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  • Something to think about.

    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 nonwhite
    - 30 would be white

    - 70 would be non-Christian
    - 30 would be Christian

    - 89 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 U.S.A.
    - 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 college 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 woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

    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.

    If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.

    If you can read this webpage, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
    How'd I get so white and nerdy?

  • #2
    Re: Something to think about.

    And that's why the rest of the world hates us. It's the haves vs the have not's. But which side would you rather be on?

    And that goes to show the rest of the world that if six of those in that village had the highest wages and all came from the USA yet only 1 had a college degree, the USA is the place of economic opportunity despite not having a degree.
    Last edited by craigwatanabe; July 8, 2005, 12:15 PM.
    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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    • #3
      Re: Something to think about.

      I'd like to know where you got these stats, or where your source got these stats. While I don't necessarily question their veracity, and while I generally enjoy looking at these kinds of comparisons, something like this:
      If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.
      leaves me very suspicious. First of all, it seems to me that "even in the US and Canada" is a silly thing to say; isn't it true that in wealthier nations, divorce rates are higher, not lower than in less-wealthy countries? I have nothing to back this up, of course, but while the rest of your statements give actual numbers, this one just says "rare."

      I'm thirty-six, so I consider myself solidly middle-aged. Of the same-aged friends in my day-to-day life, only one of us has divorced parents, and none of us has lost any. Of kindergartners I have known, an overwhelming majority of them still has both parents. I'm not sure about the divorce statistics, but many of their parents were never married to begin with--how are those families counted in these stats? Are adopted children whose adoptive parents are still alive and together counted as among the "rare" or among the "common?"

      I'm not trying to give you a hard time; I'd just like to know where the stats came from so I can approach them with the appropriate attitude.

      There's no doubt; I consider myself lucky in a great many ways, but manipulative statements like this with nothing solid to back them up doesn't help anyone, except in the way that fallacious propaganda, even for a good cause, sways opinion, and that's not very much.
      But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
      GrouchyTeacher.com

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      • #4
        Re: Something to think about.

        These are very interesting thoughts. Truly something to think about
        www.myspace.com/cc_splace http://www.heavenlyrainbows.blogspot.com

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        • #5
          Re: Something to think about.

          I got a good one:

          If you own your home outright and just found out you're Bill Gate's sole beneficiary...then you're ahead of the entire world!
          Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Something to think about.

            Originally posted by scrivener
            I'd like to know where you got these stats, or where your source got these stats.
            Googling on "village of precisely 100 people" got me a discussion of the source of that particular forwarded email, as well as a revised and annotated version, with sources.
            Last edited by Glen Miyashiro; July 8, 2005, 01:32 PM.

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            • #7
              Re: Something to think about.

              The problem with exactly 100 people in a village is that you can't get a quarum because there won't be a tie breaker for a split decision in this democracy.

              With that village's luck the 101st villager would be a Swede who like to stay out of everything.
              Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Something to think about.

                Glen, you are the MAN. Those were awesome links! What's interesting is I'll bet that computer statistic was accurate when that email first made the rounds.

                How many of us would be teachers, is what I wanna know. Somebody's gotta teach the rest of you illiterate non-Christian losers!

                By the way, what's that cool new avatar you've got?
                Last edited by scrivener; July 8, 2005, 01:02 PM. Reason: "rock got no reason; rock got no rhyme..."
                But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                GrouchyTeacher.com

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                • #9
                  Re: Something to think about.

                  Originally posted by scrivener
                  Glen, you are the MAN. Those were awesome links!
                  Aw shucks.

                  By the way, what's that cool new avatar you've got?
                  This little bird is a Japanese mejiro, who's been transplanted to Hawai'i and has made his home in the Hawaiian forests, filling some niches left vacant by the dwindling native Hawaiian bird populations. I guess I feel like that sometimes.
                  Last edited by Glen Miyashiro; July 8, 2005, 01:58 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Something to think about.

                    Ah, yes. Its name means "white eyes" (ME - eyes, JIRO - white). I should have recognized it.
                    But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                    GrouchyTeacher.com

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                    • #11
                      Re: Something to think about.

                      Originally posted by scrivener
                      Ah, yes. Its name means "white eyes" (ME - eyes, JIRO - white). I should have recognized it.
                      off topic, perhaps, but i grew up calling that a mango bird...

                      and how many of the 100 will have never left their home town? never seen a television? never seen the ocean? never heard of tom cruise?
                      Don't be mean,
                      try to help.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Something to think about.

                        You know what? Even if it isn't accurate, it still points out that most of the world's population is just plain struggling to survive. Which we all know is true to some extent. Maybe that's why humans are having more babies, kind of like the rabbit syndrome. If we have enough children we'll keep our species alive alittle longer. But the rations are getting smaller...
                        Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

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                        • #13
                          Re: Something to think about.

                          Originally posted by Buddy2
                          You know what? Even if it isn't accurate, it still points out that most of the world's population is just plain struggling to survive.
                          Buddy, you've got to be careful about how you approach this stuff. A statement such as yours is a very scary thing. Using an untruth in order to convince people of the truth is one thing (the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, for example, probably never happened, but it is loaded with truths, and thus we pass the story along), but claiming that the untruth is true is not only ethically questionable--it can border on evil, depending on the speaker's purpose. I could say "My mom was raped and murdered, so you've got to listen to what I say about the link between violent crime and unemployment," but if I make up the part about my mom, I have done a reprehensible thing, no matter how noble my intentions.

                          This is why I approached the original post cautiously, and asked for some references. If indeed most of the world's population is struggling to survive, and if in fact that issue is worth discussing, then it's worth getting the numbers right, wouldn't you say?
                          But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                          GrouchyTeacher.com

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                          • #14
                            Re: Something to think about.

                            You're right, I didn't properly think through my statement. I guess (Hopefully) a better way to say it is that I think there are more have-nots than haves. And many of the have-nots definitely have it worse off than I. I don't have any specific numbers, just general information gleaned from the world news over many years.
                            Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Something to think about.

                              Originally posted by Buddy2
                              You're right, I didn't properly think through my statement. I guess (Hopefully) a better way to say it is that I think there are more have-nots than haves. And many of the have-nots definitely have it worse off than I. I don't have any specific numbers, just general information gleaned from the world news over many years.

                              that's a pretty black and white, extreme, dogmatic, socialistic outlook on the world population. may I ask; what is the purpose of defining it like this?
                              I mean, within the haves, there are grades of haves and have nots. and vice versa...
                              and of course, they all will say "there is someone better off than me, and there is someone worse off than me"...


                              I mean, why would you not think
                              "struggling"
                              exists on all levels? Or are you willing to point in general directions and proclaim; "Oh that's not struggling.. but THAT over there is!"
                              Last edited by kimo55; July 11, 2005, 10:07 PM.

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