Adam Harmsworth, Coventry Socialist Party
While millions of workers are facing a 2023 of poverty and debt, the bosses are already having a great year. On ‘Fat Cat Thursday’, just three working days into the year, the average CEO of a FTSE 100 company had already taken home more money than most workers will earn this entire year. For the rest of the year, the bosses will be raking in millions of pounds from bloated salaries and bonuses.
Since the start of the pandemic, when the Tory government proclaimed ‘we’re all in it together’, the number of billionaires in Britain has increased by a fifth. Now 177 billionaires hold an average of £2 billion each. An 18-year-old on current minimum wage would have to work for over 140,000 years to make that much!
‘Fat Cat Thursday’ demonstrates just how much money has been transferred to a tiny super-rich elite. It’s all wealth made off the backs of workers, many of whom are no longer able to make ends meet.
Each household now owes an average of £16,200 in ‘unsecured debt’, like overdrafts and credit card borrowing. That household debt is soaring won’t surprise many. Workers’ wallets have come under attack from all angles – wages stalling while energy bills, food and fuel prices, and rail fares are soaring.
Capitalism defends the right of billionaires to hoard their billions. We need to take back that wealth.
More workers and youth are starting to see that, shown by the swell of support for the strike wave. We fight for socialism – for the working class to democratically own and control the wealth it makes to be put to use for the benefit of all.
