We live in a country, in a world even, where there is enough for everybody to have food to eat, to be housed and clothed, to receive education and healthcare, and live a fulfilling life without the need for homelessness, hunger, or poverty.
But we choose not to organise our world in that way, preferring to allow a few to gather vast amounts of wealth, and leaving many to live miserable lives struggling to obtain their basic needs.
Turns out in our society human greed is prioritised ahead of human need. Yay us!
Wealth is congregating in the hands of the few, and it’s not coming back voluntarily. It’s the classic Monopoly analogy. You start playing but the other players already own all the properties, and you can’t afford the rent and so you end up living on the street. I assume that’s what “Free Parking” is a euphemism for.
A Treasury paper, Estimating the Distribution of Wealth in New Zealand, released in April indicated the following:
67.2% of all the wealth in this country is held by just 10% of the population.
26.1% of all the wealth in this country is held by just 1% of the population.
8.3% of all the wealth in this country is held by just 0.1% of the population.
Now I’m not talking about your much spoken of Mom and Pop investors who own their home, and maybe a rental for retirement or a bach. That may seem exorbitantly wealthy to late entrants to the property game, but it wasn’t so long ago, in the era of state mortgages fixed at 3% and cashing in the family benefit for a deposit, when this was within reach of many - it was the Kiwi dream. A dream that four decades of neoliberalism has turned into an unobtainable nightmare.
I’m talking about the people who hide their wealth in trusts and shell companies. Those who own large numbers of properties, banking tax free capital gains of tens of millions of dollars while bemoaning how hard it is for landlords. Enormous multinationals who have killed off local businesses and make vast amounts of money, while paying essentially no tax because they have a head office registered somewhere more billionaire friendly.
People are realising around the world that the problem isn’t the way we’re slicing the cake, or the need to grow the pie, it’s the fact that some people have stored away so much just for themselves, more than they could possibly ever need or use, that there is not enough for the rest.
Not only do they have more than they need, but their offspring will also start the game with huge advantages, leaving others in future generations with fewer and fewer opportunities.
So, what to do?
While it might be tempting to think of solutions that worked in the past, like the guillotine, can we really blame people for getting ahead in ways that are within the rules, if not the spirit, of the game? Can we blame people that seek to acquire more wealth than they could ever use and tell the masses that if they’d only work as hard them they’d succeed too?
I say “yes”.
Yes, we can blame them. Not only that but we have to intervene and take some of what they have so that it can be shared with others. They can still keep more than they would ever need, but maybe just enough for 999 lifetimes, rather than 1,000.
I’d start with the ones that are pretending to be christians. If you’re a multi-millionaire and you’re avoiding paying your fair share while claiming to follow a religion based on essentially socialism then into the fiery pit with you buddy.
I’m not entirely serious, but it is a nice thought. Perhaps some stocks and cans of tomatoes would suffice?
We’ve heard plenty about Capital Gains Taxes (CGT), and Wealth Taxes. We know by now that those with vested interests will scream blue murder, that the world would end, if we redistribute a small amount of their “hard earned” wealth. House prices would skyrocket, and the rich would depart for other places where they, and their businesses, are more appreciated. Don’t we know how important they are?
Well we’ve just elected a government with a set of policies designed specifically to push house prices up and attract more wealthy people from overseas to buy here. So I call BS on that one - don’t threaten us with something that you’re already doing.
As for the rich departing, yeah I’ll call BS on that one too. That’s as credible as every time Mike Hosking threatens to move to Australia if he doesn’t get his own way - it’s just a false threat. It’s a tantrum, and anyone who has been a parent knows you don’t reward a tantrum.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Nick's Kōrero to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.