Let Them Eat Cake...

A new report from Oxfam shows that the world’s richest 85 people now have the same amount of wealth ($1.7 trillion) as the bottom half the world’s population combined (that’s 3.5 billion people). The world’s wealthiest 1 percent have $110 trillion, 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world. 

That coincides nicely with another article I read that points out "that a high proportion of CEO’s of major companies are sociopaths sharing some or all of the following traits with sociopaths: incapable of feeling shame, guilt or remorse; seek to dominate others and “win” at all costs; incapable of love and never apologize.”

What does that sound like to you Bully Byters? Sounds to me like in this day and age, being a bully is a good thing. We're telling kids to play nice and follow the golden rule but they know the score. The field isn't level and if they want to get ahead they're best served by doing it without regard for others.

And what about the American Dream? The claim is that America offers equal opportunity to all but there's a big difference between opportunity and access. All Americans have equal access to the public library but if I can't read, the opportunity to take advantage of that access is severely limited.

Meanwhile, a majority of kids see us working longer hours at jobs they don't like to earn the right to keep the economic engine of this country purring by consuming more. Then we give those goods to our kids in exchange for our time and to appease our guilt. What kids need is our time and attention not more stuff. But if you're raised up in a country based on the concept that the person with the most toys wins, it easy to see why kids bully.

But I think things are starting to change. I believe that there is a growing sense among young people that this can't be right. They see what's happening around them and that material possessions and consumption don't fill the growing hole in our collective soul. There's a whole lot more of us then there are of them and we all know what happened the last time...