I don’t own a cell phone, go out to eat, see movies in the theater, or have cable TV.
I shop at Walmart. I buy generic food and off-brand clothing. I keep the heat at 65 degrees in the winter, and the air conditioning at 85 degrees in the summer.
I have never considered myself to be wealthy or rich. How could I be, since I struggle to pay my bills every month?
But as it turns out, I am in the top 1%.
And so are you.
No, no! It cannot be!
As Amy over at Everyone Needs a little Grace in their Lives wrote:
I am one of the richest people in the world. And I don’t mean that figuratively. I mean that literally. I do not own a plane, or a boat, or even a house. But I am one of the richest people in the world. Filthy, stinkin’ rich.
She pointed me to a website which showed me just how rich I really am. Go ahead. Check it out.
It’s sobering. It’s reality. We may be “the 99%” here in the United States, but when it comes to the rest of the world, almost everyone in the United States is in the top 1%.
But what can I do?
I am not really sure what to do about it. That’s the problem. We are caught in this American merry-go-round which is going so fast, it’s nearly impossible to step off.
I don’t have any solutions (right now), but maybe being aware of the problem is the first step.
If you are at the poverty level here in the US.. the site says you are in the top 12% of the world.
Hmmmm. I wondered about that. Thanks for checking it out.
still, what the US defines as poverty is the top 12% of the world… insane.
Oh, right. I see your point now.
This is one of those “gatcha” posts. Makes me feel ashamed when I worry about my finances, when there are others in the rest of the world that are in far worse shape than me.
Encouraging Thoughts for Life
Derrick,
Sorry about that. I try not to write these types of posts. I almost didn’t post it for that very reason. But it was something I read today, and I decided to put it out there…
This may be true if comparing incomes. However, what most of these comparisons fail to allow for is how much a dollar will buy in each place. Some things may be more expensive in very poor countries (Such as imported food from the USA for purchase by expats – in one very poor country I know of, a box of imported breakfast cereal costs the equivalent of approximately three days wages for a local), but many things are less expensive.
For example, we have our dental work done in Mexico, where it typically cost one fourth to one third what it does on this side of the border. Fruits, vegetables, dried rice and beans as well as other foods are often much less expensive in some poor countries. Medical care is usually much less expensive, as are medications.
In terms of buying power, our “riches” won’t go nearly so far here as they would in many other places in the world.
Sam,
Wisdom, as always.
I wish I lived closer to Mexico! Ha.
Is the care as good as what you get in the States?
Thank you for helping put some of this “guilt” in perspective.
We like our Mexican dentist better than any we found in San Diego. The equipment is very modern and the quality of work seems to be better.
As we’re approaching retirement age, we read that the “average” couple in the USA will need $230,000 to $400,000 (depending on whose estimate you read) to pay for uncovered medical costs in retirement. That does not include things such as nursing homes.
I know several doctors, nurses, administrators and so on who work in nursing homes who tell me that a nursing home stay of more than a year or two will completely bankrupt many/most people, considering the cost of the nursing home and unreimbursed costs for medications. Just yesterday my friend told me that his brother is going to have to sell his home to pay for his wife’s nursing home bill.
This is not the case in all countries. Again, I’m observing that many of us may not be as wealthy as we appear to be. Then again I read that the very rich grew richer during the recession. Now how can that be?
According to that site, if you make $1300 a year you are in the top 33% of the world. It isn’t possible to live off $1300 a year in the U.S. Not even if you are homeless….
so it seems that our income is higher, but so is our cost of living.
Still very eye-opening to find out that to make it to the top 20% of the world in income you just have to make $2000 a year.
and to add to Sam’s post, try going on a vacation in India, you can stay at a 5 star hotel for a week if you have $100.
same for Thailand
Kirk,
Hmmm…. very interesting.
So… I don’t know where that leave us. We still kinda stuck here. We live here, we have jobs here, and we can’t very well move.
What would be good is a comparison between income and cost of living on a worldwide scale. Then the statistics on that website might be more helpful.
Of course, even here in the States, we often spend lots of money on non-essentials. We could cut back in many of these non-essential areas so that we had more money for those who had less.
It is still very sobering to see how much better we have it than most of the world
wow, that website is sobering! I liked how they gave examples of what we could sacrifice or refrain from buying for entertainment and comfort here could actually go to some great needs for others. I am in a position right now with paying off cancer sugeries that when I think about purchasing something I have to ask myself, “okay, Tammy, is this a need or a want?” Trying to discipline myself to buy only needs. I’m wondering now, if I should ask, “okay, Tammy is this a need or a want, and if it is a want, can you give money for someone else’s need?”
Thanks, Tammy.
Paying off the surgery, as hard as it is, is good training I suppose for learning to distinguish between needs and wants. It would be good to keep this practice up once the surgeries are paid off.
it is possible, Kirk.
it is possible to “step off” the merry-go-round.
picture Jesus.
Marshall,
Yes, it is possible. I am trying to step off. But it is so difficult! The merry-go-round is going so fast!
I think the speed is an illusion… I also think stepping off may be easier done in increments….working on that, anyway. 😉
So am I. A bit at a time. We’re all in this together!
So you are saying that considering you live a barely comfortable life and are in the top 90th percentile in the world, the 1st percentile of the USA must be too obscenely rich for there own good. Therefore the impetus to change the world for the better falls not on the top 10% of the world but on the top 0.1% or less of the world. This is because (note these are very rough estimates based on little to nothing) the top 0.1% have accumulated a vast majority of the wealth, probably around, if not over, 90% of the wealth.
However, the top 0.1% will never stop hoarding their wealth. It is up to the top 10% who via there mere proximity to the 0.1% have an ability to force the 0.1%ers hand to take action in order to effect positive growth of the world.
John Doe,
I wasn’t really saying much of anything. Just making an observation.
But I do wish that more of us who are rich would lead the way in being generous with out wealth to those who have less in ways that would actually help, rather than hinder their rise out of poverty. I also do not think that government can (or should) properly take money away from the wealthy and fairly distribute it to the poor.
Perhaps it’s true that the government shouldn’t take from the .01% and force them to give it to the poor – but they should force them to use their money to benefit the society they sell to. A great way to do this would be to force them to either pay an exorbitant tax if they make a certain amount of revenue, or let them choose to invest in a smaller business and help it grow.
The way big businesses make so much money now is they find small, growing businesses that could create a lot of jobs – and they buy them out. They are rewarded for exterminating the small neighborhood businesses that keep people from becoming poor and dependent. Furthermore, after the buyout, they often get rid of a lot of the workers at the small company as they bring the new business in.
The other way the rich stay rich is by investing in bonds and things, but that promotes hoarding. Because of bank rates, a rich person can make thousands of extra dollars in a year just by banking the millions they have. No work required. This prevents money from circulating, so it never reaches small businesses, never reaches the poor, never moves through the economy. It just sits there, gaining interest. If money were blood and your body was the economy, any time the blood stopped moving and sat in one place, that would be considered a clot and a doctor would remove it because otherwise he would have to amputate the limbs that couldn’t get any blood, leaving the rest of you immobile if not dead. That’s what is happening to the economy when the .01% hoard their wealth. It is the reason why we struggle when we are in the top 12% in the world. It is why they starve and die when they are in the bottom 1%.
To bring this all back to Jesus, I believe that he would have understood that money is simply a tool to get things done. It’s a replacement for trading grain for milk. I think that’s the attitude he would want us to have about it. Use it to get what you need, get some of the things you want, and feed/help some other people along the way.
Katryna,
There are certainly things that could be done to encourage the wealthy to invest more in community and job creation. I am not an economist, business owner, or politician, and so am not sure what the best solution might be.
I am, however, a theologian, and know that no matter what “solution” the people in charge come up with, not much will change if people’s hearts don’t change also. Greed for money and power are universal.
So I like your suggestions, with that one caveat.
Here is another way at looking at wealth. When I watch the TV I cannot help but notice how happy some of those kids are in the worse off places in Africa for example. They kick that home made football about in the dry sunny dirt and have a great time. Our kids, who are not kids anymore spent much more time indoors because of lack of sunshine here in Ireland. Our kids suffer obesity because of to much food. And I would have a guess that depression would be much more prevalent on the abundant West. So who actually is the most wealthy? We can only do what we can do. And sometimes thats just twiddle our thumbs. Am I responsible for myself or my kids. Let alone others? No. I do my best which often falls short but the rest I comfortably put into the Lords care. Sleep well good people. Stress not!
Consider Jesus. He was just there for people. What’s the value in just being there for people. Priceless probably. He got upset when he wasn’t there for lazarath. Even he couldn’t be there for everyone, all of the time. Not this side of the grave anyway. We are always about our fathers business. Even when we cannot see it or understand it. There is a time for giving, a time for taking etcetcetc. And nothing new under the sun. If we are going to give. Start with giving up.