Posted by Rachel on: 03.04.2007 /
Growing up as a middle class American, I always knew that there were desperately poor people in the world. And I heard many times how fortunate I was to live in
Then I discovered the Global Rich List. It’s a simple website where you input your annual household income. Then it shows you where you are in relation to the rest of the world’s population, based on a bar graph and a percentage. Wow!! My husband and I couldn’t believe the results. Surely that thing isn’t working right! We aren’t rich. After all, the car we drive is 10 years old and we don’t wear designer labels and… I guess my concept of wealth is pretty distorted by the culture I’m living in. So if I am rich, what does that mean for me? Do I have any responsibility to all those people in the world less fortunate than me?
I hope you will take a minute to visit the Global Rich List and learn about your own financial status in the world community. (It defaults to pounds, so if you don’t live in the
Are you as surprised as I was by the results?
What are the responsibilities that come with wealth?
Are there special obligations for rich people like us?
Leave a Reply
Comment by: Helen
1 03/5/07 12:27 PM | Comment Link |I can’t say I was exactly surprised, but when I experimented with putting different numbers in, I was struck by the fact that a person who earns $1000 a year is richer than over half the people in the world.
I think $1000 a year goes further in some places than others but even so, undoubtably there are many many people in the world who are in poverty by any standards.
I heard something on Public Radio a few months ago about a whole community who lives next to the huge Manila garbage dump, because they make whatever money they have searching for items they can sell in the garbage. Stories like that open my eyes to how other people live, around the world.
I would like rich people to share more of their resources, but, really I only have control over what this rich person does - me. I love microfinance because it’s a way rich people can help other people become able to earn income for themselves.
Comment by: Jim
2 03/5/07 1:50 PM | Comment Link |I think microfinance is the kind of incremental and organic approach that is always part of real change. It avoids using guilt by giving people something anyone can do.
Comment by: Joe
3 03/5/07 3:55 PM | Comment Link |Yes, a shocking website - albeit slightly misleading.
An Indian community worker once caused a stir in a poor Scottish estate by suggesting that the Scots he visited were poorer than the Indians were at home. Materially the Scottish people had far more - cable TV, somewhere to live, etc etc etc.
But the community worker pointed out that they had no hope, that whole generations were passing with adults that had no work and no hope of ever having work. The Indians had much less, but they still retained some hope that they could actually do something about their condition and change their lives.
Poverty is more than just money in the pocket.
But the hard truth is that we are far richer than most of the people in the world by an accident of birth. If we have a university education, access to decent healthcare, clean water, a computer… we are in a small minority.
In some ways, I disagree with Jim to the extent that I’m not sure guilt should be avoided. Yes, sometimes guilt can be unhelpful when it paralyses us to the cries of the poor. But generally, we have a lot to feel guilt about, and we should channel that guilt into something useful.
I think it is helpful to realise that we are all addicted to money and the trappings (status, possessions etc) and that in some ways we are as trapped in a cycle of wealth as others are trapped in a cycle of poverty.
Sorry, that is a bit of a jumble of thoughts..
Comment by: Anna - age 11
4 03/5/07 6:38 PM | Comment Link |When I saw it, I was kinda amazed! I didn’t really think we were that rich! It really got me thinking. I always thought we were like kinda in the middle, like there was tons of richer people, but there isn’t!
Comment by: Aubrie
5 03/5/07 8:44 PM | Comment Link |Wow. I put in our income & thought “no way.” So then I tried less, then less, then even $50 a year & that is in the top %14! My husband & I started out in a tiny apartment getting creative with ramen & tuna & washing our clothes in the bath tub. Now we have a very nice house that I realize could house soooo many people. And at times we throw away food we just didn’t eat & look in our big closet & say “I just don’t have a thing to wear!” I feel rich becuase of my family, friends, & relationship with God. But I need to realize how rich I really am compared to so many not just in the world, but also in my counrty, and in my own community. More people need to see this & maybe they would stop striving for the bottom line & start striving for what really matters. People living normal life spans, being healthy, having enough to eat & drink, having shelter, & access to education & health care. All the things that we see as rights here in America. I’m excited to see Rachel featured on Off The Map.
Comment by: Rachel
6 03/5/07 9:04 PM | Comment Link |Welcome, Aubrie! I’m so glad you found us! Are going to be able to come to the movie group? We will be watching “Why We Fight” on the 13th and I’ll base my movie review for this blog on input from the group.
Comment by: Jim
7 03/5/07 10:31 PM | Comment Link |Hey - What is Why We Fight about. I almost picked it up at the vidoe store the other night
Comment by: Pam Hogeweide
8 03/6/07 12:22 AM | Comment Link |i did the global rich list about a year ago and had a similar response as Anna - I did not realize how well off I was in contrast with the whole world.
And I do feel guilty for being a rich middle-class American who can afford a fancy, custom tattoo when she wants that could feed a third-world family for a year. I cannot fathom… and I ask God about this many times, how it is that he decided I should be an American woman. What responsibility does that carry with it. I heard Nancy Murphy talk about power last year at Off the Map’s conference, actually 2005, and after that talk I made a list of all the ways I have power. My mini-van, for instance is power, quite evident to me now when I pass the throngs of moms with babies in strollers at the bus stops, or pick up a young mom I know who’s world is very small because she does not have a car. I did not know my ability to read was power, but it is. It is estimated that up to two-thirds of the illiterate people of the world are women.
And being a middle class American woman has power.
What to do with that power is the question I ask God about on a fairly frequent basis.
Good post you guys. Thanks for helping us remember our economic power in light of the world beyond our red,white and blue borders.
Comment by: Rachel
9 03/6/07 9:18 AM | Comment Link |Why We Fight is a documentary by Eugene Jarecki that was inspired by Dwight Eisenhower’s famous speech about the military-industrial complex. Jarecki examines American militarism through interviews with politicians, soldiers and defense industry workers, as well as ordinary citizens from America and other countries. He shares revealing statistics and goes behind the scenes to show the viewer a defense industry trade fair, for example. I found it provocative but also balanced. I think it draws some disturbing conclusions but is not incendiary like a “Farenheit 9-11″ type piece. I highly recommend this film.
Benjamin and I are hoping that our blog participants will watch the movies that we are planning to review with us so we can all discuss and interact together. (See the sidebar for a list of upcoming movie reviews and links to learn more about the movies.) I will be showing “Why We Fight” to several friends who have not seen the film before and then writing my review based on their reactions. Benjamin will be reviewing the South African film Red Dust for our next movie review this Friday.
Comment by: benjamin ady
10 03/6/07 9:27 AM | Comment Link |Pam, I had to leave that Nancy Murphy session because I wasn’t in a place where I could cope with listening to a 9-11 call.
But I’m curious–how does God answer this question you ask him? (this is the little kid in me saying “Tell me a story!”)
Comment by: benjamin ady
11 03/6/07 9:28 AM | Comment Link |Jim,
Another Plus for Why We Fight (in my mind) is that it’s produced by BBC
Comment by: ncxian
12 03/6/07 1:05 PM | Comment Link |I am sure that I am very rich by comparison to others in the world. I found the numbers on the Global Rich list to be so enormous that I can’t make sense out of them. The sliding scale thingy helped. Maybe I need more examples. I liked the video somebody (Rachel?) posted several months ago with a whole bunch of examples of how little people get by on in other places. Does anybody know where that is?
Comment by: Pam Hogeweide
13 03/6/07 1:33 PM | Comment Link |The Nancy Murphy session I’m referring to was in 2005 where she talked about who has power in societies and communities, and in America that often means white privalaged males. While she was talking I began making a list of all the ways I hold power. I had never even considered what kind of power I possess until hearing her in ‘05. She provoked me to seeing myself in a new light. (which is a great sign of an effective communicator which Nancy Murphy most certainly is…)
The Murphy ‘06 session, yes, the 911 tape was devastating. I cried. When grown men in the audience began begging her to turn it off, you know it’s intense. And I remember that tape and how many thousands of children the world over who do not even have a 911 to call.
So my prayers about what to do with the power I have - how does God answer me? Mostly it seems to me that we are to share it, give it away, whatever bit of power we have, to yield it to help others. I give rides with my mini-van. knowledge is power, I try to share whatever knowledge I have that can be helpful to others, like in my blog, I like to write about what bits and pieces of understanding my small life has about this Great Big God. Money. I try to share some of that. Nothing glamorous. Just ordinary stuff.
As a writer I understand the tremendous power the written word can possess. This is where I pray the most, that my writing will be helpful for others.
But I suppose my whole life I will wrestle with the power I have and how to give it away. Humility and meekness are not natural for me.
Good discussion here, great comments everybody.
Comment by: Staci
14 03/6/07 4:16 PM | Comment Link |I had a similar reaction to Nancy Murphy’s 2005 talk: a realization that I have power. I also had to admit that I didn’t want anyone to know about my power. Heck, I didn’t want to know I had power. You know… then I’d have to be accountable for how I use it and couldn’t blame things on “people with all the power.”
And that is exactly the same reaction I had to the Global Rich List. I don’t want to know how high I rank in terms of monetary wealth because, as Pam points out, knowledge is power. It would be easier to avoid dealing with that knowledge and power, but I do believe I have a responsibility to steward those things for the benefit of others. The top part of the Global Rich List is overwhelming, but the list after that illustrating some practical things a person can do for $8 up to $2500 helped me see that I can personally make a difference. But the big picture is important because it will take a collective effort - not just individual - to end extreme poverty in our generation.
(Rachel - Thanks for listening to “rich girl troubles” and for not pointing out to me that they were such. :-) .)
Comment by: Karlene
15 03/6/07 5:23 PM | Comment Link |I was amazed how much getting married changed my statistics. I was rich before, but together we are super wealthy! (So why do we feel tight when it’s time to pay the bills???) I had seen this before but it’s such a great reminder of the privilege and power that I take for granted, and a prod in the direction of better stewardship of that privilege & power.
A quick word about guilt. I’m taking a class right now that is exploring shame, guilt, and grace and the author of one our texts points out that guilt is a mature response when a person does something (or fails to do something) that violates their own values. It motivates toward reparation and behavior change. This is in contrast to shame, which is destructive and paralyzing. This may be just symantics, but I think many of us - myself included - could use a little more mature, appropriate guilt about our money.
Comment by: benjamin ady
16 03/6/07 11:18 PM | Comment Link |Pam, Staci,
Thankyou. The ideas of choosing to recognize my power and choosing to give it away are challenging and yet somehow … empowering.
Does it count if I do littlish things that others don’t want to do which need doing. I’ve been trying to look out for those lately. Like this morning at the bus stop, the garbage bag had come out of the garbage can and garbage was all over the sidewalk. Looked gross. So … I picked it all up while waiting for the bus. I just thought “Here’s something I can do to help make everybody else’s day a bit nicer, and it’s easy”.
Comment by: Rachel
17 03/7/07 3:08 PM | Comment Link |Welcome, Pam! I’m glad you joined the conversation. My daughter and I really enjoyed your interview Can Christians Be Friends with Witches? over on the Doable Evangelism blog.
Welcome, Staci and Karlene! Hooray! My two bestest girlfriends in the whole wide world!
I agree that Nancy Murphy’s 2005 talk about power was excellent. (Except for the part when Staci was up in the balcony laying down with a migraine and Nancy had everybody in the audience let out a primal scream! he-he) One thing that really stuck with me was how Nancy said that power is not inherently good or bad, what’s important is how we use our power. She talked about “stewarding” our power to benefit others. Now that I am coming to recognize the political, economic, social power that I have, I must ask myself if I am a good steward of that power.
A while back I attended a Greek Orthodox service and the priest gave his homily on the story of the rich man who hoarded his excess grain, building larger and larger storehouses, till one night “his soul was demanded of him.” The priest said that the man had nothing to show for himself before God, that God had given him this wealth so he could bless others. The priest said something that really stuck with me, “The stomachs of the poor are the blessed storehouse.”
Comment by: Aubrie
18 03/7/07 9:08 PM | Comment Link |I agree with Staci in that I’m glad the web site has options with what you can do with the money you have. And even though I wasn’t at the talk, I understand how much power we really have with our money. We have so much power as consumers, we just don’t realize or don’t use it. It’s so much easier to just go ahead & buy the coffee or shop at the mega stores isn’t it. But when I realize I could use my wealth, which I didn’t realize I had, for good, then what kind of difference could I make. I have also seen people with a LOT of money in a church, buy what they want in that church. As well as a pastor bow to that money instead of what is ture & Godly. So being stewards of God’s money is a huge responsibility! I also agree so much with Jim that it’s not just money. It can be position, an object, education, many things. It makes me stop & think about how I want to use my power & how I want to teach my children about their power.
Comment by: Seren Rose
19 03/18/07 5:55 AM | Comment Link |I’ll be going to this at my uni in a few weeks:
Student-Staff Forum: “Global Poverty: What are our Obligations?”
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
1.10pm - 2.00pm
Public Lecture Theatre, Old Arts Building
Speaker: Peter Singer, Laureate Professor, Centre for Applied
Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE)
Have you ever spent a few dollars on something you didn’t really
need? If you answer yes to that question, you belong to the rich
world. For more than a billion people, the money you spend on a CD,
new shoes, or a concert, is more than they have to feed their
families on for a week. Does this situation create obligations for
us, living in the rich world? If so, how far do these obligations
go? What can we do to help the poor, and what should we be doing?
i don’t know if any of you are familiar with peter singer. i think he is an amazing ethicist - cuts through his (our) cultures assumptions and lights up our blind spots.
- seren
Comment by: Rachel
20 03/18/07 7:42 AM | Comment Link |Welcome, Seren! Wow, that sounds like a great forum. Would you want to take notes and report back to us about it?