Economic Disparity Quotes

“A CEO shouldn't get several hundred times the salary that the janitor is paid. An athlete shouldn't get several hundred times the salary that the waterboy is paid. A filmstar shouldn't get several hundred times the salary that the crew at the bottom are paid.

I understand if you are not yet civilized enough to flatten the field completely – for you are an infantile species after all. But at the very least, do your best to reduce the gap - that is, if you intend to be human someday.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“AI Con (The Sonnet)

Everybody is concerned about psychics conning people,
How 'bout the billionaires who con people using science!
Con artists come in all shapes and sizes,
Some use barnum statements, others artificial intelligence.
Most scientists speak up against only the little frauds,
But not the big frauds who support their livelihood.
Am I not afraid to be blacklisted by the big algorithms!
Is the sun afraid, its light will offend some puny hoods!
I come from the soil, I'll die struggling in the soil.
My needs are less, hence my integrity is dangerous.
I am here to show this infantile species how to grow up.
I can't be bothered by the fragility of a few spoiled brats.
Reason and fiction both are fundamental to build a civilization.
Neither is the problem, the problem is greed and self-absorption.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“Takeover Twattery (The Sonnet)

Oligarchs don't even care about the welfare of their employees,
And you want them to care about social welfare! Keep dreaming!
Oligarchs have no regard for the struggles of human life,
And you think they'll transform the world! Keep dreaming!
I thought Mark was bad for not treating facebook's health issues,
But the chief twat makes Zuck look like an incompetent simpleton.
Oligarchs are poster boys for regress, not crusaders for freedom,
Better to have a CEO without answers than one who answers to none.
However, like corrupt politicians, oligarchs are made by people,
If anybody is to blame it's the morons who put them in pedestal.
If you had the common sense to question your pavlovian attraction,
Spoiled brats could never treat society as daddy's mine of emerald.
Now more than ever it is imperative to ban large scale takeovers.
Moreover, it is vital to legally shun the rise of billionaires.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Humanitarian Industrialization

Fourth industrial revolution my eye! We haven't yet recovered from the disparities produced by the first, second and third industrial revolutions. Morons keep peddling cold and pompous dreams devoid of humanity, and morons keep consuming them like good little backboneless vermin. Grow a backbone already!

We always look at the glorious aspects of industrialization and overlook all those countless lives that are ruined by it. But it's okay! As long as we are not struck by a catastrophe ourselves, our sleep of moronity never breaks - so long as our comfort is unchallenged, and enhanced rather, it's okay if millions keep falling through the cracks.

So long as you can afford a smartphone that runs smooth like butter, it doesn't matter if it is produced by modern day slave labors who can't even afford the basic essentials of living. With all the revenue the tech companies earn by charging you a thousand dollar for a hundred dollar smartphone, they can't even pay decent wages to the people working their butt off to manufacture their assets - because apparently, it is more important for the people at the top to afford private jets and trips to space, than the factory workers to afford healthcare, housing and a couple of square meals a day.

And this you call industrialization - well done - you just figured out the secret to glory without being bothered by something so boring as basic humanity.

I say to you here and now, listen well - stop abusing revolutionary scientific discoveries in the making of a cold, mechanistic, disparity infested world - use science and technology to wipe out the disparities, not cause them. Break free from your modern savagery of inhuman industrialization, and focus your mind on humanitarian industrialization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“I have hardly ever seen a town that didn't wish the destruction of its neighbour, and never a family that didn't want to extirpate another. Everywhere you go, the weak loathe the powerful at whose the feet they crawl. And the rich treat them like flocks whose wool and meat they sell.”
― Voltaire, Candide

“The world of justice looks very different depending on which side of disparity you belong to. For the everyday commoner, struggle for human rights is the natural way of life, whereas for privileged egomaniacs, activism is a publicity stunt.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tum Dunya Tek Millet: Greatest Country on Earth is Earth

“Where do oligarchs come from?
They come from people's shallowness.
When people stop being shallow,
no oligarch shall get to grow,
to spread their life-crushing tentacles.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Right or Human: 300 Limericks of Inclusion

“Luxury is a violation of human rights, human health, and above all, human character.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“Luxury is a violation of human rights.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“With the right sequence of zeros and ones we could equalize all bank accounts of planet earth tomorrow.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“The glory may differ based on the kind of work a person does, but nobody should suffer to make ends meet while others fly in private jets.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“Economic growth doesn't mean the growth of disparity, it means the end of disparity. And we can never end disparity from our society unless we cut off all ties with luxury, preferably by individual accountability, if not, then by means of policy.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“Himalayan Sonneteer Sonnet 81

If we treat people,
Like we treat currency,
That is the end of the world,
That is the end of society.
Currency is a social construct,
So, its value varies based on geography.
Humanity is the foundation of our existence,
How can we be human if we value people like currency!
North, South, East, West, humans are the best,
Mind not location, human life is worth just the same.
Appearance may differ across geography,
But our innate humanity is one and the same.
So I say, a nation's value lies not in its currency,
But its regard for the welfare of all humanity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission

“Poverty is a capitalist invention,
Third world obscurity is colonial construct.
History of the west is history of abuse,
World hunger is a western by-product.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“What’s stressing me out is endemic government corruption, depleted foreign reserves and crippling debt have fractured Pakistan’s economy beyond repair. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s economic situation is a direct reflection of misplaced priorities and policy paralysis for decades.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“How do you think the west made
so much advancement in so little time?
It's all by pillaging the innocent natives,
who welcomed them with nothing but smile.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Better all head back to the jungle
than some fly in private jets
while others cry of hunger.
Better have no progress whatsoever,
than the rich get richer, and the poor poorer.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“The parents of rich kids tended to be more patriotic because they had more to lose if the country went under. The poor parents were far less patriotic, and then often professed their patriotism only because it was expected or because it was the way they had been raised. Subconsciously they knew it wouldn't be any better or worse for them if the Russians or the Germans or the Chinese or the Japanese ran the country, especially if they had dark skin. Things might even improve.”
― Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye

“Sonnet 1178

Five little rich tourists sink in a sub,
Wallets open without limit on a search-n-rescue op.
A 1000 migrants die each year tryna cross the sea,
Borders tighten in sheer fear with no show of mercy.

People are only worth saving
if their savings is super healthy.
50 Shades would be a Hitchcock film
if the sicko had no money.

Empathy is a far cry, life is never the issue.
While next-door-neighbor cries of hunger,
Netflix wets more tissue.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“Five little rich tourists sink in a sub,
Wallets open without limit on a search-n-rescue op.
A 1000 migrants die each year tryna cross the sea,
Borders tighten in sheer fear with no show of mercy.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“I don't know about Mars and Moon,
On my planet I am brakeless loon.
Exploiting dreams and hope,
when chimpanzees elope,
I stand grounded as an unbent boon.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“One thing I hate most in this world, next to arrogance, is hypocrisy. Privileged teenagers hysterically yelling about climate action with no tangible contribution on their part - privileged celebrities flying in private jets, sipping fine wine, while barking about equal pay in a room full of other privileged celebrities - all these ain't activism, it's entitled lunacy. When you're struggling with your last ounce of strength to put food on the table, to keep a roof over your family, and still have some generosity left for your neighbors, that's the highest form of human rights struggle there is.

The world of justice looks very different depending on which side of disparity you belong to. For the everyday commoner, struggle for human rights is the natural way of life, whereas for privileged egomaniacs, activism is a publicity stunt. Send these entitled bunch of buffoons to labor in the streets of the developing parts of the world, and all their activism will fly out the window.

It's this simple. Before you start shouting about rights, equality and justice, have the decency and common sense to step out of the lap of privilege and luxury. Remember, there is no difference between a barking dog with golden platter and barking activist with a silver spoon. Struggle in the streets, struggle in the beaches, only then you shall know, what suits the humans, what suits the leeches.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tum Dunya Tek Millet: Greatest Country on Earth is Earth

“Bankruptcy favors the rich and shames the poor.”
― William Castano-Bedoya, We the Other People: The Beggars of the Mercury Lights

“We live in a world where the abundance of one
is predicated on the bankruptcy of another.
Let all such coldness and hypocrisy end with you,
Be the real sapiens standing as the equalizer.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“We have no illusions about this. ... When an attending physician brings a family member in for surgery, people at the hospital think hard about how much to let the trainees participate. ... Conversely, the ward services and clinics where residents have the most responsibility are populated by the poor, the uninsured, the drunk, and the demented.”
― Atul Gawande, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

“Economy that rewards selfishness, is but a glorified criminal offense.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Right or Human: 300 Limericks of Inclusion

“The day the billions of people of earth are valued more than the billionaires, that day you shall be human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“More clothes, more cars, more cash,
Just how much will you consider enough!
Till you put a cork on cocky abundance,
Not felicity but disparity wreaks havoc.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Most expensive clothes I own cost 20 dollars, most expensive devices I own cost 200 dollars. Born to a factory worker, I never knew luxury, then I made me a name, but saw the world's condition, I grew an absolute repulsion to lifestyle luxurious.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“That such Shantytowns exist is a sorrowful reflection upon the state of society. The throwing into jail of men broken by experience and the burning of their wretched places of habitation will not solve the economic problem. Nor is it likely to lead to the solution of the most macabre mystery in Cleveland’s history.”
― Max Allan Collins & A. Brad Scwartz, Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting America's Deadliest Unidentified Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology