Prioritizing the needs of the 93% over the 1%

Early this week, the United States had an election for its Senate, House of Representatives and other local officials. The result was a political revolution as the Democrats overwhelmingly won, defying the expectations of even the most optimistic members of the Democratic Party itself.

Right after the election, US Sen. Bernie Sanders gave an extensive analysis of his own post-analysis of the election. He is considered as the inspiration and de facto leader of the Democratic Socialist movement in the United States.

I was reading the transcript of his analysis and I realized that this was a manifesto applicable not only in the United States but all over the world, including the Philippines. Here is an excerpt from his speech that I think is one of the most relevant subject matters:

“… all over the world, people are giving up on democracy. Now, why is that? And the answer is that all over the world, not just in America, working families are struggling to put food on the table and pay for basic necessities while the very richest people become much richer… In many other countries, ordinary people are saying, does their government even know that they exist? Or are elected officials too busy worrying about the needs of the rich and the powerful?”

This very much sounds like one of the major issues here in the Philippines. Senator Sanders believes that the results of the election showed that the American people are demanding real change and bold politics that will “dramatically improve their lives.”

For those people who have been reading my columns the past one or two years, they will remember that I have written several columns on income inequality. In fact, some people say I have written far too many columns about it.

In his post-analysis, Sanders said: “In our country (USA), income and wealth inequality has reached unprecedented levels. The top one percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 93 percent. One man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 53 percent of American households. In my view, that is insane and I think that is what most Americans feel.”

I have written about the Oxfam reports which show that income inequality is a worldwide phenomenon. Almost every night, on the news programs on television, it shows ordinary citizens rioting on the streets even in the most developed countries in the world like France and Germany. These are people protesting issues like poor education, lack of adequate housing and lack of access to health care. These are the same issues that are plaguing our country today; although our people are not yet rioting, these issues are becoming very widespread.

Unfortunately, for many countries, even the Philippines, the solution that the people are beginning to be attracted to believe in is to appeal to populist leaders who are catering to the discontent of the ordinary citizen and blaming the rich for their deprived condition.

There are of course reasons why the overwhelming majority of our people basically living day to day find this believable. This can be made believable when rich businessmen refuse to pay a living wage which can pay for basic necessities while the very rich sector get much richer. Even working families are struggling to put food on the table and have to stay in makeshift shelters in squatter areas, while the rich can afford several residences and even residences in countries like the United States and Canada.

In his analysis, Sanders wrote: “We must take on the greed of the very, very rich and their incredible wealth.” He proposes a five percent wealth tax on billionaires so that the government can provide every working class family with affordable housing and universal free child care among other things. A wealth tax is a direct tax levied annually on the net market value of an individual’s accumulated assets (such as cash, stocks, real estate and business ownership) minus their liabilities (like mortgages and debts), rather than on their income or transactions.

Sanders also gave a warning on the potential danger of artificial intelligence (AI). He says: “This revolutionary technology will transform the lives of every man, woman and child in our country and around the world. Left unchecked, AI and robotics will destroy tens of millions of jobs, devastate our children’s mental health, eviscerate our privacy rights, drive up electricity rates, strain water supplies and transform warfare.”

The most consequential warning is his statement that a lot of people are struggling everyday just to stay alive while at the same time the rich have more money than they can spend in several lifetimes and are getting richer and richer all of the time.

In his speech, Sanders explained the need to fight for economic and social justice. More importantly, it is important to give hope to people and for government to convince people that they can address the crisis they are facing and will pay attention to the needs of those who are struggling and not just the needs of the very wealthy.

But the most meaningful actions that the government, political and business leaders can show is that they are finally addressing the issue of income inequality.

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