Rising Inequality during pandemic - A threat to World Peace and Economic Development

Just imagine during the early months of the pandemic, when local businesses across the country closed and millions of hungry Americans turned to food banks for the first time, over a period of seven-month America’s 614 billionaires grew their net worth by a collective $931 billion. And today, according to a Washington Post report the wealthiest 1 percent of American households own 40 percent of the country’s wealth and the bottom 90 percent of families holding less than one-quarter of all wealth. This share is higher than it has been at any point since at least 1962.

Before I go any further, I want to share a short passage from a book that I recently received. The book entitled “For the Well-Being of All: Eliminating the Extremes of Wealth and Poverty” was published by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of USA. One page 9, it says, “The inordinate disparity between rich and poor, a source of acute suffering, keeps the world in a state of instability, virtually on the brink of war. Few societies have dealt effectively with this situation. The solution calls for the combined application of spiritual, moral and practical approaches. A fresh look at the problem is required, entailing consultation with experts from a wide spectrum of disciplines, devoid of economic and ideological polemics, and involving the people directly affected in the decisions that must urgently be made. It is an issue that is bound up not only with the necessity for eliminating extremes of wealth and poverty but also with those spiritual verities the understanding of which can produce a new universal attitude. Fostering such an attitude is itself a major part of the solution. (The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, ¶30)

 It is sickening to note that among the so-called rich nations the United States stands out for the extent of its wealth inequality. The top 1 percent in the U.S. own a much larger share of the country's wealth than the 1 percent elsewhere. The American 1 percent gobble up twice as much as the 1 percent in France, the U.K., or Canada, and more than three times as much as the 1 percent in Finland.

This is mainly because in high-inequality countries, people from poor households typically have less access to quality education. There is no tax plan to reduce the extreme inequality in the United States to find ways to redistribute some of the wealth from the richest households to the poorest ones. African American families and minorities in general have a fraction of the wealth of white families, leaving them more economically insecure and with far fewer opportunities for economic mobility. Also, persistent labor market discrimination, segregation, racial profiling by the authorities force blacks into fewer and less advantageous employment opportunities than their white counterparts. This leads to “large amounts of wasted potential and lower social mobility,” which directly harms economic growth, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

But, inequality is also playing out on a global scale. Global inequality is shocking and vast number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade. According to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, the world's richest 1 percent, those with more than $1 million, own 44 percent of the world's wealth. Their data also shows that adults with less than $10,000 in wealth make up 56.6 percent of the world's population but hold less than 2 percent of global wealth.

I was listening to NPR very recently. According to the news, The World Bank group recently reported that global extreme poverty is expected to rise for the first time in over 20 years as the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies the forces of conflict and climate change around the globe. The pandemic has even exacerbated existing inequalities in poorer countries. It is estimated that pandemic to push an additional 88 million to 115 million people into extreme poverty this year, with the total rising to as many as 150 million by 2021.

Even in the United States, black people—whose household wealth is a 10th that of their white counterparts—are dying at more than double the rate of white Americans. In England, the COVID-19 death rate was more than twice as in the poorest parts of the country than in its wealthiest areas.

During my visit to Haiti, I met these children in a village school. The parents of these children earn an average of $1.90 a day - as HH income

During our visit to Zanzibar, Tanzania, Debbie and I visited this tiny brick house. Inside, a grand mother was raising her children and grand children - about 12 of them. Debbie is holding one of her grand daughters.

Debbie is with the grand daughter. Sitting beside her is the girl's mother. Running water and social distancing are luxuries. 

My daughter Natascha is seen among small children in a Massai  Tribal village in Kenya, Africa. They all sit inside this small mud hut, sit close to each other for daily classes. 

I met these ladies along the Southern Coast of India. They were all wives of fishermen and also laborers at a construction site, carrying bricks and sand on their head. HH income is less the $2.00 a day for these people - with pure and kindly hearts. I took some pictures of them earlier and shared the photos with them.  

Debbie and I visited a Muslim refugee camp in the Eastern part of Sri Lanka. Again, running water and washing hands are luxuries at these camps

During my visit to the Philippines, I visited this slum in Manila. 

     I took this picture in a village in Haiti. Women are gathered to get their daily water supply 

Having visited slums and villages in several countries, I am worried about the deadly effects this pandemic will bring to those people. Social distancing is virtually impossible in refugee camps or slums. For them, it is a luxury of space that they do not have. Washing hands is virtually impossible in camps if you have no running water. At least, we are so blessed and afford extensive deliveries of food and other staples, and to carry out much of our jobs through telework. This has shown us the luxury we live in the abundance of products, freedom and health and realizing we were taking it for granted.

Recent reports clearly indicates that as wealthier countries cautiously reopen their economies after having slowed their rates of infection, countries in the developing world in Asia and Africa are recording progressively higher numbers of new daily cases.

The gap between rich and poor can’t be resolved without satisfactory solution to eradicate poverty. And it lies in a profound change of heart and mind which only religion can produce. The human and material resources at our disposal must be used for the long-term good of all, not for the short-term advantage of a few.

“There must be special laws made, dealing with these extremes of riches and of want. The members of the Government should consider the laws of God when they are framing plans for the ruling of the people. The general rights of mankind must be guarded and preserved”                                                                                         (Abdul Baha, Paris Talks. P 153)

(Source: Center for American Progress, The Washington Post, OECD)