Bernie And The Pope

A few hours ago-- and in the face of rapidly rising nationalism in Europe and America-- Pope Francis described differences of faith, race and ideas as a richness, not a danger, and called for political solutions to end wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. He said that without fraternity, "even our best plans and projects risk being soulless and empty."

Last night, in his Christmas Eve homily at St Peter's, he had called on people in developed countries to live a simpler and less materialistic life and condemned the huge divide between the world's rich and poor, saying Jesus's birth in poverty in a stable should make everyone reflect on the meaning of life. Remember what Jesus said about how it would be easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle that for a rich man to get into Heaven? Pope Francis attacked the "insatiable greed" of today’s consumerism, urging people to make "sharing and giving" more a part of their lives. "Mankind became greedy and voracious... In our day, for many people, life’s meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects. An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive." He reminded Catholics that the birth of Christ pointed to a new way to live "not by devouring and hoarding, but by sharing and giving." He told Jesus' followers we "must not lose our footing or slide into worldliness and consumerism" and that we should ask ourselves "Do I really need all these material objects and complicated recipes for living? Can I manage without all these unnecessary extras and live a life of greater simplicity?"

The Guardian isn't a religious newspaper but I want to bring up a piece by Michael Savage from last spring, Richest 1% on target to own two-thirds of all wealth by 2030. It wasn't just the Pope calling for a halt to extreme materialism. In April world leaders were being "warned that the continued accumulation of wealth at the top will fuel growing distrust and anger over the coming decade unless action is taken to restore the balance." Please say a prayer for Bernie's success here and for Corbyn's success the U.K.

An alarming projection produced by the House of Commons library suggests that if trends seen since the 2008 financial crash were to continue, then the top 1% will hold 64% of the world’s wealth by 2030. Even taking the financial crash into account, and measuring their assets over a longer period, they would still hold more than half of all wealth.

Since 2008, the wealth of the richest 1% has been growing at an average of 6% a year-- much faster than the 3% growth in wealth of the remaining 99% of the world’s population. Should that continue, the top 1% would hold wealth equating to $305tn (£216.5tn)-- up from $140tn today.

Analysts suggest wealth has become concentrated at the top because of recent income inequality, higher rates of saving among the wealthy, and the accumulation of assets. The wealthy also invested a large amount of equity in businesses, stocks and other financial assets, which have handed them disproportionate benefits.

New polling by Opinium suggests that voters perceive a major problem with the influence exerted by the very wealthy. Asked to select a group that would have the most power in 2030, most (34%) said the super-rich, while 28% opted for national governments. In a sign of falling levels of trust, those surveyed said they feared the consequences of wealth inequality would be rising levels of corruption (41%) or the “super-rich enjoying unfair influence on government policy” (43%).

...In a sign of the concern about the accumulation of wealth in the hands of so few, the move has gained support from across the political divide [at least in the U.K.].

George Freeman, the Tory MP and former head of the prime minister’s policy board, said: “While mankind has never seen such income inequality, it is also true that mankind has never experienced such rapid increases in living standards. Around the world billions of people are being lifted out of poverty at a pace never seen before. But the extraordinary concentration of global wealth today-- fuelled by the pace of technological innovation and globalisation-- poses serious challenges.

“If the system of capitalist liberal democracy which has triumphed in the west is to pass the big test of globalisation-- and the assault from radical Islam as well as its own internal pressures from post-crash austerity-- we need some new thinking on ways to widen opportunity, share ownership and philanthropy. Fast.”