Global Wealth: One Giant Pyramid Scheme?

[orange]

Is Global Wealth just one Giant Pyramid scheme? Where do you fall? Who's on top? How did they get there?

1 (Gates)
10 (Warren Buffet, Paul Allen, The Walton Family, Lawrence Ellison, Steven Ballmer, Michael Dell)
100 (Forbes 500)
1,000 (Forbes 500)
10,000 (?)
100,000 (?)
1,000,000 (?)
10,000,000
100,000,000 (You?!)
1,000,000,000 (You?)
4,889,888,990 (The combined populations of impoverished and middle class Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, and North America, and you?)

- Almost all of the top 3 layers of this pyramid scheme are all corporate leaders...and probably a good portion of the next few layers...

- Only 2 of the top 11 are women, and are both with the same corporation (Wal*Mart).

- Nearly half of the top 500 are Americans.

- 9 of the top 10 are American.

What does this say about the world of wealth we live in? Does wealth (and correspondingly, power) really flow from the hands of the few elite into the gaping open mouths of the majority? Or is this all just communist left-wing bunk designed to weasel hard working intelligent people out of their hard earned money?

[oedo]

found at the forbes link

David Filo (yahoo).
570.000.000 $ (!)
36 years old (!!)
single

what a lucky bastard.

[Az]

I am in the top Billion. ( The layer that you've missed. )

[Az]

Oedo: he's not. You know how hard is it to get a date for such a guy, and actually have a chance of that date not being with you for the money?

* The rich cry, also. *

[orange]

Originally posted by Azazel
I am in the top Billion. ( The layer that you've missed. )

oops! let me edit that in

[Boris Godunov]

You 4,889,888,990 lesser folk can kiss my ass!

[chequita guevara]

Communist!

[DAVOUT]

I used to draw a pyramid of income in order to visualized how exploitation works.

In a triangle, draw 10 layers or so. Then, starting from the second layer, draw a line parallel to the right side of the triangle, within the triangle. This represents the income taken by the first layer on all other layers; it will receive the same colour as the first layer. Then repeat for the third layer, and all others till the ninth.

This pyramid of exploitation just shows that whatever is your layer (except the last one) you exploit all people below, consciously or not. But it does not answer the question of the legitimacy of the exploitation. In other world, the last layer would probably not be better off if they eliminated the nine layers above them.

[PLATO]

Ran a search for my last name...No results! Guess I had better give up the dream of that unknown rich uncle...

[Az]

I have a guy with my exact name running REUTERS for a while.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DAVOUT
This pyramid of exploitation just shows that whatever is your layer (except the last one) you exploit all people below, consciously or not.

That's not necesssarily true. Productive classes don't necessarily exploit those below them. Most of the working class relies on its own muscle for whatever income it has. Yuo might claim exploitation based on the products they buy, since farm workers are massively exploited, and about $50 a year of that exploitation is passed along to consumers.

[Kidlicious]

Yeah, and how can Gates exploit Buffet?

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


That's not necesssarily true. Productive classes don't necessarily exploit those below them. Most of the working class relies on its own muscle for whatever income it has. Yuo might claim exploitation based on the products they buy, since farm workers are massively exploited, and about $50 a year of that exploitation is passed along to consumers.

The working class benefits from the work of the underproletariat, either dirty works, or work included in imported goods, or imported spare parts included in finish products. And this is no surprise since this is for a big part the result of the action of the silly, selfish consumers, who are mainly workers.

[Solly]

We need this natural variation in income/wealth in order to create incentives.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Yeah, and how can Gates exploit Buffet?

This is a metaphoric approach which cannot be illustrated by individuals ... although I can imagine either one exploiting the other.

Are not they friends, playing poker regularly?