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The Division of National
Wealth among the Rich
This portent of Doomsday is seen all over
the world today. As the world's wealthiest
people control a large part of the world's
wealth, billions of people are condemned
to live in poverty and hunger. This is most
clear in Africa, where millions of people
live in poverty and hunger.
In its 2003 reports,
the International Work Organization declared
that 2 billion people survive on $1 a day
and that approximately 1 billion people
struggle to survive on $2 a day. In a press
release, the organization declared that
the gap between the poorest 20% of the world's
population and the richest 20% of the world's
population doubled during the last 40 years.20
Basing itself on Forbes
magazine, the Turkish daily Radikal reported
that "the top 400 richest Americans" had
a combined wealth of $1.2 trillion, which
is six times the total of Turkey's national
revenue. The wealth of Bill Gates, who for
a long time was the wealthiest man in America,
is estimated to surpass the total national
revenue of Peru, a country with 25 million
people. Meanwhile, it is one-third of Turkey's
national revenue, which is around $200 billion.
The same report mentioned that the personal
income of Warren Buffet, more than $28 billion,
is more than the national revenue of Kuwait,
an oil-rich country with a population of
more than 2 million. Ted Turner, who ranks
twenty-first on the list, is worth $9.1
billion, an amount that equals the national
revenue of Panama, which has a population
of 2.7 million people. This picture reveals
that on the national and international levels,
the poor become even poorer and more numerous,
whereas the wealthy have become even richer.
The total amount of wealth held by the 400
people on the list increased by 20% in one
year.21
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The
unbridgable gap between the
poor and the well-off is a sign
of the End Times.
Prophet Jesus’ (pbuh)
sojourn will solve all of these
problems.
Some Eat, Others Starve...(Yeni
Safak, August, 2000 )
The Gap Between the Rich and
Poor Increases (
Milliyet, March 14, 2001)
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On 2 February 2003, the Turkish daily newspaper
Aksam illustrated the inequality
of income around the world in the following
terms:
The most important problem of the
world: According to the World Development
Report of 2003, the inequality of
income among countries is growing
even deeper. The report indicates
that the most important problem of
development on the world agenda is
to find jobs for the three million
people whose daily income is less
than 2 dollars a day, in order to
make them individuals who can contribute
to production and to provide them
better a quality of life. One of the
foremost factors threatening world
peace today is global poverty.
The Situation of the World: The average
income of the 20 wealthiest countries
is 37 times greater than the average
income of the 20 poorest countries
of the world. The developed countries,
where 20 percent of the wealthiest
people live, hold 86 percent of the
world's national revenue, 82 percent
of the world's export markets, 68
percent of all foreign investments,
and 74 percent of all telephone lines.
Meanwhile, the share of the 20 percent
of the poorest in these areas does
not exceed 1.5 percent.
Figures related to the gap between
the 20% of the wealthiest and the
30% of the poorest are striking:
| Year |
Ratio
of Gap |
| 1960 |
1:20 |
| 1990 |
1:60 |
| 1997 |
1:74 |
| 2000 |
1:79 |
The number of people living in extreme
poverty, who survive on less than
$1 a day, is over 200 million.
Today, the total wealth of the 3
richest people of the world is more
than the total gross national product
of the poorest countries, where 600
million people live...
Eighty percent
of the total natural resources of
the world is consumed by 16 percent
of the world population. Meanwhile,
5 percent of the entire world population
is deprived of safe water resources.
The number of people dying of diarrhea
alone is over 50 million. As the great
part of the population in underdeveloped
countries lives in rural areas, these
people become even poorer as the natural
resources on these lands diminish.
Indeed, the women and children living
in poor countries spend 4-5 hours
looking for wood to burn. These same
people spend 4-6 hours looking for
safe water and then carrying it home.22
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The world’s wealthiest
people control a great portion
of the world’s riches
while billions of others live
in poverty and starvation.
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This situation is a sign of the End Times,
as related in our Prophet's (may God bless
him and grant him peace) hadiths. By our
Lord's Will, this situation heralds the
closeness of the coming of the Mahdi, Prophet
Jesus (pbuh), and the Golden Age, a time
when people will not suffer from such misery.
In the Golden Age, the world's situation
will be just the reverse, for people will
fully abide by the Qur'an's morality.
As God orders in the Qur'an:
… so that it [booty]
does not become something that merely
revolves between the rich among you. Whatever
the Messenger gives you you should accept,
and whatever he forbids you you should
forgo. Have fear of God - God is severe
in retribution. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)
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(1) Some Eat, Others Starve...(Yeni
Safak, August, 2000 )
(2) Rich and Poor (Sayim Ozel,
No:221)
(3) 800 Million Dolars to Weapons
(Damga, September 1, 2002)
(4) The Gap between Poor and
Rich in China has increased
(Milliyet, March 14, 2001)
(5) Rich and Poor (Yeni Mesaj,
March 17, 2022)
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20.
"2 billion people survive on $1 a day,"
NTVMSNBC, July 7, 2003. Online at: www.gezegenimiz.com/NewsTopic.asp?KategoriAdi=A%C3%A7l%E2%80%BAk&idKategori=2
2 1. "Turkiye=5 zengin ABD'li, (Turkey=5
wealthy American)" Radikal Gazetesi, September
23, 2003. Online at: www.radikal.com.tr/2000/09/23/ekonomi/01tur.shtml.
2 2. "Global Danger," Aksam (A Turkish Daily),
February 2, 2003. Online at: www.aksam.com.tr/arsiv/aksam/2003/02/02/ozgurplatform/ozgurplatformprn4.html.
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