pdaj
04-08-2002, 04:53 AM
In the world today, 6 billion 300 million people live.
If this world were shrunk to the size of a village, what would it look like?
If 100 people lived in this village,
52 would be women,
48 would be men.
30 would be children,
70 would be adults,
among those,
7 would be aged.
90 would be heterosexual,
10 would be gay or lesbian.
70 would be non-white,
30 would be white.
61 would be Asians,
13 Africans,
13 from North and South America,
12 Europeans,
and the remaining one
from the South Pacific.
33 would be Christians,
19 believers in Islam,
13 would be Hindus, and
6 would follow Buddhist teaching.
5 would believe that
there are spirits in the trees and rocks
and in all of nature.
24 would believe in other religions,
or would believe in no religion.
17 would speak Chinese,
9 English,
8 Hindi and Urdu,
6 Spanish,
6 Russian, and
4 would speak Arabic.
That would account for half the village.
The other half would speak Bengal, Portuguese,
Indonesian, Japanese, German, French,
or some other languages.
In such a village, with so many sorts of folks,
it would be very important to
learn to understand people different from yourself,
and to accept others as they are.
But consider this.
Of the 100 people
in this village,
20 are undernourished,
1 is dying of starvation, while
15 are overweight.
Of the wealth in this village,
6 people own 59%,
- all of them from the United States -
74 people own 39%, and
20 people share the remaining 2%.
Of the energy of this village,
20 people consume 80%, and
80 people share the remaining 20%.
75 people have some supply of food and a place to
shelter them from the wind and the rain. but
25 do not. 17 have no clean, safe water to drink.
If you have money in the bank,
money in your wallet and
spare change somewhere
around the house,
you are among the richest 8.
If you have a car,
you are among the richest 7.
Among the villagers
1 has a college education.
2 have computers.
14 cannot read.
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 do not live in fear or death
by bombardment, armed attack,
landmines,
or of rape or kidnapping by
armed groups,
then you are more fortunate than
20, who do.
In one year,
1 person in the village will die,
but, in the same year,
2 babies will be born,
so that at the year's end,
the number of villagers
will be 101.
If this world were shrunk to the size of a village, what would it look like?
If 100 people lived in this village,
52 would be women,
48 would be men.
30 would be children,
70 would be adults,
among those,
7 would be aged.
90 would be heterosexual,
10 would be gay or lesbian.
70 would be non-white,
30 would be white.
61 would be Asians,
13 Africans,
13 from North and South America,
12 Europeans,
and the remaining one
from the South Pacific.
33 would be Christians,
19 believers in Islam,
13 would be Hindus, and
6 would follow Buddhist teaching.
5 would believe that
there are spirits in the trees and rocks
and in all of nature.
24 would believe in other religions,
or would believe in no religion.
17 would speak Chinese,
9 English,
8 Hindi and Urdu,
6 Spanish,
6 Russian, and
4 would speak Arabic.
That would account for half the village.
The other half would speak Bengal, Portuguese,
Indonesian, Japanese, German, French,
or some other languages.
In such a village, with so many sorts of folks,
it would be very important to
learn to understand people different from yourself,
and to accept others as they are.
But consider this.
Of the 100 people
in this village,
20 are undernourished,
1 is dying of starvation, while
15 are overweight.
Of the wealth in this village,
6 people own 59%,
- all of them from the United States -
74 people own 39%, and
20 people share the remaining 2%.
Of the energy of this village,
20 people consume 80%, and
80 people share the remaining 20%.
75 people have some supply of food and a place to
shelter them from the wind and the rain. but
25 do not. 17 have no clean, safe water to drink.
If you have money in the bank,
money in your wallet and
spare change somewhere
around the house,
you are among the richest 8.
If you have a car,
you are among the richest 7.
Among the villagers
1 has a college education.
2 have computers.
14 cannot read.
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 do not live in fear or death
by bombardment, armed attack,
landmines,
or of rape or kidnapping by
armed groups,
then you are more fortunate than
20, who do.
In one year,
1 person in the village will die,
but, in the same year,
2 babies will be born,
so that at the year's end,
the number of villagers
will be 101.