In their 1983 classic “King of Pain,” The Police sing: “There’s a rich man sleeping on a golden bed. There’s a skeleton choking on a crust of bread.” The song is almost 40 years old and rings as true now as it did when Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

Today, in the richest country in the history of the world, 59 billionaires — almost exclusively men— own more wealth than half the nation, while 18 million children go hungry.