According to a report of Oxfam International, more than $8 of every $10 of wealth created last year went to the richest 1 percent. And in terms of percentage, 82 percent of all wealth created in 2017 went to the named and unnamed 1 percent richest people – or even less. Definitely, the revelation includes the wealth made and grabbed in Bangladesh too. But, we are, however, yet to know their identity.
The alarming disparity is also evident at home since tenders, power plants to infrastructure mega-projects to almost all businesses have gone into the grips of businessmen linked to the ruling party for the past few years. It would have been quite a shocking revelation to learn if think-tanks or research bodies carry out a similar type of study in Bangladesh. The nouveau riche class in Bangladesh is booming too, and in most cases the source of their wealth are unknown.
The government, in an attempt to showcase financial prosperity during its rule, has quite often tried to say that the per capita income has increased and now stands at $1610 and people have money. In reality, wealth in any form actually went to the wealthy and nouveau riche people. The fact is – the millionaire and also billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system. Particularly, in Bangladesh the people who are manufacturing RMG products, sending remittance from abroad, assembling our phones and grow our food are being exploited in order to enrich the local corporations and the wealthy. Their lives are not changing for the better in any aspect.
This rising inequality has hit the country hard because the rich has become richer through exploitation of poor and corruption. It would be different if the gap between rich and poor was the result of economic growth in the country. The poor people suffer more because the super rich have too much unearned income to spend making life difficult for others. The cost of living has gone sky high making it near impossible for the honest people to live honestly.
We cannot expect that the government will care to have competent people in responsible positions to change things for the better. The government must change itself to help the poor.
