January 18, 2016

62 vs the World

editor:	Gurmeet Singh

How many Facebook friends do you have? I bet it's more than a 100. I also think it's probably fewer than 500. I think you have about 300 friends. On Facebook, that is. Think about those 300 people you know - how do you know them? Family, close friends, colleagues, acquaintances, 'that guy' who just won't stop sending you invites, that girl you met at the party and vowed you two would go travelling together the next day, the sister of the friend of your ex-, your boss.

So, honestly, how many of those people are you in touch with on a regular basis? Get rid of the randoms, cross out the former work friends, the ex-school buddies, the people you just never see or hear from, and that 300 quickly dwindles to about 50-70 people. 60 people you speak to about your life, your problems, how you can't get the photocopier to work, how your dad annoys you at Christmas - 60 people you say 'hi' to every week and really mean it. Congrats - 60 people is a big number. Now picture those people - your siblings, your close friends, your work allies, your neighbours - and imagine they were wealthy. Incredibly wealthy - ridiculously so. Whatever those 60 people wanted, they could buy. Your mum could buy a small island if she wanted; Your partner could invest in their own rocket-engine company, if they felt like it.

Imagine that those 60 people you know own just as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the world, combined. 50% of the world's total population - 60 people as wealthy as 3.5 billion people.

Of course, I just wanted to humanise the statistic a little - get some idea of how obscene this figure is. Oxfam has declared that one year earlier than anticipated, 62 people own as much wealth as half of the world combined.

During our times of governments complaining they cannot help refugees due to cost, cannot provide essential state securities, cannot but spend vital money on military resources - when we complain that we don't have enough in our lives, let's remember this figure: 62 individuals own as much as half of the people on the planet, right now.

What can you do? Get in touch with Oxfam.