Hervé Kempf: "The wealthiest 0.001% have increased their wealth tenfold"

BarcelonaThe richest 10% of the planet emits almost 50% of CO2 emissions₂ from all over the world. But within that group, the wealthiest 0.001% (some 80,000 super-rich people) are the ones who have seen the greatest increase in their wealth in recent years and those who are doing the most damage to the planetThis is what French environmental journalist Hervé Kempf, author of How the rich are plundering the planet (Garbuix Books), a comic book that analyzes, in an engaging and accessible way, the causes of and solutions to the vast global inequalities that are directly linked to the ecological crisis we are experiencing.

How has this small group of super-rich accumulated so much wealth?

— The current situation is historic. The big change came in 1980. Until then, inequalities had remained stable, but in 1979 Margaret Thatcher came to power in the United Kingdom and in 1981 Ronald Reagan in the United States, and they began to reduce taxes for the upper class, the wealthy, and large corporations, and to liberalize markets. All of this triggered a surge in inequality, first in Great Britain and the United States, and then in Western countries and throughout the world. The great crisis of 2008 halted this trend for a year or two, but then inequality began to rise again. And now we are in a situation with one of the greatest levels of inequality in history. And an even more striking phenomenon is that inequality has also increased at the very top: 10% have doubled their wealth in recent years, but the 0.001% has been multiplied by 10.

And he says that this population group is looting the planet.

— This small group has a very negative effect on the global ecological situation. The second fact is that the material production of goods has never been so great. There is greater globalization, more production, and more inequality. The theory of Thorstein Veblen, a 19th-century economist in Chicago, stated that ostentation is the key factor: there is a competition of ostentation. He said that in every society there is a symbolic competition, where people try to imitate the lifestyle of those at the top. And within the upper class, this competition of ostentation also exists: Musk wants to have a bigger spaceship than Bezos. They want to have a bigger yacht than the other billionaire... And that is why this upper class has increased its wealth tenfold.

But in addition to the boasting, there must be a system that allows it.

— Yes, because they have the power. The reason is that the neoliberal policies of Thatcher and Reagan were adopted by all politicians after the fall of communism. And importantly, the left and socialist parties worldwide abandoned the issue of social justice and embraced neoliberalism. Thus, we are now in a system where billionaires hold the power—the primary geopolitical power.

And with the complicity of politicians?

— This power wielded by the very wealthy, whom we might call an oligarchy, in a context where there is no real opposition because social democracy has accepted neoliberalism (which favors the rich), has allowed the rich to control virtually all politics. And they control many media outlets, especially social media, which is heavily controlled by billionaires who possess them. And so they focus not on inequality, but on security or foreigners.

And social media also encourages competition through boasting. How do we change the message?

— As a journalist and writer, I would say that the best way to convey a message is to produce a positive one. Above all, what I don't want is to blame anyone. No one should feel guilty for wanting a bigger house or a good television. The only ones who should feel guilty are Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Donald Trump, or Mark Zuckerberg. But also, Veblen's principle of conspicuous rivalry can work in reverse, in an ecological and positive way. In France, we are beginning to see a real movement toward cycling: now what is chic It's about having a good bicycle instead of a big car. If we want to solve the ecological problem, we must change inequality and the distribution of wealth. It's perfectly natural to want to improve your situation, and right now in our society, this means getting richer. But this could change because we could have good schools, a good healthcare system, good transportation, organic food, access to culture, and this shouldn't be tied to individual wealth, but to the wealth of society.

What is your proposal to change things?

— There is a very powerful tool that has existed for centuries: taxation. Reagan and Thatcher destroyed taxation. We must reclaim it. We must tax the wealthiest. To solve the ecological problem, the path is very simple: we need to reduce the consumption of material goods and energy. I don't want to discuss GDP growth or decline, because what we must change is GDP itself. It is no longer a useful tool; it is a false one that does not reflect the reality of the economy, since it does not take the ecological situation into account.