There’s no shortage of money. Let’s kill that myth once and for all. There's only a shortage of will, imagination, or intelligence to spend it wisely. When a handful of men can each afford their own space programme, and yet children still go to bed hungry in cities glowing with wealth, we’re not dealing with scarcity, we’re dealing with stupidity.
Anyone with more than a few million; enough to live several lifetimes in comfort isn’t amassing wealth for security, they’re doing it for sport, status, or some sort of cosmic scoreboard and while the ultra-rich chase immortality through cryogenics, moon bases, and having their heads uploaded to the cloud, let’s ask a very real question:What could the top five richest people actually achieve if they pooled their wealth?
Global housing Iinitiative - with just a fraction of their net worth, they could end homelessness in multiple countries. We're not talking pop-up tents; we’re talking proper, sustainable housing with integrated social support.
Universal clean water access - the UN estimates it would cost around $150 billion over five years to provide clean water and sanitation globally. That’s couch change to our billionaire friends.
Cure incentives and health acceleration - prize funds and open research grants could fast-track cures for neglected diseases, fund mental health reform, and make insulin and cancer treatment affordable globally.
Environmental restoration on a galactic scale - reforest the Amazon? Restore coral reefs? Transition entire nations to renewable energy? Possible. The only barrier is interest, not ability.
Education, not ego - They could bankroll free higher education, invest in failing schools, or create institutions where critical thinking is actually taught; not just shareholder capitalism 101.
If money is power, and they hoard most of it, then the world’s suffering isn’t being overlooked; it’s being engineered. It's not just a question of wealth, it’s a question of priorities and sadly, Wi-Fi on Mars seems to be winning. Afterthought - link - Regret - link - More like this (Amazon) - link - more like this (space) - link
Let’s say for ease of understanding, every billionaire has a net worth of $1 billion and invest it wisely in a medium-risk portfolio earning a 5% annual return. That’s $50 million a year in interest, just from letting their money sit there and do its thing.
ReplyDeleteThe estimated cost to provide universal access to clean water is $114 billion annually, which, if split equally between the world’s 2,800 billionaires, comes to about $40.7 million each per year — or just 4.07% of their fortune.
That means one billionaire could easily cover their share and still pocket $9.3 million from interest alone, without ever touching their actual $1 billion.