‘Nowadays, we are confronted by a huge gap between rich and poor. This is not only morally wrong, but practically a mistake. It leads to the rich living in anxiety and the poor living in frustration, which has the potential to lead to more violence. We have to work to reduce this gap. It’s truly unfair that some people should have so much while others go hungry.’ Dalai Lama 2015.
It is this lust for wealth and power that is fuelling all the problems in the world. On one side we have billions living in poverty, starvation and war and on the other we have the superrich with their yachts, mansions, leah jets, limos and servants. Even within the wealthy countries there is an obscene division. The bankers with their millions of pounds bonuses and the food banks.
We have nature being destroyed with deforestation and strip mining as people strive for more wealth. We see everything that moves being slaughtered for food. We have the billions so desperate that they risk their lives to cross continents. We have war and religious fanatics being armed by billionaires.
I think the Dalai Lama was spot on. It is the huge inequality that is fuelling war, poverty and destruction. It is time we sorted out a better world system that is fairer and more equal.
