Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Throughout 2021, every right-wing “news” media outlet & politician has regularly questioned, attacked, & undermined OUR #NHS.

They argue those with the most wealth should pay more, via private health insurance, than the less wealthy.

Allow me to unpick this argument.

SOME wealth inequality is inevitable.

With caveats around those unable to work - eg carers, through disability, ill-health, age etc - it is only fair that those who work harder, have specialist skills or more responsibility, or are more creative & capable than others, earn more.

This short, accessible 2013 video about wealth inequality - since when things have got even worse - shows how inequality is at its highest point in Britain for 50 years, with the gap between rich & poor at its widest since the second world war.

However, private health insurance is the wrong solution, for two main reasons:

1 It would result in a two-tier health service, with those with the most wealth having quicker access to the best healthcare.

2 The wealthy already often pay more for the #NHS through taxation.

Wealthier people are buying their way out of trouble in significant numbers, meaning they'll be less willing to pay taxes to improve the #NHS.

With public spending under pressure, & key Govt figures having strongly criticised the NHS in the past, OUR NHS is in real danger.

The libertarian-right believe in low taxes, but this would accelerate not only wealth inequality, but also mean less money for a national & equitable health service.

Many other western countries understand that a more equal society is better for the vast majority of citizens.

The principle of a more equal society means far more people have the opportunity to access the best education, a fairer & more functional legal system, better policing, improved local & regional public services etc – rather than just a tiny minority of grotesquely wealthy elites.

For forty years, a tiny minority of already grotesquely wealthy & powerful individuals - supportive of & within successive Governments - have used their power, influence & wealth to push for an even more unequal society, not least in order to preserve their privileged position.

The share of wealth owned by the world's richest people soared during the Covid pandemic, & 2020 saw the steepest increase in billionaires' wealth on record.

Meanwhile, 100 million people sank into extreme poverty.

The richest 10% of the world's population now takes 52% of global income & the poorest half just 8%.

The world's richest 1% have taken more than a third of all additional wealth accumulated since 1995, while the bottom 50% captured just 2%.

wir2022.wid.world

"After more than 18 months of #COVID19, the world is even more polarised.

While the wealth of billionaires rose by more than £3TRILLION, 100 million more people joined the ranks of extreme poverty".

Extreme poverty had been previously falling for 25 years.

The poorest half of the global population barely owns any wealth, possessing just 2% of the total.

The richest 10% now own 76% of all wealth.

The world's 52 richest individuals have seen the value of their wealth grow by 9.2% per year for the past 25 years.

A tiny minority of elites use their vast wealth & power to fund a global network of media outlets, think tanks, institutions & political parties, which relentlessly push a neoliberal/libertarian-right agenda in order to protect & enhance their already considerable wealth & power.

They use their power & wealth to: retain access to the best opportunities; to divide voters through divisive culture war rhetoric; to demonise progressives; to accelerate wealth inequality; & to remove worker, consumer, citizen, migrant & environmental regulations & protections.

Unless voters take action now, I fear that Britain will continue to become increasingly unequal & polarised, & its citizens will be subject to an increasingly unaccountable, authoritarian, antidemocratic & dangerously populist nationalist libertarian-right oppressive state.