No, not in the Hallmark bullshit false-reality where wealth comes from the love of friends and family. We're talking cash, cold hard Benjamins. You are one of many of the wealthiest people the world has ever known. Doubt it? Need proof? Try this out.
Global Rich List
I was seriously shocked to see where I stacked up, based on my annual salary I am in the top 14.17% of the world (not even factoring the large contributions of support I get from my parents). If you have the time you should really see where you stack up, were you surprised where you found yourself? Why or why not? I'll give you a hint, because you have access to the internet and live in America it is a very safe bet that you are at least ball-parked to my own figure. Based on that what are the implications of your rating? Does the rich minority share any social obligation to the vast majority of the world (see image below) living on so little relative income?
Let's do some test numbers ($=Annual Income - %=Percent Richest People in World):
$365(dollar a day) - 91% (this is near to 10% of the world's population, 650,000,000 people)
$730(two dollars a day) - 60.28% (over half the world's population)
$1,000 - 44.1%
$3873.60(WA min. wage 40 hrs/52 wks) - 14.64%
$30,244(Avg. livable salary in Vermont 2008) - 7.01%
$47,500(The calculator maxes out here, obviously this is not the highest annual salary, though this percent houses 60,000,000 people) - 1%
Does that disparity warrant a reaction? Are we obligated, as the world's wealthiest nation, to do something to alleviate poverty? Or do we enjoy our prosperity and leave the rest of the world to live off our table scraps (or is that trickle-down?)?
3 comments:
This blows my mind. I work part time and make a bit more than minimum wage. I also live off of my parents (rent, car insurance, avista, etc.)I never considered myself to be better off-just average. I have tried to give small portions to charities and what not if I had the extra cash.I do think we have a moral responsibility to give what we can to those in need. Thankfully, most of our million and billionaires have established charities to help the less fortunate. It's information like this that really opens our eyes and will hopefully make us less greedy and more grateful to have the opportunity to make a comfortable life for ourselves.
This certainly is eye-opening. Most of the time, it seems like all we want is more: more money, more material goods. Yet seeing this, it really shows how blessed we are to even make minimum wage in America. In comparison to the rest of the world, we shouldn't want more, we should be content. And yet we aren't.
We looked at this in church a few months ago and it still blows my mind. Im in the top 4.33%. That is crazy to me. But if you think about it, there are many countries that are much worse off than america
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