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To the editor:
Just as swallows famously return to San Juan Capistrano each spring and monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles in autumn to blanket the forests of Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, the world’s billionaires likewise flock to Davos, Switzerland, every winter.
While their winged counterparts brave these arduous migrations to ensure the survival of all, the billionaires take flight for a far more parochial purpose. They gather each January to discuss their “vision” for the world, which is, of course, how best to exercise their enormous geopolitical influence for the purpose of expanding their own personal wealth. It’s a simple formula — privatize profits and socialize costs — with the consent and support of world leaders.
They are very successful at this mission. In 2024 alone, 2,769 billionaires collectively grew their wealth by $2 trillion, three times faster than the year before. And the richest 81 of these hold more wealth than the poorest 4.1 billion souls on the planet.
However, the billionaires aren’t only looking out for themselves. They also lend a hand to those less fortunate — multi-millionaires. Roughly a half-million individuals own over 10 cents of every dollar on earth and the top 1 percent possess roughly half of the world’s wealth. An ironic counterpoint to this obscene wealth is the hard fact that most low- and middle-income nations spend, on average, half their annual budgets on debt service; in the U.S. debt service is approaching $1 trillion per year.
America, specifically Donald Trump and his GOP allies in Congress, is poised to help the Davos crowd meet their goals for growth by spreading a pro-business fertilizer comprised of further tax cuts, deregulation and a sprinkling of anti-labor policies. With the full support of the MAGA faithful.
Joseph Cannisi
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