If you were to guess what percentage of the world’s population had less annual income than you, what would you guess? Maybe 10%? Well, you’ll likely be surprised to find out that if you live in the US and eat regularly, you fall in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest people, and more likely you are well under 0.5%!
These are my results … and I am not what I would consider to be ‘rich’ by any means. I need to take loans for housing and cars, and so on. But I have always known that compared to the rest of the world, I am in a very privileged position – I have housing, clothing, heat, a nearly endless supply of great food … and that doesn’t even start to discuss the layers of luxuries we enjoy!
The site Global Rich List has a calculator that allows you to see how your wealth places you in the world, and see how someone in Africa would compare to your wealth level. The site is operated by the charity Care, and is meant as a fund-raiser, but is informative regardless.
For Christians, this is the Christmas Season, which should be a season of caring and giving, but has instead become an elbows-high race to grab that $199 flat-screen TV before the next guy gets there. Perhaps understanding how little so many BILLIONS of people in the world have can cause us to reflect upon our own blessings.
Head to Global Rich List to see how you figure in the world population … and maybe get a bit of a wake-up call. I know I did.