News
Widening wealth gap mirrors poor human rights situation in U.S.
By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
The consumer price index of the U.S.in March rose by 8.5% from a year ago, the fastest annual gain since December 1981, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Though the inflation rate slowed to 8.3 percent in April, it still was the highest in the recent decades.
High inflation has become a nightmare for the U.S. in the recent couple of years, making life harder for many families that are already in the grip of poverty. Some of them are even facing the hard choice between gassing up their cars and paying child care expenses. Such struggling is a mirror of the widening wealth gap in the U.S.
High inflation eats away disposable income, and low-income families in the U.S. are the primary victims.
According to statistics, the average hourly pay of American laborers rose 5.6 percent in the past 12 month, which was far lower than the current inflation rate.
The high inflation is placing prominent impacts on poor families that spend most of their income on living expenses. However, its impacts on the rich are significantly smaller. U.S. Fed governor LaelBrainard said low-income families spend 77 percent of their income on daily necessities, while the figure is only 31 percent among high-income families.
A report by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania pointed out that the high inflation will further widen the wealth gap in the U.S. this year, and the poverty rate in the country will continue rising.
The impacts from the high inflation, weighing differently on the rich and the poor in the U.S., vividly explains the same old story of the American society that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
The U.S. has the biggest wealth inequality among all Western countries. Its Gini coefficient rose to 0.48 the last year, almost reaching a record high in the recent half century.
As revealed by reports of the Institute for Policy Studies, a U.S. think tank, the combined wealth of American billionaires soared 19-fold between 1990 and 2021, while over this same period, U.S. median wealth only increased 5.37 percent.
The stimulus policy that the U.S. has introduced in response to COVID-19 has led to surging government deficit and monetary inflation. The rich people are the only group that benefited from the policy.
According to Oxford Economics, the Americans on the top 20 percent of the U.S. income list saw their total fortune increase $2 trillion between March 2020 and January 2021, while the last 20 percent suffered a loss of $180 billion.
Renowned American investor Stanley Druckenmiller once criticized that the Federal Reserve is the greatest engine of inequality.
As the widening wealth gap exacerbates social inequality, the grass roots in the American society are facing more and more human rights challenges.
It’s never a coincidence that COVID-19 infections and death rates are higher among the poor people in the U.S. After the outbreak of COVID-19, tens of millions of Americans were thrown into a food crisis, and the life expectancy of the poor people was on a continuous decline.
“The neglect of poor and low-wealth people in this country during a pandemic is immoral, shocking and unjust,” said William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign.
When the rights to life and health of Americans are measured by wealth, “all men are created equal” is just an empty talk, and it’s just unrealistic for everyone in the country to enjoy human rights.
The failure of the U.S. economic and political systems and governance is what caused the “incurable” wealth gap in the country. As a matter of fact, the so-called American democracy has long become something that is of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.
From the Occupy Wall Street in 2011 to the Harambe the gorilla’s statue standing in the way of the Charging Bull on the Wall Street the last year, the U.S. citizens have never stopped making voices of dissatisfaction against the growing polarization between the rich and the poor.
However, American politicians didn’t take any action to fill the wealth gap. On the contrary, they made policies to further widen it.
Joseph Stiglitz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001, attributed the economic inequality in the U.S. to the country’s political and economic systems. Professor Jeffrey Sachs at Columbia University also said that the American politics has become an insider’s game to favor the super-rich and corporate lobbies at the expense of the overwhelming majority of citizens.
“States have the right and the duty to formulate appropriate national development policies that aim at the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals, on the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution of the benefits resulting therefrom.” This is written in the UN Declaration on the Right to Development adopted 36 years ago.
Today, the alienation of democracy in the U.S. has become a barrier for American grass roots to enjoy human rights. If the U.S. can’t get over the governance predicament, it will only see worse human rights situations.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)
Indications emerged that the personal Assistant to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF Senator George Akume, Hon. Andrew Torhile Uchi, is currently in the facility of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC over allegations bordering on corruption, bribery and money laundering amounting to a whooping N10 billion.
A highly placed source at the Commission yesterday, confirmed to our correspondent that the embattled Uchi was invited by the operatives of the Commission on Monday, upon a petition received by the anti-graft agency over Alleged properties he acquired in Abuja, Jos, Makurdi, Gboko and Wannune in Tarka, local government Area of Benue State amounting to over N6 billion.
According to the source, further investigations so far, has revealed that between December 2023 to date the anti-graft agency has been able to trace a whooping N1.6 billion that was allegedly used in buying purch cars through four new generations banks to nine car dealers in Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, Jos and Makurdi respectively.
The source further added that two Bureau de change operatives are currently been investigated by the Commission, over their alleged involvement in the scam, owing that most of the funds credited to embattled Torhile Andrew Uchi, emanated from their coys.
He said that the Commission is currently working towards getting a court nod to widen the scope of their investigations to the properties in Abuja, Jos and other part of the country to ascertain the source of the income and how the properties were allegedly purchased.
As of the time of filing in this report Mr. Uchi, is still in custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, telling the dreaded operatives of the Commission how he allegedly got the funds which is largely believed to be proceeds from bribes.
Efforts to reach the spokesman of the Commission, Mr Dele Oyewale, proved abortive as his phone lines was said to be switched off.
The Nigerian Senate has formally responded to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s complaint to the United Nations Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), refuting allegations that her suspension was linked to claims of sexual harassment.
According to Vanguard, Senator Natasha had petitioned the global body, seeking intervention over what she described as an injustice against her.
However, in a letter signed by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate insisted that her six-month suspension was due to “gross misconduct and unruly behavior”, not allegations of sexual harassment or assault.
The letter, read by Hon. Kafilat Ogbara, Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, stated:
“The authority of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria firmly refutes the deliberate misinformation and false narrative being circulated by certain media organisations regarding the six-month suspension of Senator Natasha-Akpoti-Uduaghan.”
It further emphasized that “Senator Uduaghan was suspended solely for her persistent act of misconduct and disregard for the Senate Standing Orders.”
Additionally, the Senate called for a thorough investigation into the allegations she raised against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, maintaining that all due procedures were followed before her suspension.
Senator Natasha, however, vowed to continue her fight against “injustice”. Meanwhile, Senate President Akpabio has denied the accusations, asserting that he has never assaulted any woman.
The dispute between the two lawmakers intensified on February 20, 2025, after Natasha’s seat was changed during plenary. Their tensions date back to July 2024, when Akpabio rebuked her for alleged misconduct, telling her the Senate was “not a nightclub where anybody can talk anyhow.” He later apologized for the remark.
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has reinstated the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Samson Osagie, exactly 37 days after his suspension.
A letter addressed to Osagie by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Umar Ikhilor, Esq., and marked SGA. 15/NOL.XV111/215, conveyed the governor’s directive. The letter, dated March 12, 2025, and released at 8:15 p.m., stated that an investigative panel had exonerated Osagie of alleged financial infractions.
The letter read: “Having considered the report of the Investigative Panel set up by Government to investigate allegations of financial infractions reported against you, which has exonerated you from the said allegations, I write to convey the directive of the Governor of Edo State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, that you resume duties as the State Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice with effect from 12th March, 2025.”
Reacting to his reinstatement, Osagie expressed appreciation for the governor’s leadership, describing the decision as a testament to Okpebholo’s sincerity and vision for Edo State.
“I appreciate his sincerity of purpose and vision for the state. This is a clear indication that His Excellency, Sen. Monday Okpebholo, means well for the state. I use this medium to reiterate my commitment and loyalty to him and his administration,” Osagie said.
He further pledged to support the governor in advancing Edo State, emphasizing his dedication to ensuring progress and recovery in the state’s governance.
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