Abigail Disney Speaks Out About Disney Reopening The Theme Parks During COVID-19
Philanthropist, filmmaker and daughter of Roy Disney (Walt’s Brother’s son) Abigail Disney has shown us in the past that she’s not afraid to speak her mind especially when it comes to the company her family worked so hard to build over the years. In a recent interview with CNBC she criticized Disney executives for making the decision to reopen Walt Disney World theme park as COVID-19 cases continue to rise with Florida (where Disney World is located) as its epicenter.
In the interview Disney said of the decision, “I’m not looking at the same information they’re looking at, but given what I do know … I’m confused about how they think they can possibly protect their guests and their employees.” Disney added, “I certainly know people who work there who are very uncomfortable, who have conditions like asthma and diabetes that put you at high risk, who are literally deciding whether they want to go back to work or buy food.”
In the same interview, Abigail, who has spoken about this before, talked about wealth inequality in the country. Abigail has long been an advocate for higher taxes for the rich and has criticized Disney executives for freezing pay for more than 100,000 cast members and employees during the start of the COVID-19 outbreak while the company maintained a $1.5 billion dividend plan for stockholders.
In the interview she goes into detail about how wealth inequality in the country has damaged our ability to address the COVID-19 pandemic. She thinks the solution is simple – cut taxes for the wealthy and use that to directly fund public health programs.
Lots to talk about with @BrianSozzi at @YahooFinance . The wealthy need to step up once and for all. We can't stay as far out of balance as we've gotten, it's eroding everything! https://t.co/Y9pD4Gsgbb
— BLACK LIVES MATTER (@abigaildisney) July 16, 2020
Disney continued, “Money has been concentrated too heavily in a too small population. It needs to be driven across the economy.” She expanded on this by point out the low and middle income families aren’t able to save money and build wealth which makes work furloughs and shutdowns even more catastrophic to families.
According to a recent piece in The Mary Sue, Abigail along with 83 other millionaires globally belong to a group called Millionaires for Humanity who have joined forces to campaign for an increase in taxes for the wealthy. The mission statement reads as follows, “Today, we, the undersigned millionaires, ask our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently.” The statement goes on, “The problems caused by, and revealed by, Covid-19 can’t be solved with charity, no matter how generous. Government leaders must take the responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them fairly. We can ensure we adequately fund our health systems, schools, and security through a permanent tax increase on the wealthiest people on the planet, people like us.”
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Source: The Mary Sue