Everyone should be equal. But how?

Following a report by Oxfam, which says that by 2016 the richest 1% of the world will have greater wealth than the combined wealth of rest of the 99%, inequality has become the main topic of discussion at the annual jamboree of the rich at the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland. An article in The Economist explores the similarities between the ' robber barons ' in the early 20th century, who became fabulously wealthy by controlling transport and minerals, with the ' silicon sultans ' of today, who have also become similarly wealthy by controlling technology. These men became so wealthy by building huge monopolies. At one time John D Rockefeller controlled 80% of the world's oil supply while Google controls 90% of the search market in Europe and 67% of it in the US. When Rockefeller retired his wealth equaled one thirtieth of the entire GNP of the US while Bill Gates has managed to reach only 1/130th of it. So, these men were and are genuine oligarchs. Is it bad to become so rich and were these men selfish villains? The US is the richest and the most powerful country in the world because these men have made it so. Henry Ford did not invent the motor car, he produced them so cheap that every American could afford one. Cars used to cost $4,000, which was twice the average annual income, but the first car he produced cost $850 which came down to $360 in 1916 and just $290 in 1924. He did this by mass production along an ' assembly line ' so that every car was the same, illustrated by his famous quote when he said," Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black." Today, the poorest person carries a mobile phone, Skype allows you to talk to a person in the US for free while you can search for any topic on Google, also for free. Extreme inequality leads to resentment and may lead to violence. Thousands lost their heads during the French Revolution which coined the slogan liberte', egalite' and fraternite' which meant liberty, equality and fraternity. But can human beings be truly equal? After all, nothing is equal in nature. The elephant is huge while the ant is tiny, the cheetah runs at 70 miles an hour while the tortoise crawls along and the deer eats grass while the lion eats the deer. Communism was supposed to create an equal society by distributing wealth but created poverty instead. The Soviet Union collapsed, North Korea is on an edge while China is aggressively capitalist. Unemployment is rising in France and Europe, forcing the ECB to start quantitative easing to stimulate growth. But only those who can repay will be able to borrow cheap and multiply their assets. The unemployed cannot borrow. So inequality will grow.  At least the robber barons created jobs. Technology needs fewer workers. Will there be more revolutions? Who knows.