LETTER: A straw-man argument

Roger Southall erected a straw-man argument in his letter (Oxfam rant a Louw point, May 3) and did not address Leon Louw’s actual argument against the "inequality" red herring. The premise of Louw’s argument is that wealth inequality is inconsequential. It is merely amusing that Oxfam’s "reports" also happen to be factually incorrect. Having said that, Louw has spoken highly of some Oxfam reports, particularly the one that declared poverty defeated and the Millennial Development Goals achieved. Oxfam, of course, had no intention of closing shop, and has taken on a new enemy: "inequality". The difference between poverty (destitution) and inequality (difference) should be obvious to Southall. Southall’s attempt to imply that Louw, being a free marketeer, should accept calculations done by Forbes and Credit Suisse without further ado is the low point in this debate. Forbes and Credit Suisse do not compare apples with apples; one lists shares, regardless of net worth, and the other is n...