The United Nations’ Annual World Economic and Social Survey wants to levy a 1% wealth tax on everyone who is worth more than $1 billion. The idea is to help the world’s poor. The report claims that, according to Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires issue, the billionaires are worth $4.6 trillion, so this would yield $46 billion.

This has got to be the dumbest idea the UN has ever come up with. First of all, the UN does not have the authority to tax anyone. Second, even if it did, what would a dysfunctional bureaucracy like the UN actually do with the money, other than distribute it to clueless administrators who would dribble it away to corrupt governments and inept bureaucrats.

Poverty comes from these causes main causes:

• Corrupt or inept government
• A system of government that by ideology, dogma or history suppresses its people and their drive to innovate and work
• Lack of education, drive, ambition or talent of the people
• Lack of adequate natural resources
• Religion
• War
• Dictatorships
• Monarchies

None of these causes are mitigated or removed by handing money to the hapless and poor people who are unfortunate to be born into one or more of the conditions listed above. Helping them requires:

• Get rid of corrupt government
• Throw out ideology, dogma and sucky history
• Educate the people
• Find the indigenous natural resources of the nation
• Do away with religion
• Stop shooting at each other and at neighors
• Toss out the dictators
• Toss out the kings and princes

This would be a little harder than sending some dollars and saying “good luck.”

The fact that there are people in the UN that advocate or even raise such a harebrained scheme is sufficient proof that the UN has reached the end of its useful life.

• The UN needs to be fixed.

Quickly.