---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 8 Nov 1997 17:21:18 -0800 From: "Ed Deak (by way of Caspar Davis)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: column from The Global Citizen that will interest you Dear Friends, This came via another listserv, and I thought you might want to see it. Caspar >> The Global Citizen >> November 6, 1997 >> >> Donella H. Meadows >> P.O. Box 58 >> Plainfield NH 03781 >> 603-675-2230 (home -- answering machine) >> 603-646-1233 (work -- secretary) >> 603-646-1682 or 675-6305 (FAX) >> >> >> PEOPLE OF WEALTH STAND UP FOR GREATER EQUALITY >> >> The other day a friend sent me a brochure put out by an organization >> called >> Responsible Wealth. I could hardly believe the name. Reading on, I >> could >> hardly believe what it stands for. >> >> "We are business leaders and wealthy individuals, among the top five >> percent of >> income earners and asset holders in the US," the brochure leads off. >> "We are >> concerned about the rise in power of large corporations and the >> growing gap >> between the rich and everyone else." >> >> Twenty years ago, says the brochure, the richest one percent of the >> U.S. >> population owned 19 percent of all private wealth. Now the top one >> percent >> owns almost 40 percent -- more than the bottom 92 percent of us >> combined. >> >> The Reagan regime of the 1980s cut the taxes of corporations and the >> wealthy >> and promised that their gains would trickle down into investments and >> jobs. >> The money trickled up instead, says Responsible Wealth, in speculative >> stock >> market winnings, obscene compensation to corporate executives, and >> political >> contributions that increased further the privileges of the wealthy. >> >> Between 1983 and 1989 the assets of the richest 500 families in >> America rose >> from $2.5 trillion to $5 trillion. If they had paid just one-third of >> that >> gain in taxes, they still would have gotten richer and there would >> have been NO >> government deficit -- a deficit that is now being resolved by cutting >> benefits >> to the poor and middle class. >> >> The folks behind Responsible Wealth see themselves as beneficiaries of >> a game >> with unfair rules. "We recognize that assets play an essential role >> in >> building wealth and prosperity. However, we believe there is an >> overemphasis >> on the rights and rewards of private capital. Those of us with large >> amounts >> of capital are able to pass on fortunes from generation to generation >> and >> multiply our wealth through passive investing, while around us one in >> four >> children are born into poverty, and many have little hope of improving >> their >> financial situation." >> >> "We believe that in a healthy economy workers should earn fair >> compensation and >> all citizens should have the opportunity to earn, save, and be >> economically >> secure. We believe that civil rights and economic rights are >> inseparable; we >> will never have one without the other." >> >> "We believe that economic inequality and the scapegoating of welfare >> recipients >> and immigrants are dividing our nation and undermining our collective >> sense of >> community. By continuing to separate ourselves economically, we are >> contributing to a society in which people at one end of the spectrum >> are walled >> off in gated communities, while many at the other end are behind >> bars." >> >> What does Responsible Wealth propose to do? In essence, lobby for >> policies >> that we who are not rich never expect to hear the rich promote. >> >> The burden of responsibility for the deficit, says the brochure, >> should be >> placed on the wealthiest, who benefited most from the policy changes >> that >> created it. That means -- what an amazing idea! -- tax increases for >> the rich. >> >> We need dramatic campaign finance reform, it says, to return control >> of our >> democracy to the voters, not the campaign contributors. >> >> The media should say more about the harm to our society and the damage >> to our >> economy caused by widening inequality, Responsible Wealth believes. >> So the >> organization is creating teams of speakers and educators and starting >> letter-writing campaigns, print ads, and meetings with government and >> corporate >> officials. >> >> Are these folks for real? I wondered, so I called them up. They're >> not yet >> willing to have their names released to the public, but when they do, >> you will >> recognize some of them. Responsible Wealth has over 130 members and >> is going >> for 250 by the end of this year. Next month they're having their >> first >> national conference in New York. >> >> "As people with wealth," says their first newsletter, "we feel a >> responsibility >> to speak out against the rules that have been written to benefit us >> and to >> speak in favor of policies that benefit the long-term common good of >> all." >> They quote Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Philanthropy is commendable, but >> it must >> not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic >> injustice that make philanthropy necessary." >> >> I'd guess that most non-rich Americans, which means most Americans, >> are not >> interested in absolute equality. We accept that some of us are born >> into, luck >> into, or manage to earn wealth and others are born into or fall into >> poverty. >> Our financial circumstances may or may not reflect our fault or merit. >> We >> don't want to demean or envy or fear each other because of them. We >> do want to >> hold each other responsible not for what we've been given, but for >> what we do >> with it. And we want a game with unbiased rules, with no child born >> into utter >> hopelessness. >> >> It's wonderful to know that some of the most privileged are on our >> side. >> >> If you'd like more information about Responsible Wealth, you can >> contact United >> for a Fair Economy, 37 Temple Place, Fifth Floor, Boston MA 02111 >> (617-423-2148 >> or [EMAIL PROTECTED]). >> >> (Donella H. Meadows is an adjunct professor of environmental studies >> at >> Dartmouth College.) >> > > -- For MAI-not subscription information, posting guidelines and links to other MAI sites please see http://www.flora.org/mai-not/
