Memo from a Multi-Millionaire: Covid-19 Proves Business Case for Taxing the Rich

Health workers applause back to the public applauding them. Madrid, Spain, 22 March 2020. Credit: Burak AkbulutBy Djaffar ShalchiCOPENHAGEN, May 28 2020 (IPS) For the past few decades, many big corporations and very wealthy individuals have operated according to the myth that they are “self-made”, that their success owed nothing to anyone else. From that narrative has come the notion that they are entitled and able to cut themselves off from others, contributing as little as possible in taxes and workers’ wages. But now that the myth has run into the fact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s clear that none of us are independent; that we are, in fact, interdependent. I am a one of those who gets highlighted as a self-made man. I am told that I fit the storyline: I am an immigrant son of a single mother from Iran; while my mum cleaned in hotels, I studied hard, worked hard, and went on to be a successful entrepreneur. I rose to be a multimillionaire – the American Dream, except in Denmark! It has always been obvious to me, however, that I have not risen all by my own efforts: that I am not a self-made man, that the welfare state made me. Without the creche care and schooling and health care I received, I could not have flourished; and without Denmark’s strong public services, neither could my business. That’s why, in real life, contrary to the Hollywood tale, kids are more likely to achieve the American dream in Denmark than in America. That’s why I recognise th...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Featured Global Global Governance Headlines Health Inequity IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Population TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news