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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires’ Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Forbes reported that despite the pandemic, it was a record-setting year for the world’s wealthiest—with a $5 trillion surge in wealth and an unprecedented number of new billionaires. The number of billionaires on its 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest exploded to 2,755—660 more than a year ago. Altogether they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion on the 2020 list. And that really saddened Jane Chung.

A few days ago, Chung published a Twitter thread, taking stabs at the individuals featured in the World’s Billionaires List as well as society which allows the rich to get richer and makes the poor even poorer. And she has a point. Extreme poverty rates are on the rise for the first time in 20 years. Continue scrolling and read what Chung had to say about this.

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

“It’s really difficult to imagine wealth of that magnitude,” Chung told Global Citizen. The Big Tech accountability advocate at the nonprofit Public Citizen said that after a certain point, another zero is just another zero, and adding more zeros doesn’t really register in our heads.

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“I think putting it in terms of the real issues we’re facing in the world, most of them notably manmade and caused by capitalism, shows how they can be totally eradicated and solved with not even all of the wealth of the people involved in Big Tech,” Chung explained.

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

She said that her analysis surprised a lot of people. “The most common reaction was, ‘Yeah, I knew they were rich but I never thought about it in terms of how they could actually positively impact society, if they tried or had the desire to.”

Even though the thread was inspired by Chung’s anger and hopelessness at the state of inequality, its overall reception has transformed her negative emotions into positive ones.

“I think the responses I’ve gotten are inspiring a lot of hope in me,” Chung said. “Whether they’re folks who have been organizing toward abolition and other causes for a really long time, or folks who are just realizing that a few people hold all of this wealth in our society, I think a lot of people are really fired up about this, and that’s exciting for me. I hope that we can channel it for the better.”

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

Image credits: Jane24477

Before the pandemic, Oxfam reported that 2,153 billionaires owned more wealth than the poorest 4.6 billion people worldwide. This level of inequality not only distorts economies by investing inordinate power in the hands of a small group of people, but also exacerbates the conditions of poverty, the United Nations said.

Inequality has been on the rise across the globe for several decades. Yes, some countries have reduced the numbers of people living in extreme poverty, but economic gaps have continued to grow as the very richest amass unprecedented levels of wealth.

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Here’s what people think of the viral thread

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires' Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy

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56Kviews

Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Austėja Akavickaitė

Austėja is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Photography.

Austėja is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Photography.

What do you think ?

soni w 3 years ago

Big tech companies are filthy rich because we all made them that way. If everyone didn't have to upgrade everything every few months to keep up with #trending, these f*****s would be broke. Before you all whinge about their wealth, have a good look at what you're buying!!

29points

Gandalf the Pink 3 years ago

Sales is just one piece of the puzzle. It's also how fairly the company workers get treated and where cutdowns are being made. And of course, where are the resources mined. Is it well paid expert miners in countries with lots of safety regulations or is it poor miners who destroy their bodies in countries with no safety guidelines? So, I absolutely believe we all could learn to buy smart, be mindful of trends and repair before throwing. But big tech companies often do a larger amount of awful things than just products that become obsolete too fast.

33points

Load More Replies...

King Joffrey 3 years ago

That's not the problem, the problem is that these companies are worth billions, and in one case over a trillion, and they use borderline slave labour in developing countries and even in developed countries treat their employees like robots and underpay them. I don't have an issue with someone being even a squadrillionaire if they reward the people who do the legwork for them. As it stands, it's all about profit and optimisation and as long as it stays that way, I can't see it changing.

8points

Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago

No, this is wrong, and part of the propaganda you’ve eaten up. Companies are free to make as much profit as they want, that’s what a strong economy is. The issue is when they don’t pay their employees a fair wage and just keep all the money for themselves. You’re blaming poor / average people again, just like the mega rich want you to believe. All they have to do is pay their employees high wages and the billions get distributed. You should grow up before talking about this.

5points

Mohammad Ammar 3 years ago

Consumerism is partly to blame but you can't pin the blame on the public. Corporations exploit us using every trick in the book, bombarding us with advertisements, preying on our insecurities, getting us addicted to their sevices etc. This is where the government must step in, and sadly that's just not happening.

3points

RaroaRaroa 3 years ago

I would think Zuckerberg makes his money off advertising. Bezos, from people shopping with Amazon. I don't upgrade anything "every few months". My laptop is years old, my phone is months old, but the last one was years old. It should be the simplest thing in the world for people to just stop using Amazon, even for 1 month and Bezos might take a look at his practices, but the fact is, most people don't care enough to bother. Perhaps #AmazonFreeAugust should become a thing, followed by #FacebookFreeFebruary. Just as people do Dry-July, perhaps the detox would be good for them. I don't use Amazon and I can't see why anyone would 'need' to.

1point

Tami 3 years ago

That's part of the problem for sure! Plus we're trashing the planet with all the crap we buy. Most things are made in China, where environmental regulations are sorely lacking. But who cares because we don't see it! And we recycle!! Yeah, right. Folks ought to see where most "recycled" plastics and electronics end up. Just search "myth of recycling plastic" and "myth of recycling electronics" on YouTube.

1point

Aahzmandus Pervect 3 years ago

The first and biggest problem with this analysis if the fact that billionaires don't have all of theit wealth in cash.

24points

ProfessionalTimeWaster 3 years ago

The second problem is she thinks poverty can be eradicated by distributing money to poor, when the focus should be on generating wealth. She sees how much money they have, but not how much employment these companies generate (directly and indirectly).

13points

Load More Replies...

Rainclouds Radio 3 years ago

I think that the biggest player in global hunger is poor governance...

4points

Jarrod Nichols 3 years ago

also, $300 billion will not end world hunger. Literally $42 per person will feed everyone for a couple days at best. Total shenanigans.

1point

Barry Parker 3 years ago

No, they don't but they still have an excessive amount of stored up value that came from other people's labor.

-2points

King Joffrey 3 years ago

I don't mind these guys are so rich, what bothers me is that they got so rich while paying their employees as little as they can get away with. I don't want Bezos to stop world hunger, I only want him to pay his employees a living wage and didn't treat them like robots.

12points

s. vitkovitsky 3 years ago

In which case, be prepared to pay more for things you buy. If you're cool with that, awesome, if you want to get the best price, then you're supporting low wages.

-2points

Load More Replies...

Pervinca 3 years ago (edited)

If those companies pay less their managers and directors (these doesn't mean to pay them like other employees, but to pair a more fair salary, not a large difference like now(you can see with a fast research on internet how the difference between the ceo's compensation and the average worker's wage is growing exponentially)) and also if these companies reduce their profit (so less money to give back to the shareholders because you spend more in the employees' wages), these would mean having more money to treat fairly all the employees, without having to exponentially increase the prices. And I'm sure that the majority of people would have no problem to pay a little more the goods in order to have a more fair society. Also, if all the companies started thinking like that this mean that the average people would have more money, and so would afford to spend more. At least, this is what I think.

1point

Load More Comments

soni w 3 years ago

Big tech companies are filthy rich because we all made them that way. If everyone didn't have to upgrade everything every few months to keep up with #trending, these f*****s would be broke. Before you all whinge about their wealth, have a good look at what you're buying!!

29points

Gandalf the Pink 3 years ago

Sales is just one piece of the puzzle. It's also how fairly the company workers get treated and where cutdowns are being made. And of course, where are the resources mined. Is it well paid expert miners in countries with lots of safety regulations or is it poor miners who destroy their bodies in countries with no safety guidelines? So, I absolutely believe we all could learn to buy smart, be mindful of trends and repair before throwing. But big tech companies often do a larger amount of awful things than just products that become obsolete too fast.

33points

Load More Replies...

King Joffrey 3 years ago

That's not the problem, the problem is that these companies are worth billions, and in one case over a trillion, and they use borderline slave labour in developing countries and even in developed countries treat their employees like robots and underpay them. I don't have an issue with someone being even a squadrillionaire if they reward the people who do the legwork for them. As it stands, it's all about profit and optimisation and as long as it stays that way, I can't see it changing.

8points

Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago

No, this is wrong, and part of the propaganda you’ve eaten up. Companies are free to make as much profit as they want, that’s what a strong economy is. The issue is when they don’t pay their employees a fair wage and just keep all the money for themselves. You’re blaming poor / average people again, just like the mega rich want you to believe. All they have to do is pay their employees high wages and the billions get distributed. You should grow up before talking about this.

5points

Mohammad Ammar 3 years ago

Consumerism is partly to blame but you can't pin the blame on the public. Corporations exploit us using every trick in the book, bombarding us with advertisements, preying on our insecurities, getting us addicted to their sevices etc. This is where the government must step in, and sadly that's just not happening.

3points

RaroaRaroa 3 years ago

I would think Zuckerberg makes his money off advertising. Bezos, from people shopping with Amazon. I don't upgrade anything "every few months". My laptop is years old, my phone is months old, but the last one was years old. It should be the simplest thing in the world for people to just stop using Amazon, even for 1 month and Bezos might take a look at his practices, but the fact is, most people don't care enough to bother. Perhaps #AmazonFreeAugust should become a thing, followed by #FacebookFreeFebruary. Just as people do Dry-July, perhaps the detox would be good for them. I don't use Amazon and I can't see why anyone would 'need' to.

1point

Tami 3 years ago

That's part of the problem for sure! Plus we're trashing the planet with all the crap we buy. Most things are made in China, where environmental regulations are sorely lacking. But who cares because we don't see it! And we recycle!! Yeah, right. Folks ought to see where most "recycled" plastics and electronics end up. Just search "myth of recycling plastic" and "myth of recycling electronics" on YouTube.

1point

Aahzmandus Pervect 3 years ago

The first and biggest problem with this analysis if the fact that billionaires don't have all of theit wealth in cash.

24points

ProfessionalTimeWaster 3 years ago

The second problem is she thinks poverty can be eradicated by distributing money to poor, when the focus should be on generating wealth. She sees how much money they have, but not how much employment these companies generate (directly and indirectly).

13points

Load More Replies...

Rainclouds Radio 3 years ago

I think that the biggest player in global hunger is poor governance...

4points

Jarrod Nichols 3 years ago

also, $300 billion will not end world hunger. Literally $42 per person will feed everyone for a couple days at best. Total shenanigans.

1point

Barry Parker 3 years ago

No, they don't but they still have an excessive amount of stored up value that came from other people's labor.

-2points

King Joffrey 3 years ago

I don't mind these guys are so rich, what bothers me is that they got so rich while paying their employees as little as they can get away with. I don't want Bezos to stop world hunger, I only want him to pay his employees a living wage and didn't treat them like robots.

12points

s. vitkovitsky 3 years ago

In which case, be prepared to pay more for things you buy. If you're cool with that, awesome, if you want to get the best price, then you're supporting low wages.

-2points

Load More Replies...

Pervinca 3 years ago (edited)

If those companies pay less their managers and directors (these doesn't mean to pay them like other employees, but to pair a more fair salary, not a large difference like now(you can see with a fast research on internet how the difference between the ceo's compensation and the average worker's wage is growing exponentially)) and also if these companies reduce their profit (so less money to give back to the shareholders because you spend more in the employees' wages), these would mean having more money to treat fairly all the employees, without having to exponentially increase the prices. And I'm sure that the majority of people would have no problem to pay a little more the goods in order to have a more fair society. Also, if all the companies started thinking like that this mean that the average people would have more money, and so would afford to spend more. At least, this is what I think.

1point

Load More Comments

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