Twitter is blathering on about a report from Oxfam about income
inequality. You've probably seen it. It's quite obviously silly and there's no need to rehash the
arguments. What I will say though is that Oxfam have chosen a very poor
tactic that undermines what is still a very necessary message. While
the statistical trends may show overall growth an inexcusably large
number of people still live in miserable, entirely avoidable poverty.
All Oxfam has achieved is to create an opportunity for poverty deniers
(yes, I used that word) to claim that there isn't a problem. If there
wasn't an urgent issue we wouldn't be seeing the most unprecedented
migration crisis of all time. For all that is spoken of it we have yet
to see any useful and concerted effort to address it. We still see
institutional paralysis from the EU - and trade policies that make it
worse. Interesting though that the press would pick up on such a dismal
piece of flotsam yet ignore the very valid and damning critiques of EU
trade policy written by... Oxfam.
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