According to the assessment of the OXFAM International Foundation, which deals with the social contradictions between rich and poor, the biggest and most dangerous topic for all mankind is the explosive growth of inequality. Evidence shows that today’s labour struggles in a wide range of countries, whatever their slogans, are ultimately attributable primarily to the widening income gap between rich and poor.
Class struggle is heating up
The level of inequality in the world has reached very alarming limits: it is not known how long the super-rich will be able to escape the “revolt of the masses”.
Over the last 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the wealth of the richest people on Earth has increased many times over – whereas the social practices of the Soviet Union (free education, health care, etc.) used to limit the greed of billionaires, in recent years they have gone all out.
According to the World Wealth Report 2024, there are 58 million dollar millionaires in the world, which is 1.5 per cent of the world’s adult population – in other words, almost half of the world’s wealth, i.e. 47.5 per cent or $213 trillion, belongs to a tiny minority.
The World Development Report, recently released by the World Bank, classifies 108 nations as so-called middle-income countries: these include countries with annual GDP per capita ranging from $1136 to $13,845. Together, they make up 40 per cent of the global economy and are home to 75 per cent of the world’s population. According to the Bank’s analysis, it could take China, for example, more than 10 years to reach a quarter of the US per capita income, and India 75 years.
Mass protests in Nigeria, Kenya and the United Kingdom
For example, several days of youth protests in the largest African country Nigeria (population 230 million people), the strike announced by trade unions, has the reason of worsening the material situation of the population: the authorities propose to set the minimum wage at the level of 37 dollars, while the protesters demand at least 43 dollars.
It is noteworthy, or perhaps symbolic, that the coordinator of the campaign for the rights of working people (local media report dozens of deaths as a result of the riots) is a young man named Michael Lenin.
For several days in England, large-scale clashes between the local population and migrants continue, which led to riots and chaos in some cities: it all started on 30 July in Southport, where a 17 – year old teenager of African descent killed three girls and injured five other children at a dance class rehearsal, a rumour spreading around the city that the killer was an Islamist migrant (although he was a Christian by religion). Protests have spread to Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool and other cities. The police cannot cope, the authorities have army units on the streets. Although these protests are under anti-migrant slogans, in reality it reflects a marked deterioration in the situation of workers in recent years. Social media has played a major role in fueling the anti-migrant riots sweeping cities and towns across the United Kingdom. The situation is so serious that renowned entrepreneur Ilon Musk has declared, “Civil war is inevitable.”
For several weeks, Kenya has been shaken by labour protests against tax increases, and the government has been unable to reach an agreement with the protesters.
“Revolt of the masses” in Bangladesh
A new manifestation of the so-called “revolt of the masses” is the recent events in Bangladesh, with a population of almost 185 million. Although this Muslim republic is achieving fairly rapid economic growth, the contrasts between the haves and have-nots are nevertheless striking. The country has 18 million unemployed, although officially there is only one billionaire, the Al Jazeera website explained on 11 June that the country is experiencing capital flight – the rich hide their wealth in offshore accounts. The 2017 Global Financial Integrity Report ranked Bangladesh first among the least developed countries “for illicit financial flows”: there are secret billionaires in the state, but they keep their money abroad.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took over the Bangladesh government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled, published a book back in 2017 saying the global community should aim for “three zeros” – in poverty, in unemployment and in carbon emissions.
Social conflicts are multiplying in Western states as well as in countries we used to classify as the Global South, here we should probably mention Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Pakistan, France and others.
It is no coincidence that some economists revisit the analysis given by Karl Marx: the class struggle continues, although it sometimes takes different forms. However, at the heart of these contradictions is always the quest for justice – greed has ultimately never led to anything good.
The widening gap between rich and poor will continue to push the poor to fight for their rights and for justice.
Veniamin Popov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Candidate of Historical Sciences, specially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook“