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'Global Oligarchy' Reigns as Top 1% Controls More Wealth Than Bottom 95% of Humanity
(www.commondreams.org)
this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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FYI (and I expect to be downvoted because y'all don't want to hear this), but when an article talks about the "global 1%" it's probably talking about YOU.
Yes, you. And me. And probably most of the people reading this, who live in the US or another Western country and consider themselves "middle class." WE are the global 1%.
From https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/9/15/23874111/charity-philanthropy-americans-global-rich :
Also, if you prefer to measure by wealth instead of income, that's lower than you think, too. I'm having trouble finding a more recent figure, but as of 2018, the threshold to be considered global 1% in terms of net worth was only $871,320. No, didn't typo: it really is only hundreds of thousands, not millions or billions.
(The billionaires are more like the 0.01%.)
Only $800k net worth? Who the hell in middle class America has that? If they did, then homeownership would be less of an issue.
Homeowners near retirement age, basically. Much of that net worth would be their home value, and the rest would be in their 401k/IRA.
(Keep in mind that in order to achieve a "modest but comfortable" $40k/year middle-class retirement, you need $1M assets (not including your residence) to achieve a 4% safe withdrawal rate. Basically, you have to be a millionaire by retirement just to avoid poverty.)
i personally don't know any of those people