Saturday, June 4, 2011

If the world were a village...

via [Brain Pickings]

I've learned about this before, but I love all these images, so I thought I would share.

































The one that really got to me was the one about Fear and Freedom.

Sure, 1/100 people are HIV positive, and that’s a huge problem, but 20/100 people live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups?? That’s huge.

Even worse, 48/100 people aren’t free, in the sense that they can’t speak or act according to their faith and conscience due to harassment, imprisonment, torture or death? Those are the things we really take for granted here in Canada.

I’m sure it all goes back to the governments (or lack of responsible governments) that are in place around the world, and that only 1/100 people have a post secondary education. Of course, this is probably due to the fact that 20% of the world’s population shares 2% of the world’s wealth. All these problems are connected.

Trying to solve the world’s problems is a big job, but at least there are organizations like Oxfam, Amnesty International and the Red Cross which are willing to help. Check out their websites to see how you can help.

Which statistic do you find most disturbing? Anything that surprised you? Feel free to respond in the comments section.