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Question of the week: should we redistribute the wealth of the 26 richest billionaires?

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A dislike of unfairness is hardwired into us. So when we read that 26 billionaires own as much as the poorest half of humanity, it triggers anger in many.

Billionaire
© Derrick Neill | Dreamstime.com

In 2018, combined global income (GDP) was US$86 trillion. The wealth of these 26 billionaires (US$ 1.4 trillion) is 1.6% of this annually recurring sum.

If all of the wealth of these billionaires was shared out evenly across the entire global population (7.7 billion people) each of us would get a one-off payment of around US$180. If it was given only to the poorest half, the figure would double to US$360. If 10% of this wealth was given to the 10% poorest each would get a one-off payment of US$180.

What impact would this have?

Then there is the question of how such inequality-busting acts might affect current organisational systems. What would these impacts look like? Would there be any unintended consequences?

Would it be worth it?

What do you think?

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Question of the week: what happens to failed asylum seekers in Switzerland?

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A recent report by Switzerland’s federal migration commission looks at this question.

Question of the week: what happens to failed asylum seekers in Switzerland?
© Juan Moyano | Dreamstime.com

Between 2008 and 2017, around 180,000 asylum seekers left Switzerland, mostly because their applications failed. Around 92,000 left in a “controlled” manner, most (80%) voluntarily with no support. The remaining 20% were given money to help them leave and resettle in their home countries.

What happened to the remaining 88,000 is unclear. Some will have crossed the border unrecorded, but some will have stayed illegally in Switzerland.

Estimates of the number of asylum seekers living illegally under the radar in Switzerland range from 8,000 to 33,000.

Some in this group are able to return home but choose not to. Others are stuck, unable to obtain the documents needed to get there. This can happen when identity cannot be established or when the home country refuses to provide the required travel documents.

Some of those who remain illegally manage to find enough undocumented work to support themselves, but others end up on emergency welfare. In 2017, an estimated 8,500 asylum seekers were scraping by in shelters and soup kitchens on emergency welfare, typically 12 francs a day.

The report presents six stories of lives in limbo.

One is about a family from a former soviet country. They left fearing reprisal for their political activism. Their asylum application was rejected and they were required to leave Switzerland. However, they were unable to obtain the documents necessary to return home. They have been in Switzerland for more than 7 years. Even if they could get the travel documents they need, they fear returning to their home country.

Another is about Kalzang, a young Tibetan man who flew to Switzerland alone after his father, a religious man, was threatened. His asylum application was rejected and because he does not have travel documents he cannot return to China. He has spent 3 years living illegally in Switzerland, surviving on emergency welfare and support from charities.

Three others living in the shadows have similar stories of failed asylum applications and no way back to their home countries. The asylum process can take many years, particularly when decisions are appealed. This can make returning harder. One man from Algeria living clandestinely has spent 23 years in Switzerland.

The only hopeful story is about Amadou, a young man from Guinea who migrated to find work to repay an uncle who had paid his dying father’s hospital bill. He arrived in Switzerland after a harrowing journey via Algeria, Libya and Italy. He wanted to return home and decided to take advantage of a repatriation package that provides training, 3,000 francs to set up a business and an airfare home. He plans to open a shop selling clothes in his home town.

More on this:
Federal migration commission report (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now

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Question of the week: is this 1953 video on how to make a true man helpful?

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Back in 1953 the Puerto Rico Department of Health created the Mental Health Film Board Series on the Emotions of Everyday Living.

This one entitled Roots of Happiness offers advice on how a father might make a true man of his son while showing how another appears to get things wrong.

While it is unlike anything likely to be produced today, and far from politically correct, does it contain anything that is helpful?

What do you think?

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Question of the week: why is male disadvantage rarely discussed?

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Research on gender inequality tends to focus on issues disadvantaging women. A study published earlier this year suggests issues disadvantaging men have been understudied.

© Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.com

Areas where men fair badly compared to women are life (and healthy life) expectancy, health spending, suicide, pension age, compulsory military service, harsher punishments for the same crimes, prison numbers, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, underperformance in education, occupational deaths and overrepresentation in risky and physically taxing occupations such as front-line military duty, firefighting, mining and construction.

In Switzerland, the difference between male and female life expectancy is nearly 4 years, while the pension age is 64 for women and 65 for men. Boys and young men make up three quarters of Switzerland’s suicides, and all able-bodied men must serve in the military or pay an extra income tax. For Swiss women it’s optional. Regarding education, 54% of women in Switzerland are tertiary educated compared to 49% of men, a gap of 5%.

To take account of the disadvantages of being male, the authors of the study mentioned above recommend looking at gender inequalities using a measure called the Basic Index of Gender Inequality (BIGI), which looks at educational opportunities in childhood, healthy life expectancy and overall life satisfaction. Using this measure men fair worse than women in 91 of the 134 countries studied – Switzerland is one of the countries where men are worse off than women, a result driven by lower healthy life expectancy and lower overall life satisfaction.

Using BIGI, women are heavily disadvantaged in some countries, however these are nearly all developing countries with low Human Development (HDI) scores. In the developed world it is generally men who are disadvantaged.

None of this means women are not disadvantaged. Instead it suggests that both men and women are disadvantaged, sometimes in similar ways, sometimes in different ways, sometimes at the same time, sometimes at different times.

Has the politics of our era blinded us to the challenges and disadvantages faced by men?

What do you think?

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Question of the week: how ethical are addictive video games used by children?

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In most countries many addictive products are restricted. Gambling, tobacco, alcohol and many other drugs are controlled or kept out of reach of children.

© Eugene_Put | Dreamstime.com

While video games are not in the same league as these things, in the hands of children, addictive games can consume precious time and stand in the way of sleep and educational success – few games prepare kids for exams. In addition, they can increase the chances of childhood obesity by getting in the way of exercise.

In theory children could exert greater self control and parents could restrict screen time. In practice some children will lack sufficient will power and some parents sufficient time and discipline.

Given the addictive nature of some games used by children, how ethical is it for the companies to profit from them?

What do you think?

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Question of the week: why would we expect governments to be effective?

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Democratic governments are complex dynamic collections of people with diverse ideas working with and against each other in response to a multitude of internal and external forces in an increasingly complex world.

© Ronstik _ Dreamstime.com

Such groups can really only be expected to slowly move forward via messy compromise.

Why then would we expect governments to act decisively in response to our demands and desires? In addition, why would we believe politicians who say they can quickly and decisively change things?

What do you think?

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Question of the week: why do so many expect government to solve climate change?

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Climate protests are becoming increasingly regular and their message appears to be aimed primarily at government.

However, we are all, protestors included, contributing to the problem by consuming food, energy, clothing and by moving around.

And while there are things governments could do, they appear to be largely damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

If for example, governments introduced bans on red meat consumption and fossil fuel use, things that would cut emissions but ground planes, most cars and shutdown many power stations, it is likely the protests would morph into larger ones of a different kind.

To what extent are protestors demanding something they couldn’t stomach? And isn’t the problem ultimately largely ours to solve?

How many “big bad” companies did you buy something environmentally damaging from today?

What do you think?

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Question of the week: when did you last say “I don’t know”?

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There is little we can predict, particularly where complex systems are involved. However, in the face of impossible uncertainty, some of us claim, often quite vigorously, to know the future – if we do this then this will happen.

© Khosrork | Dreamstime.com

The world seems to put a premium on answers. Some, like politicians, business leaders, consultants and journalists are handsomely rewarded for their answers to or their opinions on the unknowable.

Sadly, the odds are often stiffly against being right. Often, the most honest rational answer is “I don’t know”.

But how often do we say “I don’t know”? Why don’t we say it more often? And, why isn’t it more frequently praised or rewarded? It is after all sometimes the most honest and useful answer.

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Question of the week: why are people doing horrible things sometimes described as animals?

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Is animal behaviour on the whole as bad as despicable human behaviour? And if it isn’t why do we use this expression?

A red panda © Ian Dyball _ Dreamstime.com

What do you think?

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Question of the week: why don’t we mourn the loss of rainforests as deeply as that of Notre Dame?

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Both are exquisite and irreplaceable but only one can be rebuilt. In 2017, 158,000 km2 of tropical forest was destroyed, much of it on purpose. This is an area more than half the size of Italy.

© André Costa | Dreamstime.com

In addition, tropical forests could be critical for our survival. They hold carbon, support irreplaceable ecosystems and might contain important medicines of the future.

If we had a stronger connection to these natural cathedrals, took more selfies in front of them, saw more images of them burning and celebrated a broader earthly spirit, rather than a more narrow human one, we might mourn their loss more.

What do you think?

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