The Battle Against Inequality: A Message To The Elite And Super-Rich In Davos – OpEd
By Thalif Deen and IDN
As the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), described as a gathering of the world’s elite and super rich, meet in Davos, Switzerland, January 20-24, more than 30,000 activists across nearly 50 cities staged protests over the weekend demanding economic justice, climate action, and an end to billionaires’ hold on democracy.
The campaign—organized by Fight Inequality Alliance (FIA)—includes the message: “TAX THE SUPER RICH!” which was projected onto a mountainside near a private airport outside of Davos next to the faces of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg.
Another image declared: “LET’S DRAW THE RED LINE & STOP PAYING BILLIONAIRES’ TAX BILL!”
The campaign coincides with a new report from Oxfam released today, which finds that as billionaires’ wealth soars rapidly, the number of people living in poverty has not changed significantly since the 1990s.
The rising inequalities are not only economic but also gender based, with women suffering the most.
Niki Kandirikirira, Equality Now’s Global Director of Programmes, told IDN globally, women remain overrepresented in low-paid, insecure, and unregulated jobs.
“Many face unequal treatment at work and little or no access to career advancement opportunities. Women and girls also provide billions of hours of unpaid care and agricultural work daily”.
Yet, she argued, this essential labor is undervalued and largely invisible. Care work and domestic food production, which underpins the profits of billionaires, go unpaid or are compensated at poverty-level wages.
Women and girls effectively subsidize the global economy, which would collapse without them, but most see little in return, she said.
“The global economic system that allows billionaires and their corporations to grow wealthier by exploiting women’s labor is a system that stands in direct opposition to the SDGs. Fair wages and equal pay for equal work, stronger labor protections, and investments in care work are essential to ensuring a sustainable, equitable future,” she declared.
According to the Fight Inequality Alliance, the dramatic visuals in Davos and other symbolic “red line actions” across the world—is drawing a firm boundary against inequality and calling on leaders to adopt the solutions needed by the 99%, including taxes on the super-rich, investment in public services, tackling the climate crisis, and an end to crony capitalism.
The world’s richest 1% exert a powerful influence
‘The World Economic Forum, said the Alliance, is a potent symbol of the current system, in which the world’s richest 1% exert a powerful influence on politics across the globe. Coinciding with the inauguration of the billionaire Donald Trump, this year’s gathering in Davos raises important questions about democracy, inequality, and the power of the super-rich.’
“We’re done watching another ski resort gathering of the 1% as the wealth of the richest continues to rise to grotesque levels. Oxfam’s new report predicts there will be 5 trillionaires within a decade unless we heed the call to change course. Meanwhile, people are losing their homes to climate disasters and struggling to cover their basic needs,” said Jenny Ricks, General Secretary of the Fight Inequality Alliance.
“Davos is just one example,” said Ricks, who joined the mobilisation in Lusaka, Zambia. “We’re facing rule by a billionaire class who are quickly becoming outright oligarchs. Democracy is in crisis across the globe. A further explosion of inequality will result. For people on the frontlines of inequality—at the sharp end of this system—it’s time to draw a red line on billionaire rule.”
“These global actions present a powerful alternative,” Ricks said. “This isn’t just about protesting. It’s about showing the world that change is possible. The global economy is meant to serve all of us, not just the super-rich – but the dominance of the billionaire ruling class makes that impossible. For real change to happen, we have to bust open these elitist discussions and start listening to solutions from people who are on the frontlines of inequality.”
Elaborating further. Kandirikirira of Equality Now said many countries, already struggling with limited resources, are forced to divert funds toward debilitating debt repayment instead of investing in programs that could advance the SDGs.
Public services like healthcare, education, and social welfare, which significantly impact women’s and girls’ lives, are often the first to suffer when governments are financially constrained. This debt crisis is exacerbated by global wealth inequality, where so much of the world’s resources and financial power are concentrated in the hands of the ultra-rich.
“Women’s economic rights are undermined by discriminatory laws and harmful gender norms that limit their earning potential and decision-making power. In many countries, women are legally restricted in areas such as owning property, accessing credit, or inheriting wealth—which is especially jarring when considering Oxfam’s calculation that 36% of billionaire wealth is now inherited. Widespread legal and cultural disenfranchisement leaves women particularly vulnerable to exploitation and economic shocks,” she declared.
Major public investments
Meanwhile, FIA says it is mobilising to pressure governments across the globe to prioritise the 99%—by making major public investments in education, healthcare, housing, and tackling the climate and environmental crisis, and ensuring the cost of living is affordable. FIA argues that reforming tax systems to ensure that the super-rich are taxed more is a critical part of the solution.
“We need an international tax on the super-rich to help level the playing field,” said Andrew Andrew Karamagi, Principal Political Advisor at FIA.
“Major investments in public services and an ambitious, well-funded climate deal are also essential to achieving justice for billions around the world, especially in the Global South. If we fail to act, the consequences will be catastrophic. An entrenched billionaire class will undercut democratic systems around the world.”
The organisers also stressed that urgent action is critical to avert disaster down the road.
“We’ve seen a huge wave of social unrest across Africa over the past year,” said Karamagi, who joined the mobilisation in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday. “Those kinds of movements will continue to surge as millions demand a fair future. And the climate crisis will spiral even further out of control, inflicting its worst punishments on those who did so little to create it. This is not a distant threat—it’s happening now, and it will affect everyone on the planet.”
FIA says mobilisation led by FIA and its allies has already led to significant policy changes in several countries.
- Pressure from FIA and its partners mobilised progress toward an international tax on the super-rich, which gained unprecedented support at the G20 summit in Brazil in November 2024.
- Progressive tax reform in Mexico seemed impossible, but FIA pressure in the country forced the government to open the debate and introduce a constitutional tax reform that has opened the path to progressive tax reform.
- In India, FIA ran a 100-day campaign to defend democracy and the rights of all people in elections, achieving a change in political power structures.
“Our people power gives us hope, and our work is just getting started,” said Ricks. “Imagine a world where governments everywhere prioritised the 99%, by making major public investments in education, healthcare, and housing—and by tackling the climate crisis and ensuring the cost of living is affordable. That’s the world we’re fighting for.”
According to FIA
- Since 2020, the world’s five richest men have doubled their fortunes. Source
- 63% of all new wealth generated since 2020 has been captured by the richest 1%, while just 37% has gone to the rest of the world put together. Source
- There are 16 people in the world who – if 99% of their wealth vanished overnight – would still be billionaires. Source
- The world’s richest 1.5% (those with wealth greater than $1 million) own 47.5% of the world’s wealth. Source
The impact of inequality
- Five billion people are poorer now than they were in 2020. Source
- An average global inflation rate of 6.8% in 2023 has brought about rampant increases in the cost of housing, healthcare, and energy–while wages have remained stagnant. Source
- Over the past two years, the wages of nearly 800 million workers failed to keep up with inflation, resulting in an average annual loss equivalent to 25 days of income. Source
- Just 0.4% of the world’s 1,600 biggest corporations have publicly committed to paying their workers a living wage and to supporting a living wage in their value chains. Source
- Governments sought to raise revenue by hiking taxes on the working class, leading to protests in places like Angola, Bangladesh, France, India, Kenya and Pakistan