Snake in the Grass (Without a Rattle)

Here it is, folks: a rattler with no rattle-the deadliest critter.

Snake in the Grass (Without a Rattle)

Wealth does to the heart, what the noose does to the neck: It chokes the life out of it. I can comfortably say, “If you are a billionaire, you are a cold-hearted scoundrel, a snake in the grass (without a rattle), a blackguard and a heel. Additionally, you are a rapscallion, a malefactor, a miscreant and a creep. Finally, you are cheat, a shyster, a villain and a rogue.

Noose around the heart

You are the ultimate vampire because you suck the life out of millions of people around you every day of your life.” 

There are 50 million people in this country living at the poverty level, 35 million of whom have “food insecurity” issues. That means they are unsure of whether or not they will eat that day. 

The Borgen Project, a non-profit organization, estimates it would take $30 billion dollars annually to eliminate world hunger. Considering the United States spends $737 billion annually, this is reprehensible enough. Add to this the fact that those who have money, could solve world hunger so easily, as to defy comprehension. 

Forbes List says there are 1,810 billionaires, worldwide, people who have amassed more money than they could ever spend, and yet cling to it as though it were a life preserver, and they were standing on the deck of a sinking Titanic: with a death grip.

Head Snake-Bill Gates

Forbes List includes itemized amounts for each of these 1,810 billionaires, but for my purposes, I am only interested in the top eleven (There was a tie for number nine, so there are eleven in the top ten). This does not mean the rest are off the hook; it just means that I want to see what kind of a difference a scant eleven people could do-if there were no noose clutched around their hearts.

The top eleven folks listed, total $633.6 billion. All by themselves.

It boggles the mind as to how much money this is, but let’s look at one percent. One penny on the dollar. An amount few would bother to stoop and pick up. One penny on the dollar. We are not talking heavy math here, simply getting rid of one measly zero. So easy peasy, even a retired language arts kind-of-guy can do it.

Let’s try it: 633,000,000,000. Everyone agree this is $633 billion dollars? 

OK, we’re sailing now! Let’s guillotine (oops, probably a bad word in this context) one zero, shall we? That makes it: 63,300,000,000. Got rid of one zero, right? Now we have $63 billion, three hundred million, right? Still with me? That one penny on the dollar, from each of these eleven people, has now created a tidy $63 billion plus sum.

How much loot did the Borgen Project estimate would solve world hunger? $30 billion annually? 

Weird. $30 billion is less than half of the $63 billion plus, that the top eleven wealthiest people could amass, if they chose to donate one penny on the dollar. Imagine if ALL 1,810 billionaires gave up one penny on the dollar?

These people, and I use the term loosely, have no need for this accumulated wealth, other than the possession of it. That makes them snakes in the grass, ones that have no rattle to warn you when they are around. That's because they are not around.

Yes, it is hard to imagine these "people" giving up even one penny on the dollar. There is that pesky noose-the one clutched tightly around the hearts of those who have accumulated large amounts of bling. What is it about having wealth, that hardens the heart?

It is the single most intriguing question to me, on the face of the earth.

http://borgenproject.org/the-cost-to-end-world-hunger/