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Phil White is a member of the Patriotic Millionaires, a British association which, as its name suggests, brings together rich people who want to be patriots. He made the trip to Davos to draw the attention of the World Economic Forum to the increase in wealth inequalities in our societies.
Phil White made an appointment with RFI on Promenade, the main street of the small ski resort in the Swiss Alps which brings together the economic and political elite of the planet every January. About a hundred meters from the ultra-secure enclosure of the Palais des Congrès, he takes a sign out of a large plastic bag and shows us discreetly: “Tax the rich”. Because in Davos, we do not have the right to demonstrate, he confides.
RFI: When and why did you decide to join the Patriotic Millionaires?
Phil White : Like many people before me, I was very active in my youth for what I considered to be good causes. Then I entered working life, I had a family and I was very busy with my work and with life.
But now I have decided to become more active again for causes close to my heart and this is one of them. It is about economic justice and equity in our societies.
I’ve started working with the Patriotic Millionaires more actively this past year, and we’ve had very intense outreach campaigns. It’s pretty simple basically. We say: we are a rich bunch of people, we can afford to pay more taxes. We would like to pay more taxes to give society a fair share.
You are here in Davos where the economic elite, including many millionaires and billionaires, have become accustomed to meeting. Is there a chance for your message to be heard?
It’s hard to know if people are listening to us. I hope they do. We submitted a letter to the leaders gathered in Davos that points to all these issues of wealth inequality, economic injustice, etc. And we call for action. We ask rich people, who participate in this forum, to take the measure of the effect of their wealth on society, and to think of all the good deeds that governments could carry out with a very small part of what they hold. . We are talking about a tax of 1 or 2% per year on all this wealth which would make it possible to take action in the social, education and health sectors to build a fairer society for everyone.
Patriotic Millionaires is a British association, based in the United Kingdom. Is your cause supported elsewhere in the world ?
There is a similar organization that was created in the United States. Abigail Disney [productrice et philanthrope américaine, petite-fille du fondateur du géant des médias, NDLR] initiated it. She is a great support and funds many actions. There are other associations across Europe and of course there are NGOs fighting against inequalities across the world. But when it comes to Patriotic Millions, we’re trying to grow this movement around the world. We have done some work in Chile, for example, but it will take time. It’s being built.
And in developing countries, in Africa?
It would be a great thing if we get there. Again, we need some time to make progress. We hope to convince them by our actions. I don’t know if you’ve seen the Oxfam report which talks about the increase in inequalities all over the world. And in these regions, whether in Africa, India or elsewhere, there are a striking number of new millionaires and new billionaires. If we manage to convince them to join us, that would be great.
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