Wally Gallian
We have it good here

Life is good in Swainsboro. Life is good all over the United States and we enjoy and take for granted many things that people from other nations can only dream about. We generally do not have to think about things such as safe drinking water, getting fed every day or living with little or no electricity.

I recently read a very informative article regarding the population of the world. U.S. citizens clearly have a higher quality of living than any other country. We also control 32% of all wealth in the world with only 5% of the people.

The article broke down earth's population to a village of 100 people. All human ratios remain the same as the 6.5 billion people living on this planet.

Our village of 100 people representing the world's population would consist of 60 Asians, 12 Europeans, 5 U.S. and Canadian citizens, 8 Latin Americans and 14 Africans. The group would consist of 49 women and 51 men. 18 would be white and only 33 would be Christian.

The majority of this composite group does not have things as good as anyone reading this column. Of the hundred people, 80 live in substandard housing and 67 are illiterate while only one would have a college education. Malnutrition would be a way of life for half of the group and one would be dying of starvation at any given time; 76% of the world's population does have electricity, but the majority can only use it for lighting at night; and 33% do not have access to a safe water supply.

Only seven of the 100 would have a computer or access to the Internet. I have become so dependent on the Internet, I can't imagine life without it.

The article goes on to state that if you have food in your house, clothing and a roof over your head you are better off than 75% of the people in this world. If you have a bank account and a little cash put away, you are rich. Rich compared to the 92% of the population that have no money.

These facts surprised me. I knew the USA was the richest country, but I did not understand how many people in the world struggle daily just to be fed and have a place to sleep.

The article also angered me. I was angered towards people that are constantly complaining about what they don't have. We are incredibly fortunate to be United States citizens and should be grateful for the abundance of opportunities available to us every single day.- -Wally Gallian is publisher of The Forest-Blade and can be reached at wgallian@forest-blade.com

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