That is a bad thing – right?

The world’s eight richest men own as much money and assets as the bottom half of the entire world, about 3.7 billion people. That is a bad thing – right?  When the charity Oxfam issued this fact in a press release it sure sounded awful. But among the eight are legendary benefactors devoted to improving life on our planet and pledged to give away the vast majority of their fortunes to erase childhood hunger and disease. Among the eight are Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. It is important to note that this wealth thing is complicated. The number of people on the planet in extreme poverty has actually dropped by 75% over the course of the last 30 years. That means that 1.2 billion people have escaped extreme poverty. So what is the relationship of extreme wealth to extreme poverty. Does the extreme wealth allowed under capitalism serve to allow for the care of those in the very worst of circumstances? (Boston Globe)