WHILE the Government is calling on the working class to return to the misery of bygone years, the one-percent big shots are rolling in bigger and bigger profits.
Profits are the purpose of investments, of course, but much is being created on the shoulders of exploited, minimum wage earners and with taxpayer-funded incentives and advantages, such as inequitable foreign exchange allocations.
With 131,000 fewer contributors to the National Insurance Scheme, that is a ballpark of the number of workers thrown onto the breadline over the past couple of years.
But here is a snapshot of how the corporate sector is doing:
- First Citizens Group reported 6.4 per cent increased profit for the nine-month period ending June 30, 2022 compared to the previous similar period, in an industry of high client fees, low-interest rates on deposits, and steep credit card charges;
- Republic Finance Holdings recorded increased profits of 10.6 per cent, crashing the billion-dollar mark, for the nine months ending last June;
- AnsaMcAl, with more than 60 subsidiaries, raked in $470 million more revenues during the nine-month period up to September 30;
- Massy Group’s profits were up by three per cent for the nine-month period leading to June 30;
- Angostura Holdings had 17 per cent more profits for the six months ending on June 30;
- Guardian Holdings scored 70 per cent higher profit for the first six months of 2022 compared to the previous similar period;
- Agostini Holdings reported 47.5 per cent increased profits in its first nine months as the monopoly pharmaceutical importer.
And so on…
A privileged few are enjoying staggering returns while the small man is descending into poverty, unable to buy nutritious meals, and medication and pay their bills.
The Government has made no efforts to close the gap between the rich and poor, as other societies have done through taxes, minimum wage, reducing mortgage interest rates, assisting farmers and the creative sector, etc.
People are aggrieved by the widening inequality and the mismanagement of the economy.
They are not seeing all economic classes carrying an equitable weight during these troubling times.
The issue is not the Government’s weak messaging, as some are insisting in trying to shield the authorities from responsibility during this desperate period.
It is about the wealthy being able to invest in yachts and other luxuries while the struggling underclass is badgered about using coal pots and bicycles and other painful sacrifices.
That converts into the destruction of the middle class, those who invest in SMEs, build their communities, create professionals, and wear their patriotic hearts on their sleeves.
The International Monetary Fund and Moody’s have been warning Britain and other countries about widening economic inequality.
Benefits to “high income-earners… will likely increase inequality,” the IMF boss-lady cautioned.
A word to the wise!
