gaia

  • Planet Earth in one village

    The earth in micro form
    Planet Earth in miniature (Photo by Dimitri Scripnic)

    “If we could shrink the Earth to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, there would be:
    – 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 8 Africans and 14 from North and South America.
    – 52 would be female and 48 male.
    – 70 would be non-Christian and 30 Christian.
    – 70 would be non-white and 30 white.
    – 6 would possess 59% of the world’s wealth and would be from North America.
    – 80 would live in substandard housing.
    – 70 would be unable to read.
    – 50 would suffer from malnutrition.
    – 1 would have a college education.
    – 1 would own a computer.

    …If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world…if you have money in the bank, in your wallet and some spare change lying around, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.”

    An excerpt from The Holistic Manifesto by William Bloom

    With thanks to Alan McSmith for drawing my attention to it on his blog