The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

More Wealth along with More Poverty

Dec 7, 2009

Warren Buffett has been gobbling up shares in Exxon, Nestlé and Wal-Mart. Buffett’s holdings in Wal-Mart jumped from 19.9 million shares at the end of June up to 37.8 million by the end of September. Since the beginning of November, Buffett has spent 26 billion dollars to buy a majority stake in Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroads.

Last year, in the midst of the current financial crisis, the press presented Warren Buffett and his billions as a potential savior for American finance capital. When Goldman Sachs’ price fell from $115 to $60 a share, Buffett rushed to buy up five billion dollars worth of shares. Today the price has rebounded and then some–up to $170 a share–after the Federal Reserve provided billions of dollars of public money to Goldman Sachs. When commentators go on about Buffett’s supposed “genius,” they are forgetting that he is able to do his “shopping” in large part thanks to the taxpayer money poured into Goldman Sachs.

The concentration of capital, as illustrated by the shares bought by Warren Buffett in various companies, will not save a single American worker from layoffs, unemployment or poverty.

Wealth on one side, poverty on the other–the crisis pitilessly increases both at an ever faster rate.