Guest blog by Marjorie Burkhalter
Oxfam just released their latest report on their analysis of the state of the world. And it is frightening. Just 8 men own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world population. Since 2000 half of the total increase in global wealth went to the richest 1% and only 1% of that increase went to the poorest half of the population. Meanwhile 10.7% of the world still lives in extreme poverty. While reading, can one help but feel a sense of dread at the course of humanity? A sense of hopelessness facing the amount of injustice in our societies? How are we to fight this inequality? The rich and powerful have had their ways. Why would it change now?
What are our chances at achieving change?
None?
Let me take you on a journey. A voyage through time.
Four women at a tea party on a quiet afternoon in 1848 was all it took to start a revolution that would shake the foundation on which their nation was build. The young women realized that their voice could be joined together to achieve lasting change. Not all their dreams were achieved that afternoon, nor in the weeks, months or years that followed. It took decades until in 1910 the constitution was changed that gave the women the right to vote as equal citizens.
In 1935 a young child was refused the right to be friends with another boy. This little boy was soon to realize that his life would never be quite the same as his friends’ because of the color of his skin. This was the start of an existence full of limitations and segregation, white and black are never to meet. One young men will lead a movement to challenge this status quo. Martin Luther King Jr. You could almost hear him utter the words that would change a presidency and drive changes in policies. “I have a dream”.
Some examples of what people have done through the ages. Society has evolved from primitive roots of restrictions and oppression to equal opportunity and technological advancement freeing human beings. Men and women have taken stands against injustice, inequality and the worst of humanity. They have fought and they have won battles that made us who we are today. But just how far have we gotten? Looking back at the Oxfam report, so much is still to be done. So much is still to be achieved.
But now it is no more this sense of dread that fills us but a sense of empowerment. We have gotten far enough so that we cannot stop now. We are to intensify on the testimonials of the builders of our societies. People who have refused to simply do what they were told. Refused the oppression, the status quo. People who have showed us what it means to exercise our human rights. People who have made it possible for us to exercise our human rights. Now it is our turn to make history. To reverse an impossible situation of a society deviated into an ironical dystopian fantasy. Turn into a society in which the governments are held accountable to their people. The power of the 99% is infinitely greater than all the wealth of the 1%. Like Oxfam’s slogan states “The power of the people against poverty” We have seen it in action and it is time to see more of it.
I am not asking you to double tap or simply like this article. We are to take real action. Stand for our beliefs. Stand for those who can’t. Speak out for those who have no voice. I invite you to sign our petition to let the rich and powerful know that there are thousands fighting the status quo. More then that I ask you to talk, share, repost, engage and not let the powerful flow of words stop.
References:
An Economy for the 99 percent
An Economy for the One Percent
http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/history-of-the-womens-rights-movement
http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086