Illustrative image taken from Youtube

By Guillermo Alvarado 

The profound differences between the world's wealthiest people and those with the least resources have increased incessantly throughout the last decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic became an accelerator of these acute inequalities.

This was confirmed by a study carried out by the World Inequality Lab, directed by the Frenchman Thomas Piketty, which is considered to be the most up-to-date work on the various facets that make up this phenomenon: global wealth, income, gender and the environment.

One of the data that stands out in this document is that between 2020 and 2021, when the entire planet to a greater or lesser degree is suffering the negative effects of the health crisis, the richest managed to increase their fortunes significantly.

To cite a few examples, in 2021 the wealthiest ten percent of the population will account for 30 to 35 percent of global income in Europe, 40 percent in Argentina and 59 percent in Brazil and Chile.

On the other hand, the pandemic destroyed millions of jobs and there was a notable increase in poverty and misery indicators.

These are trends that had already been occurring over the previous three or four decades, with the application of neoliberal models and commercial and financial globalization, the benefits of which were concentrated in a small part, very small indeed, of society.

The situation is such that the gap between the income of the ten percent at the top of the pyramid, compared to the 50 percent at the bottom, almost doubled from 8.5 to 16 times.

The study reveals another paradox, and that is that while some countries may be considered rich because of the number of super-millionaires living there, this does not necessarily mean that the governments also possess considerable resources.

In other words, profits go to individuals, but they are not distributed equally in public funds, which are made up of taxes. Those who receive the most are not those who contribute the most.

There are very few cases, including China, where the increase in wealth has contributed directly to the reduction of social inequalities, an example that should not go unnoticed.

It is a curious case that most Western powers punish and criticize the Asian Giant for alleged human rights violations, without realizing the abyss that is being dug every day in the heart of their own societies.