Reflections

About a very unequal land tenure structure

We have a very unequal land tenure structure, that is why Colombia is one of the most unequal countries, because it is a kind of twenty-first century feudalism. The peasantry has been forcibly relegated, millions of peasants displaced. We see 20 million hectares of fertile land without producing… We must give a dignified life to the peasantry, which is the true name of peace and de-narcotization of the country.

Gustavo Petro

About extreme inequality

A worker in the poorest 50 percent of the world would have to work 112 years to earn the same income as a person in the richest 1 percent in a single year.

OXFAM

About seriously auditing the rich

In 1974, any revenue over $200,000 faced a 70 percent federal tax rate. Today, a loose pocket faces a maximum rate of 37%. America’s richest 0.01% have more than quadrupled their share of the country’s wealth since 1974. But that statistic does not do justice not even by a long shot at the abject failure of our contemporary federal tax system. Not only are we taxing the richest at lower rates, but we let a large portion of the dollars pocketed by the richest go untaxed at all. Our wealthiest simply do not declare all of their income, and the IRS simply does not have enough staff to find the income the rich are hiding.

Sam Pizzigati