As a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, I’m a self-confessed wealthy individual who spends a lot of time repeatedly asking the government to increase taxes on my wealth and the wealth of people like me.
This week, that message has brought me to snowy Davos, where the World Economic Forum (WEF) meets annually to discuss major economic concerns. The current theme of “cooperation in a fragmented world” sounds great, so why did I feel it necessary to join a protest hike against it? The answer to that question lies in what I and others see as the root of that “fragmentation” – the worrying wealth extremism that goes neglected by the Davos elite.
I’m one of the 200-plus millionaire signatories from around the world on an open letter that was sent to global leaders attending the WEF. As we say in that letter, we’re living in a world of extremes. Across the world we see economic and political divisions deepen. Trust in political leadership is at a low point, as far too many people struggle with the cost of heating and eating, and no one seems to be doing anything about it.
This division has worsened recently. Through the years of the pandemic, more millionaires were created while most people struggled on reduced incomes and lockdowns. Globally, we are now witnessing extreme wealth and extreme poverty rising simultaneously. In the UK, key workers were rewarded by clapping in the streets (and by a growing number of food banks), while the ultra-wealthy saw their fortunes grow as asset prices increased, fuelled by furlough payments rippling up through rents and loan interest. Society became more fractured than ever before. We talked about “building back better”, but what we saw was the return of “business as usual”.
This is what brought me to Davos – a recognition that extreme wealth inequality is divisive in society and that wealthy people like me need to stand up and say so. That’s why I joined the protest hike and carried a large placard in Davos Postplatz saying “tax the rich” – to help draw attention to wealth inequality, its effects in society and the obvious solution (taxing the rich).
So why don’t others, millionaires and those less fortunate, demand that we reduce extreme inequality by taxing the rich? The answer is complex. I certainly talk to other wealth holders who don’t realise that their fortune is often at someone else’s expense. This feeds the idea that any criticism of extreme wealth is the “politics of envy” whereas it’s much more simple than that – one small group’s ever-growing wealth is wider society’s inability to buy food or clothing.
There’s also a popular misconception in the UK that wealth is about house ownership and that increasing taxes would mean people having to sell their family homes. I keep reiterating the point that we’re talking about the “extreme wealth” held by the top 1% of society (those with upwards of £4m) and that’s critical. We’re absolutely not trying to stop people giving their children a good platform in life – we’d just prefer it if everyone had that advantage.
At the end of the day, this is about our personal values and the kind of society we want to live in. I don’t want to hide away in my big house watching TV by myself or with other millionaires while people are having to visit food banks or that new phenomenon, heat banks. I want our children to mix freely, sharing the same excellent schools and hospitals, driving on the same decent roads, and depending on the same excellent police force – all things a strong tax system pays for.
Looking further ahead we need to build a world fit for future generations, who so often get forgotten in the maelstrom of the election cycle. This means investing in social capital and yes, investing in public infrastructure. Both of these are tasks for the government, not for the ultra-wealthy. A tax burden of a few percentage points of my wealth would be a small price to pay for a society we can be proud of and that our children will thank us for.
I’ll keep campaigning, and I’ll use my voice and wealth – not to create yet more wealth through exploitation either of the planet or people, but hopefully to improve that social fabric that is at the heart of any society.
Phil White is a former business consultant and engineer, and is a founding member of Patriotic Millionaires UK
