First of all, see how rich you are here:
http://www.channel4.com/4money/funnymoney/richometer/index.html
Chances are, you will be in the top 1% or 2% on the planet.
Now, consider this:
The world's 225 richest people now have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. That's equal to the combined annual income of the world's 2.5 billion poorests people.
Three billion people live on less than $2 per day while 1.3 billion get by on less than $1 per day. Seventy percent of those living on less than $1 per day are women.
Three decades ago, the people in well-to-do countries were 30 times better off than those in countries where the poorest 20 percent of the world's people live. By 1998, this gap had widened to 82 times.
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has more wealth than the bottom 45 percent of American households combined.
Global poverty is concentrated in South Asia, where half of the world's poor live. Another quarter live in sub-Saharan Africa, while one quarter live in East Asia, mainly China.
In 1973, the income of the top 20 percent of American families was 7.5 times that of the bottom 20 percent. By 1996, it was 13 times.
Business Week reports that in 1999 top executives earned 419 times the average wage of a blue-collar worker, up from 326:1 in 1998. In 1980, the ratio was 42:1.
http://www.channel4.com/4money/funnymoney/richometer/who_ww.html
The haves and the have-mores ... the rich and the getting-richer.