The Big Picture

I haven’t posted anything in a while. I’ve been busy. Thanks to everyone for their support and for continuing to read/subscribe/patronize/whatev.

I’ve been pondering over the last few days. Thinking about the state of our country, about the impending doom that is known as the election, and the fallout that will happen regardless of the victor. For those of you that are about to skip reading the rest of this and jump to the comment section to leave your nine cents, just know that I’m not endorsing Obama or McCain. Both are politicians.

With all this talk of recession looming large on our televisions, in our minds, and splashed across the pages of our publications, its time to really look at our definition of poor and poverty. I’m a stats person, so here are some to chew on (be careful, its a lot to swallow):

• At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.*
• Of the 2.2 billion children in the world, half- every other child- is in poverty.*
• 1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity.*
• The world’s billionaires — just 946 people — are worth $3.5 trillion (over 7% of world Gross Domestic Product) according to Forbes Magazine. Click on the Forbes link for the list.
• Consider the global priorities in spending a decade ago (in US$ billions).*
  

  Cosmetics in the United States	8
  Ice cream in Europe	11
  Perfumes in Europe and the United States	12
  Pet foods in Europe and the United States	17
  Business entertainment in Japan	35
  Cigarettes in Europe	50
  Alcoholic drinks in Europe	105
  Narcotics drugs in the world	400
  Military spending in the world	780

• And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:*
  

  Basic education for all	6
  Water and sanitation for all	9
  Reproductive health for all women	12
  Basic health and nutrition	13

• Americans spend more on trash bags than 90 other countries spend on everything.^
• If everyone in the world consumed at the same rate as Americans do, we would need six planet earths to meet the demand for resources.^

$11 BILLION ON ICE CREAM! I realize that I could CAPS LOCK every item on those lists- I mean, seriously- ? And what of America’s consumption!? Really!?

Why did I get on world poverty stats to start with? I was talking about politics, right?

Answer: We are not poor.

WAKE UP! We spend more on our stinkin’ trash bags than 46% of the world spends on EVERYTHING! Hold on- I’m not done with this one: Americans spend $865.26 million on trash bags! (Source here.)

John McCain has raised $332.9 million and Barack Obama has raised $603.2 million as of September 30, 2008, according to the Federal Election Commission! The FEC states that all Presidential Election Candidates have raised $1514.4 million (that’s over $1.5 billion) as of the same date!

Recession? No, at least not yet. We’re just living on debt. Living beyond our means. Point in case: The Bailout. Using debt to pay off debt. This only treats the symptoms, it does not change the behavior.

Barack Obama will let you use a credit card to donate to his campaign! Don’t believe me? See for yourself here. John McCain is doing the same- but at least his site is allowing Paypal too.

McCain won’t fix it. Obama won’t fix it. It’s up to you. You-fix-you. Stop living on debt.

Sources, unless otherwise cited: *Shah, A. (2008, September 3). Global Issues. Retrieved October 23, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://globalissues.org/; ^Moss, J. (2008, October 15) The Seminal. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.theseminal.com/.