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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 24472, member: 2262"] Rich Meet in Swiss Alps as Poor Face Hard Times. The World Economic Forum meets in Davos, Switzerland. Here, rich people enjoy fine drinks and skiing. Meanwhile, in Zambia, most people live on less than $2.15 each day. The world's wealth is concentrated in a few hands. A new report from Oxfam shows that the rich grow richer faster than before. Five people might each own one trillion dollars in ten years. Money brings power to world talks. At recent climate meetings, oil groups sent more people than most lands did. Rich nations pushed their wants. The promised help fell short by $1 trillion each year. The World Bank and IMF show this power gap. Rich lands run these banks. They make rules that help their banks first. Most lands that take loans from these banks had to cut their help for schools, health, and poor people. Many lands pay more for loans than they spend on health or schools. These banks say they see the harm in this gap, yet their actions make things worse. Poor countries send money out to pay loans when they need money coming in. Big firms keep growing bigger. Seven of the ten biggest firms have one rich owner each. They own more than all of Africa and South America put together. At the same time, many workers lost money as prices went up. Rich people should pay more tax. This idea grew strong at big talks in Brazil last year. Not all lands have very rich people, but each has some rich folks. The richest few should pay the most tax. This tax money could help all people. It could pay for schools, health care, homes, and care for the earth. It could make life less hard for most people. The money could help poor homes straight away. Past work shows that this helps fight hard times and prevent the bad health problems that hurt poor people most. The cost of drugs needs to drop. New drugs can stop HIV with two shots each year. These cost $40,000 in the USA. They could cost just $40 if made in large numbers. Poor lands need cheap but good drugs to help sick people. People want a change in the way things work. If nothing changes, rich people will hurt the way lands run. More people will feel mad as they lose hope. Earth's health will keep going down. This is not far away. It happens right here. It will touch all people on earth. [/QUOTE]

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