The Global Village: What it looks Like
Author: Bobby Valentine | Filed under: Contemporary Ethics, Kingdom, Ministry, PoliticsThe Global Village: What It Looks Like
If we could shrink down the Earth’s population to a single village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaing the same, it would look like this:
There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western hemisphere (North & South America), and 8 Africans.
51 would be female; 49 would be male.
70 would be non-white, 30 would be white.
70 would be non-Christian; 30 would be Christian.
50% of the entire world’s wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people, all six would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing.
70 would be unable to read this note.
50 would be suffering from malnutrition.
1 would be near death, 1 would be near birth.
Only 1 would have a college education.
Not one would have a computer.
When one considers our world from such an incredibly compressed perspective, the need for tolerance, understanding and compassion becomes glaringly apparent.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
November 1st, 2006 at 12:46 am
I think I might be a minority, based on this post.
I am non female; I am not non-white; I am not non-Christian, I think I am among the 4 that has the other 50% of the worlds wealth (but that is not supposed to be good thing -I think); I am not among the 80% with substandard housing, not unable to read the note, not suffering from malnutrition (but that category is half-n-half anyway) and I have a college education and a computer. The only clear cut majority I am among is the 8 not near death or birth (I presume). 🙂
But seriously, the village view is interesting. It gives good perspective on my place in God’s world. I have a lot of advantages in my shoes. Wisdom will help me be a steward of them. May God’s kingdom rule come to the village as it is in heaven.
Thanks for sharing…
Many blessings…
November 1st, 2006 at 12:47 am
Oops, bad math, you said 6 from 100, huh?
Okay, then I am in the majority on the wealth thing. Now I see it clearly.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:09 am
Thanks, Bobby. This is excellent food for thought. It really helps put things in perspective. -bill
November 1st, 2006 at 1:36 am
30% Christian seems high to me. But, assuming you are correct, the 30 should be able to evangelize the other 70 in a short time. (Not convert, but tell)
Of the 57 Asians, how many would be radical Islamists and want to kill the rest? And, would one of those 100 be in favor of abortion and kill the one near birth?
Please Bobby, tell me John Kerry will is not one of the 100!
Grace and Peace,
Royce Ogle
November 1st, 2006 at 2:01 am
These are interesting and humbling statistics.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:01 am
That is amazing.
I have a hard time accepting that less than 1% of the world’s population has a computer. If that is true, how does it come about that there are 1 billion people on the Internet?
Aside from that, it is interesting to see the racial and religious breakdown. The pattern is not the same worldwide as it is in America.
It would be interesting to see it broken down beyond the white/nonwhite and Christian / nonchristian categories (Apparently the source study was made to hilight that aspect).
November 1st, 2006 at 3:39 pm
Wow… Great Post. Really puts things into perspective when you think about it that way.
November 1st, 2006 at 6:43 pm
Thirty “church of Christ” people? Really! 🙂
November 1st, 2006 at 8:09 pm
HaHaHaHaHaHa-HooHooHooHooHoo-HeeHee
HeeHee-Hoohoohoo…phwew
30 Christians =’s 30 ‘church of christ’ people because we think we’re the only ones going to heaven.
Hooo-teehee-teehee
Oh…that was funny! And so innovative! And original! And funny did I mention funny. That was a hoot.
Whew, I’m wore out!
Now that put the whole let’s be accepting and loving and understanding in perspective ….even more than the post.
AW
November 5th, 2006 at 1:24 am
I like to think about the diversity of heaven. It boggels my mind that some people don’t want to worship in a church that is racially diverse. I sure think they will get a shock when they get to heaven where being caucasion is certain a non-issue and will probably be in the minority anyway.
Anthony Wood once had us do Lectio Divina with the Lord’s prayer. He centered in on “on earth as it is in heaven.” What is keeping so many folks from having a racially diverse congregation when that would be having things “on earth as it is in heaven?”
November 7th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Monte Cox (Harding University) puts this data into perspective with his Honor Symposium students. He has them stand in the rotunda of the Bible building (the floor is a tiled map of the world). Has has the 100 or so students stand respectively where the population distribution lies. Most fo the students are in Asia, and Africa. He then hands out peanuts based on the distribution of wealth and food, etc. The few people standing on the U.S. get most of the peanuts. Its funny when we complain about working for peanuts and our peantus are probably more than most eat in a day. Thanks for the info!
~JK