On 20th September I left home before sunrise to travel 400 miles to London. Then I marched with complete strangers and listened to an array of passionate speakers, some of whom I’d never come across before, at an event that barely made the news. Estimates say 10K people attended the Make Them Pay march, a figure meaning it wasn’t even worth a mention in the mainstream media, given the sheer number of marches and demonstrations taking place this autumn. So why did I do it?
Make Them Pay describes itself as an alliance representing millions of workers, citizens and communities across Britain.
An ambitious and growing civil society alliance, working to build unprecedented unity across the climate, workers’ and social justice movements. We’re demanding action that can tackle the climate crisis and social injustice, rebuilding society for the people who keep it running, not the rich and powerful.
Among the alliance are some familiar names of both faith and secular groups including The New Economics Foundation. Make Them Pay’s aims are broad but their number one priority is to tax the super-rich, and I made that early morning trip because I strongly agree that we need a wealth tax.
If we’re to believe the government’s repeated claim that there’s a national deficit problem and submit to the general rhetoric that there isn’t enough money to go around these days, then we need to advocate for just and responsible ways of raising the money we need. The only other option is to carry on as we are and let a larger and larger percentage of the country slide into relative poverty.
There is a growing consensus over what we mean by the super-rich. They are not those who just happen to be better off than others, anyone who earns over a certain amount each month; the aim is not to be divisive, to rile up the poor into a resentful desire to eat the rich. The aim is to tax the genuinely super rich, the true minority, not with earnings but with assets of over £10M, for the good of the whole country. It’s claimed that a 2% tax on assets over £10m would raise up to £24B annually
This is hardly news, you’ll have heard this issue discussed in the media in recent months, often followed by the retort that taxing these individuals will simply make them move to a country with lower rates. However, this isn’t about income: the tax system can and should be changed, so that those who own UK assets pay UK tax on those assets, regardless of where they live.
It’s an argument that keeps circling, gaining popularity in tougher times and dying down during more prosperous years, but is this a campaign Christians should get behind? Christian Aid, Christian Climate Action, Operation Noah, Green Christian, and Church Action on Poverty certainly seem to think so, they’re all members of the Make Them Pay alliance.
In the bible, the old testament laws given to the ancient Israelites were designed to create a society where it was impossible for wealth to be concentrated in the hands of the few. The laws of Jubilee modified both extreme poverty and extreme wealth meaning the prosperity of the community came before that of the individual.
Jesus did away with the old covenant when he came, but his attitude to wealth and poverty is very clear throughout the gospels and completely in line with God’s original plan for his people. One of the first things Jesus said publicly was that he had come to bring good news to the poor.
He told us to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s (albeit the focus was prioritising spiritual over material matters) Mark 12:17. He told the rich young man to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, Matt 19:21; He said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God (although with God all things are possible) Matt 19:24; He wanted us to be on our guard against all kinds of greed, Luke 12:15. The message seems pretty clear; by the time of Acts we read of the new and growing church that, ‘There was not a needy person among them,’ Acts 4:34
Extreme wealth and asset hording were never part of God’s plan for us, any more than poverty, hunger, and deprivation were. We should, as this website suggests, strive to find joy in having enough rather than always striving for more, but the truth of society is that it’s hugely unequal and many around us do not have enough to find joy in. If we do, then it is for them we should be advocating. As a member of the Poverty Alliance recently stated, ‘The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth, it’s justice.’
If you’re unsure about the benefits of a wealth tax, or interested in other ways of raising national income, you might want to check out Tax Justice UK
By Rosalie Faithfull
Joy in Enough 