In the world today, more than 6 billion people live.
If this world were shrunk to the size of a village of 100 people, what would it look like? With all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific
51 would be male, 49 would be female
82 would be non-white; 18 white
67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian
80 would live in substandard housing
67 would be unable to read
50 would be malnourished, 1 dying of starvation, while 15 are overweight
33 would be without access to a safe water supply
39 would lack access to improved sanitation
15 adults would be illiterate.
7 would have computers.
1 would have a college education
Of the energy of this village, 20 people consume 80%, and 80 people share th e remaining 20%.
Of the wealth in this village, 5 people own 59% (all of them from the United States), 74 people own 39%, and 21 people share the remaining 2%.
If you do not live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines, or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups, then you are more fortunate than 20, who do.
If you can speak and act according to your faith and your conscience without harassment, imprisonment, torture or death, then you are more fortunate than 48, who can not.
If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change somewhere around the house, then you are among the richest 8.
If you can read this message, CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY!
5 comments:
I appreciated this post Tare. It is easy to forget how VERY blessed we are to not live in fear of starvation or kidnapping (or worse) and to be able to have the freedom to worship and use the gift of free agency. Especially when we focus on our (what seem to us HUGE)trials- because we do all have them. Josh just did a big project on Zimbabwe and it really helped him (and us:)put things into perspective for sure. Thanks for sharing that.
Thank you, Tare! Why is it so easy to think we have it difficult at times? I think it's because we forget to think about the rest of the world and get so caught up in just us. It was an eye opener to think bout the fact that - world wide - we are the minority and we have so many more perks and freedoms than most of the people of the world. For most of us, even our toughest times don't hold a candle to their everyday life.
Looking at your DR pictures tells alot. You have seen first hand the hard living conditions. I also think the happy faces of the children are filled with hope - I think when you go there to serve, it makes them feel loved and special
~mom
wow! we're selfish.
maybe this is a pessimistic view, but it makes me kind of scared to see where the world is headed. we (americans) are so consumed in ourselves that we don't take time to look at the world around us and see what's happening.
it does make you thankful for what you have, but that's not enough. we need to be more active in consuming less of the world's goods, helping others who have less, putting priorities in the right order, and standing for what's true and good. i'm scared we're headed for even worse outcomes in the future.
it's so easy, when you've got all that you could ask for, to become oblivious to the sad things in the world. as long as you're happy, that's all that matters. but what happens when that happiness disappears and we realize we could have changed the world, if we had only cared about someone other than ourselves?
WOW!! That was really interesting. I've never heard anything like that before. Thanks for the eye opener. It really makes you stop and think.
It was cool to see your DR pictures too. I don't think I had gotten to see them before.
verrrry interesting! thanks for sharing, i hadn't ever seen anything like that either. maybe we should do more to help out worldwide.
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