The Primary Cause of Poverty

What's the real cause of poverty?

I am continuously encountering emails and all kinds of advertising asking that we fight poverty, disease, and hunger. Has anyone ever considered that the root of all of these problems is the accumulation of wealth? Two percent of all of the purchasing units in the U.S. hold ninety percent of all of the assets. This is akin to inviting a hundred people, proportionately representing the social strata of the country, to a pie party where only one pie will be served. The pie is cut into a hundred pieces and distributed proportionately among the hundred invitees according to their levels of wealth. Two people would receive ninety pieces of the pie and the other ninety-eight would receive the remaining two pieces to divide among themselves. Then we are asked to combat our hunger, our poverty, and our concomitant diseases. The situation is worse in less technically developed countries since there are fewer riches and the proportion of the wealthy is also smaller. What's wrong with this picture?