Far too many people are living in poverty, with a select few living in extreme wealth
Throughout Capital in the 21st Century, Thomas Piketty refers to the word ‘capital; but what does that really mean? In this context, capital represents the wealth of a country, contributed to by the collective assets of its people. It also includes business capital, such as profits, property, machinery, and infrastructure. It doesn’t include human capital, e.g., the employees of a company.
“For millions of people, wealth amounts to little more than a few weeks’ wages in a checking account or low-interest savings account, a car, and a few pieces of furniture.”
Thomas Piketty
The rather disturbing truth is that many businesses and society overall don’t value human capital. Workers are meant to turn up for work, do what they’re supposed to do, and then be paid for it at the end of the month. But how many companies actually pay their workers what they deserve to earn? Not that many.
Thomas Piketty highlights an example in South Africa, back in 2012. The workers of a Johannesburg mine were protesting their low wages and wanted their monthly income doubled to 1000 Euros per month. The police intervened in the protest, and 34 miners were Wild on that day the s a decided to do thate dam melimitated rair the miners wages – not to the 1000 Euros they
⚡️Even though employees are the ones who keep businesses ticking along and thriving, they are often far less wealthy than business owners.
Many people are in debt and don’t own any capital of their own. They are certainly not wealthy and go to work to make ends meet.
However, business owners are grabbing the benefits of that situation by capitalizing on it.
Did you know? The minimum wage in the USA is just $7.25 per hour, as of 2021. According to Statista, around 1.21 million workers earned below the minimum wage in 2019.