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The meeting takes place each year in Switzerland. Xinhua/PA Images

The world's richest 1% swallowed up 82% of the wealth created last year

A new report by Oxfam has found that income inequality is growing.

THE WORLD’S RICHEST 1% raked in 82% of the wealth created last year while the poorest half of the population received none, Oxfam said, as the world’s elite prepared to mingle at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

A new report from the charity also found that the wealth of billionaires has grown six times faster than that of ordinary workers since 2010, with another billionaire minted every two days between March 2016 and March 2017.

Oxfam used its findings to paint a picture of a global economy in which the wealthy few amass ever-greater fortunes while hundreds of millions of people are “struggling to survive on poverty pay”.

“The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima said in a statement.

Oxfam also emphasised the plight of women workers, who “consistently earn less than men” and often have the lowest paid, least secure jobs. Nine out of 10 billionaires are men, it added.

The report, titled Reward Work, not Wealth, used data from Credit Suisse to compare the returns of top executives and shareholders to that of ordinary workers.

It found that chief executives of the top five global fashion brands made in just four days what garment workers in Bangladesh earn over a lifetime.

“The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors,”said Byanyima.

To fight rising inequality, Oxfam called on governments to limit the returns of shareholders and top executives, close the gender pay gap, crackdown on tax avoidance and increase spending on healthcare and education.

The study was released on the eve of top political and business figures meeting at a luxury Swiss ski resort for the annual World Economic Forum, which this year says it will focus on how to create “a shared future in a fractured world”.

“It’s hard to find a political or business leader who doesn’t say they are worried about inequality,” said Byanyima.

“It’s even harder to find one who is doing something about it. Many are actively making things worse by slashing taxes and scrapping labour rights.”

Read: Kildare’s famous ‘Great Wall of Dunnes’ is here to stay >

Read: Three counties create ‘energy-efficient zone’ to attract jobs >

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    Mute jonathan masterson
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:04 AM

    Everyone knows the fight is fixed…the poor stay poor and the rich stay rich…

    488
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    Mute David Huston
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:33 AM

    @jonathan masterson: With the likes of FG/FF party’s it wont change here, We need a new approach

    258
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    Mute Mick Johnson
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:36 AM

    @jonathan masterson: That’s not rue at all in fact, it’s been shown that Ireland is one of the most socially mobile countries in the world because we encourage and pay for third level education for poor people for that exact reason!

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:04 AM

    @Mick what constitutes ‘poor people’ Mick and in what context is Ireland ‘socially mobile’ ?

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    Mute paulganly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:13 AM

    @Mick Johnson: We used to pay for third level fees… Now we have the second highest fees in Europe, which is bound to reduce social mobility: http://www.thejournal.ie/college-fees-ireland-3675177-Nov2017/

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    Mute Sean Conway
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:21 AM

    @jonathan masterson: Well the education system is nearly aparthied status. with the already rich in all the best schools.

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    Mute David Knight
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:12 AM

    @Mick Johnson: When you say something is not true, in fact, you could at least mention a verifiable fact to prove your point, and not just say “it’s been shown”. Where has it been shown, and why is it that Ireland seems to be at the forefront of inequality and corruption, if you look at easily verifiable facts? Facts such as the growth in the number of people on hospital trolleys, the growth in the number of homeless, the amount of houses now owned by vulture funds, and the gross inequalities of our tax system that sees our government fighting a legal battle not to take tax of one company while taxing every citizen for the audacity of trying to own their own home.

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    Mute Gillian Scully
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:27 AM

    @jonathan masterson: Sounds about right. I think it was Paul Getty that said if you leveled out all the money in the world to all the people in the world then given a set time the same people would have more money again.

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    Mute Leroy
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:35 AM

    @jonathan masterson: Except that’s the very opposite of what happens in Ireland

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    Mute frank murphy
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    Jan 23rd 2018, 2:03 AM

    Fairplay to all concerned they deserve every cent :)

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    Mute Billy Connelly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:07 AM

    Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.

    Martin Luther King, Jr

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    Mute Thought for Food
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:18 AM

    @Billy Connelly:

    “a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience”

    Funny how Martin Luther King doesn’t mention how those people got to be so rich. Hard work and long hours, not privilege.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:29 AM

    @Thought for Food: yeah, right, hard work, by inheriting daddy’s fortune

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    Mute Thought for Food
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:33 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:

    You do realise that cash is a liquid asset right? Just because you inherit a large amount of money that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to keep it.

    Already many developed countries tax inheritances at more than 50%.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:35 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:
    Who got it by hard work etc. Are you suggesting inheritances should be banned?

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    Mute Ronanfitz
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:38 AM

    @Thought for Food: Oh, which ones?

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    Mute Róisín Daly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:39 AM

    @Thought for Food: and getting tax breaks lax competition rules and poor wages from the get go. I don’t mind companies making profit but pay your workers and pay for the infrastructure that the companies build such profits from.

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    Mute Dave Wallace
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:42 AM

    @Thought for Food: The higher up the wealth leagues you go, the more you find that the wealth is inherited and not self-made. Hard work eh? The Bill Gates of this world are the exceptions. Most of the super rich were born into it.

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    Mute paulganly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:44 AM

    @Thought for Food: Hilarious… If hard work made you rich then nurses, laborers and refuse collectors would be some of the richest people in our society. The chances of moving from the poorest 10% in the country to the richest 10% are tiny.
    Rich people believe they have worked harder than anyone else accumulate their wealth, but in all likelihood they have been given more opportunity than anyone else or simply been luckier(born to the right parents). Have a look at this TED talk for a simple explanation: https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_piff_does_money_make_you_mean

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    Mute Liam O'Reilly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:47 AM

    @Thought for Food: I don’t doubt that many, if not most, billionaires did indeed work very hard and sacrifice a lot for their wealth. They also exploit thousands of people who they do not give a crap about because they are mostly sociopaths. It’s not either/or, it’s both.

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    Mute Ronanfitz
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:06 AM

    @Thought for Food: Hard work and long hours may be how you got your wealth (if so fair play). But the majority of the wealth of those 1% come from assets not work.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:08 AM

    @P.J. Nolan: Sorry to burst your bubble, but no-one ever got rich on hard work, but by exploiting the workers, you can work as hard as you like, if you need to spend all of your wages to get food on the table, and a roof over your head, tell me again, how does hard work make me rich?

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:25 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:
    Well I’m sorry but if you are working hard and still struggling you need to figure out what YOU are going to do about that not ask someone else.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:52 AM

    @P.J. Nolan: Yeah, right, it’s not up to the employers to pay fair wages, it’s every individual’s own fault for having to work for a living

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    Mute Patric Cooney
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:00 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Larissa who did those two Limerick lads who started Stripe exploit? I’m sure they paid their workers well as if they didn’t those workers would have went elsewhere with their wry desirable skills.
    I’m similar age to those two lads, while I was watching telly when I was younger or just aiming to pass my exams I’m sure they were reading, learning how to code, and going the extra mile. Fair play to them and they deserve the reward for their hard work.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:19 AM

    @Patric Cooney: Fair play to these two, but they are exceptions

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:30 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:
    You are absolutely right it’s not up to employers to pay the wages you would like, it’s up to you to earn them.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:04 AM

    @P.J. Nolan: pull the other one

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:06 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: typical responses here, if you’re poor, it’s because you are lazy, or don’t want to work hard. If you do work very hard, stay well within the law but are still poor, it’s because you haven’t arranged to get a better job, train yourself, basically this is also your fault. Or perhaps a bit of bad luck but mostly your fault. The system, on the other hand, is never at fault. The system of wealth accumulation, legal loopholes, backhanders and lobbying to ensure that wealth stays with the minority, most of whom inherit both the money, the legal and investment expertise and the status that ensures they will always have the best contacts in all the right places is, apparently faultless.

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:09 AM

    @Noirin Kavanagh: And because so many see the wealthy as untouchable, but also aspire to share some of that wealth, otherwise intelligent people pour scorn on those on the bottom while admiring those who exploit, break laws, hurt people, in the name of profit at the top. Many multinational companies are no better than gangs in their treatment of people. Some may be worse.

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    Mute ?
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:14 PM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Open your eyes a little wider dear. If we’re talking about the global 1%, there’s a good chance that you are a part of it, you are certainly in the top 5% at least.

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    Mute cortisola
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:31 PM

    @Thought for Food: “how those people got to be so rich. Hard work and long hours, not privilege.” – ROTFL !! You are born comedian !!

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    Mute ウィリアム はげ
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:04 PM

    @Thought for Food: I worked as hard as anyone my whole life, cleaning toilets. Still not getting very rich though. Must be doing something wrong then…

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    Mute John Mc Donagh
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 6:49 PM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:And I wonder how did “daddy” get it. Some of the wealthiest people that I know work hours and conditions that would make any trade union official cringe!

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 7:39 PM

    @John Mc Donagh:
    My own father did an average 75 hour week for 60 years but he had seven kids so by the time it was divided out……

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    Mute Ryan Maher
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    Jan 23rd 2018, 8:40 AM

    @Billy Connelly: Capitalism is built for the Entrepreneur and Investor. We are all free to open businesses and then our income level has no cap. Instead of hating on the System itself maybe think if your on the right side of the fence. Hard workers do not become wealthy , it is successful Entrepreneurs and Investors that do. Also to dispell the ” Inherited ” Rich people myth the majority of Millionaires in the world today are self made , over 70%.

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    Mute Jimmy jones
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:08 AM

    I miss AAAs Wally . We need a good copy and paste right now about “banksters” and neoliberals would be fun

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:12 AM

    @Jimmy jones:

    Sovereign currency and we can print money, we have all the resources we need. Pay rises for everyone on lower incomes, reduce tax for them too and increase tax on anyone earning over 35k a year.

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    Mute Jonny
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:14 AM

    @Jimmy jones: whatever happened to him? Some of the old FG trolls like MK76 are still here albeit many using alias’ as is standard

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:25 AM

    @Jonny:
    Disappeared of the journal when the Jobstown trial hit the four courts, although given the way that turned out I expected him back.

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    Mute Fifty Shades of Sé
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:44 AM

    We facilitate the upward transfer of wealth with our ultra-low corporate taxes. The US has joined the race to the bottom meaning the gulf will only widen.

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:25 AM

    @Fifty Shades of Sé: bingo, with all horses now in the same ‘race to the bottom’ , western society is poised for a long decline in to poverty and strife for the 98%.

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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 7:58 AM

    OK well of people eat three rip off priced meals somewhere each day and some wear overpriced clothes but you will find that the bulk of their “wealth” is tied up in factories and employment giving limited companies. Ways need to be found where the poor can progress their lives rather than let’s make everyone poor.

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    Mute Billy Connelly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:10 AM

    @Tom Molloy: making multiple unfortunate billionaires poor wasn’t suggested. Its the vast economic gulf that exists is the issue. What would you suggest?

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    Mute Bryan Kelly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:13 AM

    @Tom Molloy: Yup my first reaction to this wasn’t “Wow capitalism is inherently broken and we should address the distribution of wealth somewhat” but “OMG they just want everyone to be poor” too.

    Go on back to 4Chan.

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    Mute Thought for Food
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:16 AM

    @Billy Connelly:

    So what’s your suggestion? Wealth redistribution?

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    Mute Billy Connelly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:24 AM

    @Thought for Food: the poor need to be made aware of this divide. Im sure their completely unaware as the go through their daily lives. Rich countries need to insist on only importing and trading with countries whom have universal education, fair pay rules, no child labour etc. People from rich countries need to be more aware of the gulf and dont buy certain products unless they can be assured they have come from a place which represents the values described about. Saving that we need a good old fashioned war or plague to set the canvas for a new world order. Whats your thoughts Food for though?

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    Mute Mick Johnson
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:34 AM

    @Billy Connelly: why is it an issue exactly?

    Why is it a problem that someone is extremely rich?

    We should be working on ways to lift the poor, not drag down the rich.

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    Mute Thought for Food
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:35 AM

    @Billy Connelly:

    So you want us to stop trading with the countries that have the supplies of the critical resources we need to survive as nations?

    Thankfully you’re not in control of economic policy.

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    Mute Ronanfitz
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:36 AM

    @Tom Molloy: Might be true in some cases but in Ireland for example we tax earnings from assets far less than income. I’d expect that’s actually what the majority of the wealth is tied up in.
    https://amp.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/david-mcwilliams/a-real-republic-of-opportunity-wed-have-to-tax-land-to-the-hilt-36160238.html

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    Mute Billy Connelly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:46 AM

    @Thought for Food: To survive the only thing we don’t have in this country is oil and technology will overcome that soon. There is and always has been a big worldwide problem with the likes of oil and fossil fuel. Look at Saudi and the UAE for an obscene example of rich and poor divides which the likes of the USA have facilitated for decades. Do you think the Status Que is working and sustainable? Your idea of economics will be the ruin of us all someday.

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    Mute Ronanfitz
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:47 AM

    @Ronanfitz: …”The Government takes 40 times more tax from wages than it does from wealth. Therefore, despite all the talk, taxes on work and effort dominate taxes on inherited wealth. I say this because most land-based wealth is inherited in Ireland.”

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    Mute Thought for Food
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:48 AM

    @Billy Connelly:

    How do you propose technology will solve our issues if we stop trading with countries from which we import the materials to build said technology?

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:41 AM

    @neilo: loving that post neilo.lol

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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 3:44 PM

    @neilo: A brainbox from a Irish activist group maintained that half the population in Ireland lived in poverty and his proof was that half the people earned below the average wage. Half of people’s earnings are taken in direct tax and more spending taxes after that and more tax when they die. The “time rich” are being treated better than people who make an effort.

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    Mute 245hkJ01
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:29 AM

    A new system is needed – one that puts planning for welfare of people before greed and pretend competition. We need democratic control of all resources including capital.

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    Mute phil
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:37 AM

    @245hkJ01: So communism. Socialist Utopia’s like Cuba, Venezuela and Russia work out so well for democracy. I take it you would like the Goatstown martyr as the Supreme Leader

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    Mute Bart Teeling
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:35 AM

    @phil: if those countries show the failure of socialism, surely unheated schools, homeless families and austerity suicides show the failure of capitalism?

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:55 AM

    @phil: Well, first of all Russia most definitely is not a socialist country, and neither are the other two you mention, maybe take a look at the social democracies of the countries in Scandinavia, as an example for democratic redistribution of wealth and resources

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    Mute phil
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:33 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Yes but the USSR was a failure and the above countries tries to take bits from it. You point to Scandinavia, that is a myth. Scandinavia provides social welfare etc through high taxation but they are capitalist countries and without capitalism their programs simply would not work.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:09 AM

    @phil: Case in point, I’m not denying that the Scandinavian countries are capitalist countries, yet they have a far batter social net than anyone else, and achieve this, as you rightly point out, through taxation, and that is nothing I see anything wrong with

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    Mute phil
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:40 AM

    @Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: The social net gets abused. You can see that clearly by the amounts presenting as homeless when in fact they have have alternative s. Walk past a community welfare office and see who is outside it applying for grants, see how many of them won’t work, smoke 20 a day, and take foreign holidays.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:58 AM

    @phil: Oh, of course, because there’s a minority who abuses the social net, we should just scrap it, isn’t that what you’re implying? Who cares about people with disabilities who may not be able to work, who cares about people not being able to pay their rent despite working, because greed y landlords drive the rent to the moon

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    Mute Ruairi Fahy
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 5:21 PM

    @245hkJ01: Sounds like communism to me. Let’s try it yet again. Venezuela seems to be doing well with democratic control of capitalism.

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    Mute Nollaig Elliot
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:05 AM

    Regardless of how wealth is generated and who worked hard and who inherited what. I am sure we can all agree that, the fact there is so much money in the world and people are starving to death every day, is a true shame on humanity.

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:51 AM

    @Nollaig 100% as many philosophers have wrote, perhaps the human race has already ‘died’ in the sense that we continue with this system that indirectly kills millions of suffering people. The system is rigged though. Nikola Tesla had a patent on ‘free energy’ that could have been used today around the globe and would have shaped our world in a far more equal way allowing for produce to be far more local and widespread, but of course the likes of JPM and others ensured that Tesla’s ideas did not make it to market and to this day he is not even included in the scientific teachings in school books

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:09 AM

    @Nigel O’Neill: Could you explain Tesla’s patent on “free” energy? Because free energy would violate every law of physics

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:06 PM

    @Larissa Tesla was able to harness ‘free energy’ using rotation of magnetic fields, to put it very simply. There are many many documents and articles and documentaries on this to be read or viewed that will show you how he harnessed the energy that surrounds us as opposed to defying physics but of course he and this patent were burries

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:35 PM

    @Nigel O’Neill:
    BS.

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 4:39 PM

    @P.J Nolan without any backup or justification lol

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 7:47 PM

    @Nigel O’Neill:
    I wasn’t the one making ridiculous conspiracy claims.
    Dozens of companies conspired to “bury” this and keep it buried without one breaking ranks, attempting to patent the technology and making billions.
    B.S.

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    Mute Ooby Dooby
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:33 AM

    I really can’t get my head around the idea of being a billionaire and wanting more money!

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    Mute Al Coholic
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:49 AM

    @Ooby Dooby: imagine your the “poorest” billionaire amoungst your group…

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:40 AM

    @Al Coholic
    Well put.

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 12:09 PM

    @Ooby Dooby: a billionaire’s lifestyle doesn’t change by getting a second billion as there is nothing (s)he couldn’t afford to do with the first one. It’s about building up the company at that point

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:34 PM

    @Cicero:
    While what you said is largely true any self made billionaire will inherently be extremely competitive, a lot of it is to do with being no 1 in whatever group they are in.

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    Mute Wreck Tangle
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:29 AM

    Stand on a high street in any city and you will observe the same shops selling the same products for a cheap price. This is just one example of how narrow the global supply chain has become and explains wealth concentration.

    Consumer goods are provided by a limited pool of companies, above this single factories are manufacturing items for multiple vendors. The consumer is happy to buy cheaply produced items that are replaced frequently whilst ignoring wealth concentration, workforce abuse and the environmental impact.

    Look back 50 years, there were more retailers who refreshed their lines at a much slower rate, everything cost more but more goods were produced locally and things were repairable.

    We can say that it is the responsibility of governments to resolve this or consumers can make the decision to change their own behaviour and educate themselves on the companies behind the products that they purchase. If enough people make the decision to purchase better quality from sustainable providers, then large companies will have to change, including the benefit that more money is passed down the tree.

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:47 AM

    @wreck definitely some credence to this yea

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:14 AM

    @Wreck Tangle: good points, but one of the major errors in the free market idea is that buying is a rational activity. Advertising ensures this is not the case. So many times I have been told that it’s up to the individual to choose, yet if advertising didn’t persuade people to buy things they neither need nor even want, why would so much money be spent on it?

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    Mute Wreck Tangle
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 3:01 PM

    @Noirin Kavanagh:
    My point refers to people educating themselves about the substance behind the companies that they buy from therefore I don’t understand the relevance between your comment and mine Noirin.

    Advertisement is a totally different topic but frankly, the kind of people who can be coerced by advertising to buy something that they don’t need are unlikely to have the common sense to educate themselves.

    If you want to talk about free market environment: Prices within a free market are set by the interaction between a buyer and supplier. If a supplier loses significant market share because buyers do not purchase from that supplier, the supplier is forced to change certain parameters in order to encourage buyers to buy it’s product or service. So if in an ideal world everybody stopped buying from shops that use cheap labour and paid more for their products elsewhere, suppliers would be forced to change to market requirements.

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    Mute Aindriú de Domhain
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:38 AM

    Eat the rich, and redistribute that extreme wealth.

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    Mute cortisola
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:07 AM

    @Aindriú de Domhain: Most likely they are going to eat us.

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:28 AM

    @cortisola: their killer robots won’t require organic matter. It would be funny of not a real possibility. Check to Boston dynamics robots!

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    Mute cortisola
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 12:02 PM

    @paddlingAlong: But they will need our organs – hearts, kidneys, livers. It is already like richest people having new heart every few years. Not a joke, sad reality.

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:28 PM

    @cortisola: if only, they’ll just grow the organs the need on 3d printed scaffolds. The 99% will be surplus to requirements in 50 years

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    Mute Bart Teeling
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:39 AM

    All this ‘hard work’ nonsense.. The vast majority of people will die in the same social class as they were born in to.. The American Dream is a myth.. Or as George carlin said, its aptly named because you have to be asleep to believe in it.

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    Mute Jordan Salanger
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:36 AM

    This report highlights the root cause of everything bad on our planet. The 99% are slaves to the 1%.

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    Mute tk0CXKzL
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 4:55 PM

    @Jordan Salanger: nope. Successful people have figured out how to be wealthy. Why are you going after their money? You’re a slave to yourself

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    Mute Johnny Bellew
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:07 AM

    I am almost certain they will not be allowed to take that wealth with them wherever they are heading at the end of their time here.

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    Mute Johnny Bellew
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:01 AM

    @neilo: Perhaps.

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:15 AM

    @Johnny Bellew: there are no pockets in a shroud, but that’s no consolation to those who are exploited to produce the wealth for the living

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    Mute cortisola
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:34 PM

    @Johnny Bellew: But wealth let them to have lot of organs transplants to live much longer than the poor.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:37 PM

    @cortisola:
    In Ireland it’s just called health insurance.

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:09 AM

    Develop countries exploiting the poorer nations for materialistic gain . Modern day version of imperialism .

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    Mute Thought for Food
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 8:25 AM

    “Oxfam called on governments to limit the returns of shareholders and top executives”

    Nice to know that Oxfam is coming out as straight up Socialists.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:57 AM

    @neilo: Don’t you know, that for thoughtless anyone who doesn’t worship and adore Trump is a Marxist

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:29 AM

    @Thought for Food: yes it is. And it is a great suggestion.

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    Mute Paddy Downey
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:02 AM

    Not sure why they count our 1% by having an Irish passport rather than those actually tax resident in the state. Looking at the supposed Rich List of Irish passports last week, it would remove a massive chunk of that wealth – hence the CSO say the top 1% in Ireland control 15% of the wealth, while the Credit Swiss report quoted by Oxfam says its 35%.
    For context, that means there are 35,000 adults in Ireland with average wealth of €13m each – which is highly unlikely.
    Land owning farmers is also a large factor, which is very illiquid wealth, as is home ownership, which is the largest % of Irish wealth.
    As a nation, we’re asset rich and cash poor

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 7:51 PM

    @Paddy Downey:
    Well said.

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    Mute Joe Ryan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:05 AM

    Amazon workers uninate into bottles becuase they cant take a break, yet the owner is one of the richest men on earth. Its not capitalism, its slavery and you need to be a soulless fothermucker to get to the top. The psychopath will always do well in business for he is not hindered by morals

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    Mute Alex Carroll
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:51 AM

    plus ca change!! Guy de Maupassant, writing in the 19th century observed that that French rich people’s enthusiasm for aquiring wealth was only matched by their reluctance to share it with anybody else. Change indeed!!!

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    Mute David Van-Standen
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:30 PM

    Just wait, eventually that trickle down economics is going to kick in anytime now and we will all be better off, not!
    :-(

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:04 AM

    In other news, it will rain at some point today in Ireland

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:18 AM

    Keep voting FFG and your grandchildren will literally have to fight a robotic army for the right to exist.

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 12:11 PM

    @paddlingAlong: so SFIRA are going to fight the robots and stop the spread of technology? Is that the idea?

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    Mute paddlingAlong
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:24 PM

    @Cicero: don’t know what SFIRA is?

    Technology is good. Perverse wealth distribution combined with AI and robotic advancements is very bad.

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:07 AM

    It’s really going to mess with the heads of anyone in Ireland with an average income to realise that they ARE the global 1%.

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    Mute paulganly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:54 PM

    @Ben McArthur: The richest 1% received 82% global wealth last year. Which seems bad until you consider that just 42 people received 50% of global wealth last year… Setting the cut off point at 1% is completely arbitrary…
    https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2018/jan/22/inequality-gap-widens-as-42-people-hold-same-wealth-as-37bn-poorest

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    Mute Tommy Whelan
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:44 AM

    @Ben McArthur: Don’t think we are the one percent but definitely part of the remaining 17 percent . As a european country we have far more then our share of the worlds wealth .

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 12:08 PM

    @Tommy Whelan: We very much are. The cut off point for top 1% by income is $32,400 pa. At current rates that’s €26,500, so well below a newly qualified teacher salary. In 2016 the average salary in Ireland was €36,900.

    For context, that’s more than twice the average salary across the EU.

    “Eat the rich” in a country like Ireland is total hypocrisy.

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    Mute paulganly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 1:33 PM

    @Ben McArthur: Setting the limit at the richest 1% is just convenient for headlines… Instead we could set the limit at the richest 42 people who hold the same wealth as half of the people on earth… https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2018/jan/22/inequality-gap-widens-as-42-people-hold-same-wealth-as-37bn-poorest

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 3:11 PM

    @paulganly: Mind your back while you move those goalposts.

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    Mute paulganly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 7:16 PM

    @Ben McArthur: I didn’t place the goalposts at 1%, the article above did. The journal chose to publish the 1% statistic from the Oxfam report, they could have chosen to publish the statistic for the 42 richest people which is far more revealing in my opinion. Do you consider it appropriate that 42 people own as much as 3.7 billion people?

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    Mute Moorooka Mick
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 9:29 AM

    Working class Irish copped the brunt of bailing out the banks without benefits before or after. Perhaps Sinn Fein will wake up and offer policies that will redress that because
    the Labour Party is just about as useful as tits on a bull !!

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    Mute eastsmer
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 3:27 PM

    When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

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    Mute Eamon Kelly
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 7:04 PM

    No one needs a billion anythings

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    Mute Luke Duffy
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:05 PM

    What this article doesn’t say is that the 1% they’re talking about is people (globally) who earn more than $32000 US per year. If you’re reading this you’re probably in the 1%.

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    Mute tk0CXKzL
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:50 PM

    @Luke Duffy: yeah the media skew this a lot for a shock response. it’s a stupid statistic.

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    Mute John Cassin
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 10:24 AM

    The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Things never change.

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    Mute Ciaran Bolton
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 11:27 AM

    That says it all.

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    Mute tk0CXKzL
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    Jan 22nd 2018, 2:50 PM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGooHl2R_Y8 I’ll just leave this here.

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    Mute Fintan O'flaois
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    Jan 24th 2018, 8:25 AM

    Low corporate taxes, in which Ireland plays a pivotal role, is a key driver in this phenomenon – think for a moment who owns the beneficiaries of Ireland’s race to the bottom corporate taxes. The return on capital exceeds the return on labour, the super rich become ever richer while those who rely upon work, not the returns from accumulated Wealth, will continue to fall behind.
    While the Irish tut-tut at Trump et al, they are actually driving the phenomenon to a much greater extent – what utter hypocrisy.

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    Mute Ryan Maher
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    Jan 23rd 2018, 1:39 PM

    Capitalism is built for the Entrepreneur and Investor , almost everyone in Ireland has the freedom to build a business and if they are successful can experience the ” American Dream ” so to speak. It is almost impossible to win if you aren’t on that side of the fence.

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