Have you ever thought about your circumstances and lifestyle in comparison to the rest of the people in the world at large? I know it is not good to compare yourself to your neighbor, but if you look at ALL the people in the world, comparing might be a good thing. I was first introduced to this concept in an Ann Landers article as a teenager (many years ago-hah) and so the statistics have changed somewhat but the concept is the same: we are very privileged in this country. The lifestyle of even the most poor among us in the U.S.A. is still better than many of the world who live in other countries.

50 would be female
50 would be male

25 would be children
There would be 75 adults,
9 of whom would be 65 and older

There would be:
60 Asians
16 Africans
14 people from the Americas
10 Europeans

31 Christians
23 Muslims
15 Hindus
7 Buddhists
8 people who practice other religions
16 people who would not be aligned with a religion

12 would speak Chinese
6 would speak Spanish
5 would speak English
4 would speak Hindi
3 would speak Arabic
3 would speak Bengali
3 would speak Portuguese
2 would speak Russian
2 would speak Japanese
60 would speak other languages

86 would be able to read and write; 14 would not

7 would have a college degree
40 would have an Internet connection

78 people would have a place to shelter them
from the wind and the rain, but 22 would not

1 would be dying of starvation
11 would be undernourished
22 would be overweight

91 would have access to safe drinking water
9 people would have no clean, safe water to drink

 

And this is the part that strikes me the most:

1 person makes more than $90 per day

6 people make between $50-$90 per day

9 people make between $20-$50 per day

13 people make between $10-$20 per day

56 people make between $2-$10 per day

15 people make less than $2 per day

https://www.good.is/infographics/if-the-world-were-100-people

So 71% of all the people in the world are living on less than $3650 a year. Oh, and the one person who makes more than $90 a day is only making $32,850 a year. In America, we think we are struggling if we only make $32,850 a year. And we have access for free (through taxes and the government) to some of life’s most valuable assets: clean air, good roads, protection against invaders who would harm us, protection against criminals who would harm us, protection against fire that would harm us, sanitation, libraries, schools, and free speech and freedom to worship. No wonder people from all over the world are trying to move here!

I believe we should all be thankful that we live in such a wonderful land of opportunity. It is not perfect, but no nation will ever be perfect because people are not perfect. Only God is perfect. God wants us to work together under His laws to make our country as good as it can be. We have to be as good as we can be as individuals to begin with. Oh, and an attitude of gratitude is good for our health!

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