we ask you to tax us, the very richest in society. This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations’ economic growth. But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future.”
Signs of spiraling wealth inequality are everywhere. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, the top 5% of Americans own two-thirds of the nation’s wealth. Not only that, but the top .01% pay tax shares similar to what they paid in 1953, even though their wealth has quadrupled. Any way you look at it, the ultra-rich are hoarding far more than their fair share.
Your first instinct, upon hearing that the rich are asking to be taxed fairly, might be to tell them to just give their money away. And that’s not wrong! If someone has more than they can ever hope to need or use, then passing it on is the only ethical and rational choice. But the letter addresses this point:
“The solution to this cannot be found in one-off donations or in philanthropy,” the letter states. “Individual action cannot redress the current colossal imbalance. We need our governments and our leaders to lead. And so we come to you again with the urgent request that you act – unilaterally at the national level, and together on the international stage.”
As much as it pains me to type the following sequence of words … these billionaires are right. Individual philanthropy isn’t the answer. Having a pile of money doesn’t make you an expert on how to get that money to the people who need it. The last thing the world needs is yet more poorly conceived foundations, NGOs, and nonprofits run by donors who don’t understand the problems they’re trying to solve. Instead, we need to fund the social safety nets we already have. We also need to start addressing the root causes of poverty itself: paltry wages, unaffordable housing, and healthcare and education costs that are out of control.
Will the letter have any effect? It remains to be seen. What’s clear, though, is that things have to change—and fast.
(via The Guardian, featured image: HBO)
