Œlîe Jlortlanù ffîbseruer
Page A4
lanuary 3. 2007
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Inequality and Class Conflict Katrina Aftermath
Class divide grows
across the globe
I) r . M anning M arabit
At no previous moment i n world
history has the gap between the
rich and poor been as wide as to­
day. A s an important, new ly-re­
leased report reveals, this grow ing
class divide ex­
ists in virtually
every nation on
earth.
A 2006study
by the W orld
I n s titu te fo r
D evelopm ent Econom ic Research o f the
U nited N ations U niversity, establishes
that as o f 21XX). the upper I percent o f the
g lo b e 's adult population, approxim ately
37 mi 11 ion people, average about $515.(X X)
in net worth per person, and collectively
control roughly 40 percent o f the w orld's
entire w ealth.
By contrast, the bottom one-half o f the
p lan et’s adult population, 1.85 billion
people, most o f whom are black and brown,
ow n only 1.1 percent of the w orld's total
wealth. T here is trem endous inequality of
w ealth betw een nations, the U.N. report
notes. T he United States, for example,
com prises only 4.7 percent o f the w orld's
people, but it has nearly one-third, or 32.6
percent, o f global wealth. By. stark con­
trast, C hina, which has one-fifth o f the
w o rld 's population, ow ns only 2.6 percent
o f the glo b e’s wealth. India, which has
16.8 percent o f the global population, con­
trols only 0.9 percent o f the w orld's total
hv
wealth.
W ithin most o f the w o rld 's countries,
wealth is disproportionately concentrated
in the top 10 percent o f each
nation’s population. It com es
as no surprise that in the United
States, for exam ple, the upper 10
percent o f the adult population
ow ns 69.8 percent o f the nation’s
total wealth. Canada, a nation
We are witnessing a phenomenon
that the media describes as the 'very
rich ’ leaving 'merely rich' behind.
with more liberal social welfare traditions
than the U.S., nevertheless still exhibits
significant inequality. More than one-half
of Canadian assets, 53 percent, are ow ned
by only ten percent o f the population.
European countries such as Norway, at
50.5 percent, and Spain, at 41.9 percent,
have sim ilar or slightly low er levels of
wealth inequality.
The most revealing finding o f the re­
search is that sim ilar patterns o f wealth
inequality now exist throughout the Third
World. In Indonesia, for exam ple, 65.4
percent o f the nation’s total wealth be­
longs to the w ealthiest 10 percent. In In­
dia. the upper ten percent ow ns 52 percent
o f all Indian wealth. Even in China, where
therulingC om m unist Party still maintains
vestiges o f what might be described as
" a u th o rita ria n sta te s o c ia lis m ,” the
wealthiest 10 percent own 41.4 percent o f
the national wealth.
But even these statistics, as useful as
they are, obscure a crucial dim ension o f
w e a lth c o n c e n tra tio n u n d e r g lo b a l
apartheid's neoliberal econom ics. In the
past 20 years in the U. S „ w here deregula­
tion and privatization has been carried to
extrem es, we are w itnessing a phenom ­
enon that the media describes as the “very
rich” leaving the "m erely rich” behind.
A recen t study by N ew Y ork U n iv er­
sity eco n o m ist E dw ard N. W o lff has
found that one out o f ev ery 825 h o u se­
holds in the U.S. in 2004 earn ed at least
$2 m illion annually, representing nearly
a KM) p ercen t in crease in the w ealth
p ercen tag e recorded in 1989, adjusted
fo rin fla tio n .
We still tend to perceive the political
world in 18th and 19th century terms: as
com peting “nations,” geopolitical units
defined by territorial boundaries, which
conduct international affairs basedon their
perceived objective interests. In the 21st
century, however, we m ust percei ve o f our
political world entirely differently: as an
environm ent in which m ultinational cor­
porations exert greater pow er and influ­
ence than many countries; where millions
o f low-wage, manufacturing jobs each year
are being relocated to south Asia, China,
and Latin America.
Globalization and the widespread adop­
tion o f the neoliberal econom ic model o f
developm ent are constructing an affluent,
transnational “ruling class,” a privileged
stratum w hose class interests largely su­
percede its national allegiances.
Dr. Manning Marable is professor o f
public affairs, history’ anil African-Ameri­
can studies at Columbia University in
New York City.
Finally, Support for Community Colleges
But gap still remains
P reston P i i . liams
Gov. Kulongoski pro­
posed a budget to the L eg­
islature that begins to re­
verse the dow nw ard trend
in funding for com m unity
colleges in Oregon.
I want to thank the G overnor for pro­
by
posing such a strong budget for educa­
tion at all levels, and for his continued
com m itm ent to increasing funding forstu-
dent financial aid. He understands the
need for a w orld-class education system
in this state and his budget m akes a posi­
tive step in that direction.
But we need to talk with our legislators
about the gap that still rem ains and make
them aw are that this budget falls short of
our real needs.
An investment in com munity colleges
makes gixxl economic sense for the state.
No other institutions offer such open ac­
cess and opportunity for higher education,
and clear pathways to living-wage jobs
than our state's com munity colleges. We
must do more to invest in O regon’s future.
Preston Pulliams is president o f the
Portland Community College district.
Bureaucracy needs streamlining
J t dge G reg M athis
In the days following
H urricane Katrina, the
federal governm ent was
slow to send aid to the
hardest hit areas, slow to
rescue survivors trapped
in the heavily flooded
city and slow to find suitable shelter for
those lucky enough to evacuate the city
before the storm hit.
It's been well over a yeaisince Katrina
devastated the G ulf Coast. And though
the storm left a path o f destruction that
w ill ta k e y e a rs to c le a r, i t ’s th e
governm ent’s continuing incom petence
in handling the afterm ath o f the disaster
that continues to victim ize hundreds of
th o u s a n d s
of
people.
Billions of dol­
lars allocated to
help residents re­
co v e r from the
natural disaster,
sit unused A c­
c o rd in g to the
O ffice o f M anagem ent and Budget, the
U.S. governm ent has spent less than $80
million o f the $ 110 billion C ongress set
aside to help com m unities devastated
by the storm. A ccording to USA Today,
a $7.5 billion dollar program designed to
help residents reestablish them selves -
in the G ulf Coast or elsew here - has
approved payouts to ju st 87 o f the more
than 89,000 people who have applied.
Funds aren ’t the only thing residents are
having trouble accessing. In New O r­
leans’ Low er 9th ward, K atrina’s flood
w ater dam aged more than 1,000 build­
ings. However, they city has only issued
four perm its for new hom es to be built in
the mostly poor neighborhood.
Across the G u lf Coast, there are resi­
dents desperate to get their lives back on
track. T hey w ant to rebuild; they need to
rebuild. But bureaucracy and red tape
keep their desires on ice. M any are still
waiting for the federal aid that was prom ­
by
ised them more than a year ago. Indi­
viduals a re n 't the only ones losing out.
Businesses, schools - both essential to
the rebuilding process - are also being
shortchanged.
The Small Business A dm inistration
c a n ’t keep up with its payouts to busi­
ness ow ners affected by the disaster
and the Federal Em ergency M anagem ent
Agency has been slow to repay local
governm ents for repairing schools and
public w ater system s that w ere dam aged
during the storm.
Most A m ericans realize that rebuild­
ing and reviving the G u lf Coast after such
a tragedy takes time. But it is unthinkable
that, 15 m onths later, so little progress
has been made. Travel along the G ulf
How much longer will the U.S.
government continue to victimize
people who have already been
through so much?
Coast and y o u 'll find that many areas
look exactly as they did after the storm
hit. T o add insult to injury, the govern­
ment has to yet to reveal a stable, long­
term housing plan for evacuees, many o f
them elderly or ill.
How much longer will the U.S. govern­
ment continue to victim ize people who
have already been through so m uch?
G ulf C oast residents have suffered at
the hands o f the federal governm ent long
enough. We ca n ’t prevent natural disas­
ters, but our elected and appointed offi­
cials can put a stop to the pain and
frustration the endless runaround and
unfulfilled prom ises have caused. It is
not too late for the governm ent to do
right by the men, w om en and fam ilies
along the Gulf.
Judge Greg Mathis is national vice
president o f Rainbow PUSH and a na­
tional board member o f the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference.
J
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