For the past 50 years the United States has been proselytizing that the world should embrace democracy and the capitalism and countries that did not were bad and evil. Fast forward to the present and the enemy of free and open markets is monopolies. The US and Canada both have agencies in place to prevent monopolies from forming and bending the free market to their profit line. However a new monopoly has emerged, the 'Monopoly of Money'.
'The rich are still getting richer in the U.S., with the wealthiest 10% controlling three-quarters of all family wealth in the country.' http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/18/pf/wealth-inequality/
The top 10 richest people in the US can influence the US markets as they wish. It is no longer a free market and one could make the argument (Bernie Sanders) that the free market and capitalism as we know it is failing the US and Canada.
I would argue that it is time to limit the amount of wealth that an individual can accumulate. How many billions are really required to make a person happy? Here in Bangkok, wealthy people buy condominiums when they come on the market, sit on them for 10 years and then sell them for a handsome profit. Unlike normal folk, the owners do not even bother to rent them out for the intervening 10 years as they do not need to and don't want the hassle. It takes money to make money and when you have lots of money, it is incredibly easy to make more!
The middle classes are disappearing as the income gap between the have's and not have's is growing. Here in Thailand we refer to the 2 classes as lo-so and hi-so Thais. Thailand is no different than many countries, just less politically correct :-)
BTW, I don't have any answers, but I would think it would take a major disruptive force to make change happen. The establishment really does not want it to change. Reflect back to the French revolution, the rise of communism in Tsarists Russia ...
Back in another life, (before I saw the light), I tried to accumulate as much wealth as possible. I had 3 cars and 2 motorcycles in the garage and driveway. I had a lovely half million dollar house. I had resort points and took ocean cruises. Many of my friends did and still do the same.
Fast forward to today and everything I own (except for my 55 inch TV) fits in 2 suitcases. However, I am not poor. This website will comape a person's income (US dollars) with other countries in the world.
http://money.cnn.com/interactive/news/economy/davos/global-wage-calculator/
Here are my results:
Living in Thailand means my income goes about 3 time farther than it does in Canada. When I lived in downtown Vancouver my rent was $3,000 CDN and here in downtown Bangkok, my rent is about $800 CDN a month. Food cost are much lower in Bangkok, as is the cost of a beer.
The happiness index is also interesting. An expat on a Canadian income reflects both charts. Perhaps that is why I am a happy person:
It all comes back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
I thinks most of the billionaires are stuck at level 2, along with many of my friends,
including Uncle Scrooge ..
I am not sure my method of obtaining happiness would apply to most folks, but it works for me :-)
TTYL
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