In the last few decades

[Bassim]

Have I made any mistakes?

In the last few decades, the super reach have created the myth that their richness will benefit everybody, which is nothing but a lie. While in the 1960s the average pay for a CEO at the largest US corporations was 12 times greater than the average pay of a factory worker, forty years later, it was about 500 times, and it is still rising. Ordinary people are constantly bombarded with the news that if the rich start losing their money, they would leave the country and take their wealth with them, which is just scaremongering with the goal to instil fear into the masses and make them accept inequality as something normal. But growing inequality can only cause more problems and even one day lead to the collapse of society.

From the psychological standpoints, these differences are harmful for human beings. As the rich avoid the poor at all social and cultural occasions, this leads to the creation of parallel societies, which do not have any contact with each other. The offspring of the wealthy go to private schools where they meet only student from similar families. They have no idea how their poor peers live and how their families struggle to give them good education. But the worst of all is that the individuals who try to fight against these lies and injustice are called lunatics and derided by the media and the elites. They have the interest in keeping the poor in the state of ignorance and subjugation because the poor must know their place and be satisfied with the crumbs they pick up from the floor while the rich guests gorge themselves on delicious food and wash it down with litres of champagne.

 

[Tarheel]

Say:

In the last few decades the super rich have created the myth that their wealth will benefit everybody, which is nothing but a lie.

So if I create something that has never existed before (a new company) and in the process employ thousands of people, and I become a wealthy man that makes me a bad person. Right?

 

[Bassim]

No, Tarheel. You are not a bad person for creating a new company, but the system is unjust when someone earns 500 times or more than ordinary worker. You grew up in capitalism and you still live in capitalism, but I lived in socialism and now live in capitalism and see the difference. In the former Yugoslavia, people could build their own house without borrowing money from the bank, while in the US or UK people have to borrow large amounts of money to buy their own home. That means they do not own their home. If they lose their job, they will also lose their home. Around one million cars in the US are dispossessed every year because the owner is unable to pay back the loan. That never happened in my homeland. You cannot be free when a bank decides your future. In my country, many women were able to stay home and take care of their children, while men went to work. And those family could still live well. This is nowadays in capitalism almost impossible, because a family where only one member works is doomed to poverty.