If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
87 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth
and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 ( yes, only 1 ) would have a collage education
1 would own a computer
When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. The following is also something to ponder . . .
~If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation . . . you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
~If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death . . .you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
~If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep . . . you are richer than 75 % of this world.
~If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace. . . you are among the top 8 % of the world's wealthy.
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While all these statistics are shocking, the one I find the most shocking would be the last one. Spare change is relatively little money. How many times has anyone at New Trier seen a quarter on the ground and walked past it? I know I have many times. But we all see those commercials to feed children for pennies a day. Helping other people is something most of us could do a little more of because we are so blessed. My freshman year history teacher told us we had won the 'birth lottery.' I think when people my age leave college and realize how hard life is, they will appreciate the way of life our parents established for us.
Another statistic I appreciate is the fact that only one person has a college education. Now that junior year is in full swing, people are concerned more about college. Next year I know it will be even more intense with applications, recommendations, interviews, college visits and such. Since we go to New Trier and live in the United States, it is expected that we go to college. It is so much apart of our culture that thinking only 1% of the world attends college is astonishing to me.
5 comments:
All I can say after reading that post was "Wow." It is really interesting to see the ratios we would live in if there were only 100 people in the world. One of the statistics I found really interesting was that 70 would be unable to read. Living in the kind of community we live in right now, you never hear of someone over the age of seven or eight that can't read. I think this changes my perspective on the world just a little, knowing that only 30 percent of the world are able to read. Also, it is interesting to see that only 1 percent of the world owns computers, because computers are so prominent in the world today.
Also, I do agree with you on the money in a dish in the house. I do think that if New Trier students saw a quarter on the ground, they would think nothing of it and just walk past. If we picked up all of that spare change and donate it to people struggling from malnutrition, we could bring down that percentage and that would put a huge turn on these statistics.
This is a really interesting post. I have never thought about what it would be like if we could shrink the world into 100 people. I think that living here on the north shore really blinds us to what is going on in the rest of the world. I definently agree with you and hannah on the fact that New trier students would not think twice if they saw a quarter on the ground. We could make such a differnce in people's lives if we all worked together to donate to uneducated, and struggling people. One of the other things that suck out to me was the fact that 50 of the people would suffer from malnutrituion and malnurishment. That is a lot of people. We have no idea what goes on outside our walls and we really make a difference and help them out.
I really like this post. It is very interesting. If 6 people controll 60% of the worlds income, their is an obvious issue their. Its very interesting for people who feel the need to compete with people who have so much, and yet their are so many people in the world with nothing.
Bernadette, your post was soo interesting!! I cannot believe all of those statistics! That is unbelievable, I think once again the ethnocentrism ties in here because I was reading that thinking "whoa, why aren't there more whites? wait, only that many would be Christian?" Those numbers really make you take a step back and realize how many people there are in the world, and how many different types of people there are too. I really liked this blog post, well done!
Bernadette,
Your postings have been exceptional this year. Make sure, however, that you source your information. For example, I have also seen that world = 100 people ratio before, but I wonder if it is dated or where it was developed originally.
Regardless, I think you have given us an important perspective in a course that is so narrowly focused on one country.
Keep it up.
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