Almost every great fortune is made at the expense of other people.

Almost every great fortune is made at the expense of other people.

9: 30 to 10:00

In the United States and other industrial countries the ever increasing gap of wealth between rich and poor have made headlines. This is especially true in today’s economic situation where the  middle class and working class are put at a severe disadvantage. The Malthusian ethic can be viewed as a kleptocracy where the wealthy control society like a string of puppets.  It is generally observed that the word’s wealthy elite consist of 1% of population and control the majority of the resources that common citizens find of value. These may include commodities such as agricultural products, gasoline and materials that are needed to survive in the modern world of today. These wealthy elite have gained their fortunes in two ways- through hard work and innovation or through corporate officials stealing money from the people. It is generally viewed that every great fortune is made at the expense of other people, and it is most often a true product of the Malthusian ethic.

First consider situations when a great fortune is made at the expense of other people. This is generally true of products that fulfill our biological and emotional needs: food, water, shelter and entertainment. The companies rely of low skilled and low paid workers to do the “dirty” work and the executives manage their business to maintain profit and lure investors. For example, consider the multinational corporation Monsanto. Monsanto is a US based company that control the majority of the US food market as well other commodities such as gasoline. It has been considered very controversial and often times sued by common individuals for injustices they have faced. Monsanto according to some has been viewed as a monopoly and a corporate monster in many aspects. For example, in the case of growing food crops and poultry, farmers must obey Monsanto’s command in using only genetically modified seeds and feed to grow crops and poultry. Although this may seem unethical to many, farmers must follow the rules and do their job for a low wage living or lobbying groups will penalize them by increased fines.

Another example, is Walmart that has been expanding world wide from the US. It has also been viewed by many as corporate monster because it generates a lot of profit at the expense of innocent people. In the case of making furniture, clothes and other household items people in underdeveloped nations have been employed to do the dirty work at a fraction of the selling price. For instance, workers in Bangladesh have worked 20 hour days in miserable conditions to meet the demands of the company or they would not get any pay or food. So it is evident that some companies thrive at the expense of other people. Likewise, many electronics in Walmart and other big box stores have outsourced their jobs to developing and 3^rd world countries. In many cases, most workers have peculiar working schedules beyond 8 hours and work in under-regultaed conditions from the government. For example, in India and China where the IT sector and Silicon valley is booming there is also a dark side. There has been a monopoly by the IT sector and other multinational corporations who hire skilled and unskilled workers to do work at a fraction of the cost in the US or other industrialized nations. There are no health plans or other fringe benefits for the workers other than a meager wage.

All in all, it is evident that every great fortune is made at the expense of other people. Regardless of the persuading claims by multinational corporations that workers are treated ethically, it is often times an understatement to protect their profit motives. Likewise companies monopolize goods and services that everyone want, to keep on going cash flow by treating people in humanely as illustrated.