The average income in the states was sixty six thousand one hundred dollars which sounds quite high but if you look a little closer to half of the countrys adults so around one hundred seventeen Million People that figure was actually just sixteen thousand six hundred dollars a year and that income has barely changed in the last thirty years. Yet over the same period the countrys wealthiest one percent has seen its disposable personal income rise dramatically. They sleep in tents if they can afford one that is. There are already some fifty eight thousand Homeless People in Los Angeles County and that number is rising. The extent of the crisis is most apparent in downtown l. A. Thank you for being in love inside. Its never a single one of us unless were at thats a very diverse love conquers our own we appreciate you father we love you and see how we now think it may be. This christian and geo distributes food some of the homeless receive state aid and food stamps but it doesnt get them very far. Irwin lives on thirty dollars a month hes originally from chicago but came to l. A. For the warm winters you know i just hope that they start having temporary jobs so we could at least get data labor you know right here so we can have money to you know do our hygiene things maybe try to get in touch with our families you know further north in hollywood summer has set up a camp on a side street the thirty three year old left utah to try her luck in california. But now all she owns is a bicycle in a few other things shes been living on the streets for a year and a half. Movings that ive come. To town talk to. A lot of people are cool. And a lot of people live on the users and. You know theyre great people like i really learned a lot from them and made small good connections and. Its not its not the safest. Summer was able to get by for a while with a waitressing job but when she lost it she had to move out of her apartment thats not an uncommon situation for many here l. A. Is expensive an average seventy square meter apartment in hollywood costs over two thousand dollars a month. Rising rents are actually making the city more attractive says brian phobe. The businessman leases offices and apartments in hollywood. Hes seen more and more Entertainment Companies move into the area in recent years. But also complains that the homeless make his customers nervous. They dont feel comfortable going out on the street to do their business or go out to lunch or to go shopping and so forth so were getting a lot of pushback from businesses and people that are. That have opted to move into the area feeling that maybe they made a mistake and maybe they need to make a change in the l. A. Homeless Services Authority provides shelters and other Housing Services for the citys homeless but it faces an uphill battle the authorities Communications Director says thats down to a lack of political will. Theres just not enough of housing the people who are on the lower end of the economic Socio Economic scale and in some cases have no assets whatsoever can and can access and unfortunately its overwhelmed the rest other aspects of the system and shelter in particular and rapid rate housing in november of two thousand and sixteen l. A. Residents voted to raise property taxes with proceeds going to help the city create more affordable housing. The goal is to build about ten thousand residential units over the next decade. But there are almost six times that many homeless in the county. We visit the Midnight Mission in downtown los angeles. This is our Program Participant dining hall so people that live here very program the organization has been around for a century providing meals shelters and rehab programs for the homeless manager joey weiner believes that every person who lives on the streets should get help tailored to their individual needs. Housing is definitely very important thats top of the list of course but taking somebody off the street and just putting them in housing. I dont think its necessarily the answer without having some kind of treatment. To bring them to being able to be a productive member of society. Shes grown all too familiar with life on the streets of hollywood. Now summer from utah no longer believes anyone really cares what happens to her. Once youre down the system keeps you down and they dont want they say they want to help you. But they they generally feel they want to. Keep you out of their way i mean the cops told me yesterday they were like. We hate you we hate you guys being like out here like this and seen this on our street and im going to do something about it. The police regularly a victim homeless woman from her makeshift home writing her a ticket for setting up a tent on the street so far she hasnt been able to find an emergency shelter. The glittering lights of hollywood dont promise hope or help for people like Summer Nights on the street are fraught with danger. For the homeless life in the city of angels is a daily struggle just to survive. Two thousand and seventeen was a good year for the worlds super rich according to Forbes Magazine their combined wealth totaled seven point six seven trillion dollars thats almost twice germanys g. D. P. Right now jeff basis the founder of Online Shopping retailer amazon is the worlds richest man and thats thanks partly to the stock market basis and sixteen percent of amazon shares and their value has skyrocketed in the first days of this year his estimated wealth increased by six billion dollars billion as simply work harder than the rest of us. Work hard they dont wait for others to give them something from us they get busy themselves thats why the rich keep getting richer even. If you believe the statistic shown on this socalled wealth clock private wealth is increasing by one billion euros a day met in germany alone that sounds a bit abstract even more abstract than this time piece the purpose of which is less to tell the time than to let the wearer flash their wealth. But is it really true that the rich are getting richer its not something rich people like to talk about but someone who manages their wealth ought to know i find an asset manager in the heart of berlin. I figure the job of an asset manager is to increase their clients wells noir house soon puts me straight on that his main task is to preserve his clients wealth ok but are the rich getting richer. This is yes in so far as wealthy people have access to better Asset Management solutions and services and get more professional advice than most office and. That lays the foundation for building up wealth on the assets side of the Balance Sheet excited i think its a high for members of for him to become. Building up wealth so thats what you call it when the rich get richer but the suitcase full of money is outdated both these days looks different trying to visiting any major car show luxury cars are getting faster more looks year yes and ever more expensive and yet their sales are increasing worldwide you could buy one for two million euro which great news for car dealers as conspicuous spending has been frowned upon but its very resilient new markets right thing often people seem to have the appetites keep going to go more expensive calls. So on the Positive Side there are at least seem to be more and more rich people getting richer how do researchers explain this huge increase in the personal wealth of an ever growing elite. This in lets say theres been a series of political decisions over recent decades regarding taxation and huge benefits for the wealthy. I think thats the main factor and were not just talking about individual income tax but also a Corporation Tax that puts far less of a burden on companies in mice and in most industrialized countries thats led to a significant increase of income and wealth at the very top going to fifteen ist. The makers of luxury goods have to come up with ever wackier ideas to get their hands on customers dollars to multimillionaires who had originally agreed to an interview changed their minds when they heard precisely what it was about but a third thomas reading was still willing to talk to me. He donated half his inheritance to a foundation that aims to end wealth disparity my first question what do you do with a billion euros. Is a vice and what does this all i know is that its far beyond what any human being regardless of who they are can ever need or use and use the help of all fun and come. Between describes his own lifestyle as modest he works as a literary agent and is just glad that he and his family dont have to worry about their old age he sees tax evasion by the super rich as a key factor in global poverty. Doesnt isnt as were talking about the vast sums of money as a limit that would free up money for the common good that would be a start in what is. The doing would also like to see higher rates of inheritance tax but many big corporate dynasties claim that would ruin them. Amounted to much but when it comes to inheritance tax in germany ive been told by a well known corporate attorneys who work for these companies. And inheritance tax of fifteen percent would be no problem at all for any of these corporations fairly difficult and they have a. So if you win here at one hundred billion euros you pay fifteen billion into public coffers but what goes on in the heads of the super rich dont they eventually lose their appetite for status symbols and at what stage can they even be classed as rich i just went on when youre rich when you can finance your lifestyle and expenditure through income from your assets. Even after all taxes fees and inflationary adjustments for the income then youre genuinely rich not much done this way because. So how much do you really need to finance your lifestyle ten thousand a month perhaps or maybe a million. Much wealth is inherited which of course helps to keep the rich rich. But what about social mobility in wealthy countries. Destined to remain poor. We had now to britain where the social divide from birth on words is becoming ever wider concerns about debt mean that families often struggle to get their children the education. Out of poverty. Its seven thirty time to get ready for school. But in the salford household in Northern England its no easy feat sloane was broken her big family live on around two hundred pounds almost two hundred eighty dollars per week thats all they have to build some food but at least their rent is covered. Its crazy. That school. Schoolbooks really good but. Its not even. Close children go to four different schools the family lives only on state Welfare Benefits and so having a car is out of the question. Sloans partner kevan has provided some relief hes currently after her job. Still sloan has faced worse. But my exhusband left. With six children. And it was a case of ok. Live on toast and coffee so my kids can have. A little bit extra. Sloans experience is not unique almost a third of all children in this area live in poverty that means their Household Income is less than sixty percent of the annual british Median Income over the past five years the number of People Living in poverty in the u. K. Has risen Childrens Charities say that increasing living costs and cuts in state benefits have left many families without sufficient support sloans children have become used to doing without. And i know sometimes id rather have my own men i mean surrounded by them just not all the time. But the lack of privacy is just a small problem sacramentos when his father left and his mum was forced to go to a food bank. And. Hes going to have to live on. So that she is now at least to it so. Some pay for can just stick the kids into. Schools cause they can. We just we get by simple as that we have to deal with it we build resilience. Learn hasnt built that resilience alone. Her neighbors have also been there for her. Every week they come together to talk about their problems it helps them deal with the realities of poverty poverty by definition is isolation it is the. Stripping or way of a persons ability to join into a society. That can be. In a very physical way in that people cant join in and participate in life in the ways that they would like or they need to. But also there isnt a there is a shame in gendered by poverty which people can self isolate know in these people got my back of the east its a sense of security is such a sense of belonging and yeah. Its a sense of belonging. Sloan also volunteers at a food bank. Brian langdon has come to pick up some basic supplies. Delays to benefit payments and changes to the u. K. s benefit system have seen a rise in referrals to food banks according to antipoverty charity the Trussell Trust at this food bank numbers have gone up. Just not enough in the house after paying rent and electric and all your bills. Very to not go out and he looked at all the phone oh mama. Its basic. Survival. But in this situation i have nothing and i want to make a difference and make people feel welcomed. Nowheres. With a little help from kevin sloan is trying to give her children a structured upbringing. My faith eat dinner together every day at five oclock. And there are set back times and the gulf war children is. Not to be. Under be happy. And. Stronger. At the same time she knows it will be hard for her children to break out of a cycle thats trapped so many in britain. Homes and profits from and the nations agricultural areas across the globe Transnational Companies and foreign governments are busy snapping them up yet over one point five billion people depend on the land that they and their families have been cultivating for generations our reporter catch here do know went to peru and witnessed the effect such conflicts can have on local people. Weve come to. An area in cyprus amazon rain forest this been badly hit by deforestation. Is on his way to visit an Indigenous Community they can only be reached by boat. Heads up the federation of native communities in this part of peru he grew up in a village here but he doesnt come back often as its become too dangerous. I received a lot of Death Threats. Left a message in my house saying your prior posed their activities again better not see me in the village. Or believe im in great danger. He opposes the large scale deforestation in his region and that has earned him some powerful enemies he never comes here alone this time hes with star from the organization poetica the peruvian arm of Transparency International they visit santa clara. Residents here have come under pressure from Companies Looking to set up cocoa Palm Oil Plantations. The village chief calls everyone to a meeting to discuss the latest developments theyre taking legal action to try to stop new Palm Oil Plantations opening nearby. We never thought that we would have such problems with Transnational Companies. On the other side of the river large areas of forest have already been stripped and replaced with oil. Palms no one has access to the area we couldnt even film with the drones as soon as we got near the plantation the signal was disrupted village life has changed in the past residents live from fishing and hunting now of a large animals have disappeared and there are a few of birds too instead theyve had an invasion of mosquitoes more than ever before their traditional way of life has become impossible. We live from the land from Hunting Fishing from the resources that the jungle house to offer. People without land just doesnt make any sense. Now the village wants to have twenty thousand hectares turned into legally protected territory but the initiative has been Death Threats the danger is very real just a few months ago six farmers were found shot to death so far no one has been held accountable for their murder. But how do these large corporations get their hands on thousands of hectares of land seemingly overnight. Corruption group poetica has examined the land deals and documented their findings. Have come to inform local residents. We wanted to highlight one thing namely the connection between deforestation the illegal trade in land and corruption among local officials. Long been rumors about this but there wasnt enough evidence to be able to say definitively yes its true. They gathered all the available documents and carried out numerous interviews many of the deals reached in this region to check on. He is now being investigated by state prosecutors. Companies have stripped thirteen thousand hectares of rain forest. To make way for palm oil and cocoa plantations they were helped by corrupt local politicians who invalidated existing land rights effectively taking the land from its owners. Weve come to culpa the capital of the region where were meeting to farm its bakery to speak to us in the protected environment of a hotel in two thousand and fourteen regional authorities appropriated their land now there are oil palms growing on it and he said when i went to the police there was suddenly an attack they were trying to kill me. Despite the intimidation tactics the Legal Proceedings are continuing the authorities have visited the land but theres been no progress the farmers are now hoping for outside help. And in the food in the were still hoping that things will improve. Its image getting the International Organizations will get involved. In the conservation groups who will be able to do something. With. The selfie the farmers have lost faith in their own state and local government. Is heading to the Regional Directors office which is responsible for awarding land Rights Police are following up on over one hundred complaints against the official the atmosphere is tense the director has the entire conversation recorded he insists that he has stayed within the law. I always say this is a statement of faith because im a christian only the truth will set me free nothing else. Addresses the demands of the Indigenous People for more land the director says there are enough protected areas and the remaining land needs to be turned to profit. When you say these areas are poor about clearly contradicting your argument yes they are. Thats why we need to find new ways of developing them. But the money made by the Palm Oil Plantations does not benefit local indigenous communities back to santa clara. Village elders tell us that a few hours after we left men were sent out to patrol the edge of the village yet another form of intimidation local residents will need to keep up their fight if they are should preserve their way of life in future. Thats all from us today but were always delighted to hear from you so drop us a line by email or on facebook d w Global Society see you next time bye for now. Thank you for. The be. Spotless move. Hundreds. All thieves in the night cuts. Where i come from rajoy remains an important moon soft transmitting new and for mission and when i was young my concert was in brawley many conflicts the war throbbing people from. People would cause a lot of entourage to see if. It was my job to tour in one off the lot of just sets so as not everyone in that column cool to listen to it was a case in. Letting cars in for insitu might no longer enjoy months maltas on. Us i was its weight of. My choice in this cognition because even the way told transmitted to the troops. When it was the question how much and i will. Get up. To him. In a. The for. A huge. This is deja news coming to you live from berlin its been described as an immense tragedy but it can be strong and its a huge motorway bridge collapses in the Northern City of genuine dozens are reported to have died as a structure tumbled on to reveal lines in hundreds below we have the latest on the situation that. Also the program trish Police Investigating to find terrorist attack is searching three properties in Central England doctor dr gupta ramsbotham by