WHAT'S THAT SUCKING SOUND?

It's the sound of the 1% sucking the wealth out of the global economy and laying waste to the 99% of the population who struggle to survive.

New Oxfam report says half of global wealth held by the 1%

Billionaires and politicians gathering in Switzerland this week will come under pressure to tackle rising inequality after a study found that – on current trends – by next year, 1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99%.

Ahead of this week’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the ski resort of Davos, the anti-poverty charity Oxfam said it would use its high-profile role at the gathering to demand urgent action to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

The charity’s research, published on Monday, shows that the share of the world’s wealth owned by the best-off 1% has increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% in 2014, while the least well-off 80% currently own just 5.5%.

Oxfam added that on current trends the richest 1% would own more than 50% of the world’s wealth by 2016.

Pope Francis has been relentless in his ongoing criticism of these elite few and makes no bones about pointing out that this sit well with his boss, who ironically many of those in the 1% claim allegiance to. 

Money is the “devil’s dung” says Pope Francis in fiery speech

In an address to the Italian Confederation of Cooperatives Pope Francis has slammed greed and naked capitalism. “Money,” he said, “is the devil’s dung.” “It is not easy to talk about money,” Francis said.

He quoted Saint Basil the Great, the Pope said “Money is the dung of the devil! When money becomes an idol, it rules over a person’s choices. And then it ruins a person and condemns him, turning him into a slave.” He stated new ways had to be found to stop greed,“fueled by the powers that govern the economic and financial policies of the globalized world, whose center is the god of money.”

In September 2013, the Pope used similar tough language to slam wealth.

“Money becomes an idol and you worship it. This is why Jesus tells us: ‘You cannot serve the idol of money and the living God.’ Either one or the other.” Francis called money “the devil’s dung,” saying that “it turns us into idolaters, sickens our mind with pride and makes us enthusiasts of frivolous things that pull us away from the faith.”

He praised the cooperatives, and the Pope admitted for them to grow that : “To do all these things requires money!” He stated “profit is not a god, but only a compass and a yardstick of business.”