This afternoon, I am preparing for my lesson tonight. These great stats were included in the prep. Have you ever REALLY thought about this? It is a worthwhile mental activity.
1. America controls nearly 20 percent of the world's wealth. There are around six billion people in the world, and there are roughly three hundred million people in the U.S. That makes America less than 5 percent of the world's population. And this 5 percent owns a fifth of the world's wealth.
2. One billion people in the world do not have access to clean water, while the average American uses four hundred to six hundred liters of water a day.
3. Every seven seconds, somewhere in the world a child under age five dies of hunger, while Americans throw away 14 percent of the food we purchase.
4. Nearly one billion people in the world live on less than one American dollar a day.
5. Another 2.5 billion people in the world live on less than two American dollars a day.
6. More than half of the world lives on less than two dollars a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week.
7. 1.6 billion people in the world have no electricity.
8. By far, most of the people in the world do not own a car. One third of American families own three cars.
9. Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half of the world does on all goods.
Rob Bell, (Zondervan, 2008), pp. 122-123