The World Economic Forum is now meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: stock
A new poll of global millionaires reveals that most think the influence of the super-rich on the US presidency poses a threat to global stability.
The poll was released as the same time as an open letter from millionaires and billionaires was delivered to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
A We Must Draw The Line letter urged elected leaders to tackle the corrosive impact of extreme wealth on our democracies and broader society.
Oxfam Australia says more than 370 millionaires and billionaires from 22 countries — including Abigail Disney, Marlene Engelhorn, Brian Eno, and Richard Curtis — signed the letter, which was published after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.
Disney is the grand-daughter of Roy Disney and grand-niece of Walt, who founded Disney, and a member of the Patriotic Millionaires.
“It’s easy to see the election of a figure like Donald Trump as an aberration but that’s not the case,” she says.
“Donald Trump — along with his so-called ‘first buddy,’ Elon Musk — is the final and inevitable conclusion of decades of inaction on the part of world leaders to put a check on extreme inequality.
“It’s hard to be optimistic about what lies ahead over the next four years (the term of the Trump presidency), and maybe more, but if officials want to do something to ensure the stability of our democracies, they need only find the political resolve to once and for all tax wealthy people like me,” Disney says.
The poll of 2902 millionaires from G20 countries revealed their strong fears about the impact of extreme wealth and super-rich on the stability of democracies, control of the media and social media, justice systems, and political integrity.
Musk has recently come under fire for performing what many people across the world say is a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration. He has also been tapped to lead efforts to reduce the size of the US government workforce.
Two-thirds of the millionaire respondents also think the super-rich interfered inappropriately in the US election, the poll also says.
Over 70 percent agreed that the super-rich disproportionately influence public opinion through the control of media and social media, leverage the law in their favour and buy access to policymakers.
Seven out of 10 also believe that the super-rich are eroding public trust in institutions such as the media, justice system and democracy.
Raising taxes on the richest was also a popular option for 70 per cent of poll respondents.
Dr Phil White, a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK said: “Let’s be honest, extreme wealth is causing people and families everywhere serious economic harm while the wealth, control, and power of billionaires and multi-millionaires is endlessly growing.”
The poll, conducted by Survation, was commissioned by Patriotic Millionaires International, who worked with Oxfam, Millionaires for Humanity, and taxmenow to organise the letter, We Must Draw The Line.
Millionaires such as Dr Phil White and Marlene Engelhorn are in Davos to hand over the letter to attendees.
