“There is a crime behind every wealth”

‘Oxfam’ a reputed international organisation conducted a study regarding the disparity between the rich and the poor across the world.  ‘Oxfam’s revelations are shocking.  The organisation says just 8 individual billionaires have as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the world’s population. 58% of the total wealth in India was in the hands of just 1% of the population or 84 billionaires collectively held 248 billion dollars of the total Indian wealth of 3.1 trillion dollars.  What was worst poorest 10% of the population in India, China and some other Asian countries saw their share of income fall by more than 15% while the rich made a corresponding gain.  This is the figure given by ‘Oxfam’ for the year 2015.

‘Oxfam’s study brings to our mind an old English saying ‘There is a crime behind every Wealth’.  After freedom Gandhiji had said that without economic freedom political freedom has no meaning.  In India nearly 35% of the population were living under below poverty line.  Living below poverty line means an entire family’s income per day was Rs.2.  This was the position in the early India.  Has the situation being improved since then?  Even today around 25% of the population (though government may question this figure) are living under poverty line.  Now the entire family’s daily income is Rs.12.  Rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer.  Even today out of 3 persons 1 person lives in poverty and goes to bed in empty stomach.

After 1990, i.e., after the demise of Soviet Union, capitalism has engulfed the entire world.  Capitalism has no human face.  Free market is the big boss now.  Gulf between rich and poor keeps widening.  One need not be a Marxist to say this.  National cake is not being distributed equitably.  Most countries have shed their moral responsibilities to the majority of the people who put them in power.

Wheel which seems to have stopped turning in 1990 has slowly started turning again to complete the circle.  Perhaps this is the nature’s way of writing the wrong.  After Brexit and Trump’s victory in America many countries are returning to Nationalism signifying the end of globalisation.