So how rich are you?

[impy13]

I'm hood rich

 

[daafish]

You are in the top 0.887% richest people in the world.
There are 5,946,760,435 people poorer than you.


Must be all of the OT!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

can this please not get into a first world poverty versus third world poverty debate? it's apples to oranges.

 

[LyricalDrug]

Well, remember, this is a site designed to get you to donate money, so of course they want to make you feel rich.

Americans are indeed lucky, though. Even someone making minimum wage here is in the top 5% worldwide.

 

[unforgettableFOXfire]

can this please not get into a first world poverty versus third world poverty debate? it's apples to oranges.

Quite so.

Treat like things equally, and different things differently (though those different things must also be treated equally to other similar different things).


People should still donate money, though, because actions speak louder than words. Even if, as Emerson said, "they aren't my poor" this doesn't preclude doing something decent for another human being.

 

[MsGiggles]

My results:
You are in the top 0.695% richest people in the world.
There are 5,958,248,435 people poorer than you.


I give quite a lot to charity but most of it is locally

 

[dandy]

It is worse to be poor in America where most people aren't, it's humiliating to the kids.

riiiiiiight.

i can't get over how some people think that being poor, in terms of international poverty, means not being able to fix your car or pay off your credit cards. not to belittle those of us who are struggling financially, but the vast majority of the poor in industrialized nations at least have access to basic survival needs like shelter, food, running water, public education, and basic medical care.

the poorest among us are rich by international standards, and that was the whole point of this thread.

you want to talk about humiliation? look at sudan, where millions of people have been forcibly displaced from their homes and live in squalor in refugee camps. look at burma or moldova, where many families agnoizingly decide to sell their women and children to traffickers to be able to afford food for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two. look at india, where the dalits still live as social outcasts in makeshift shacks in sewer filled slums.

it's worse to be poor in america, you say? perhaps you should try to walk a mile in someone else's shoes and realize how lucky you are to have what you have, precious little as it may seem by times.

 

[trevster2k]

Wonderful to see a great discussion here. Here a couple of pics of the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. I saw a double page spread picture of the this place in National Geographic where 800,000 people live in shacks with open sewers. 800,000, that is a staggering number.

I can appreciate the comments of people who still live check to check as most of us do but I didn't post the link to pressure anyone to give money, I just hoped it would let us all appreciate how fortunate many of us are to live where we live. The poor people in this slum would love to have the worst problems we have with money.

 

[boosterjuice]

You are in the top 0.843% richest people in the world.
There are 5,949,373,955 people poorer than you.

 

[Carek1230]

I am by no means rich, but I treasure and am proud of everything that I do have.

 

[U2Kitten]

riiiiiiight.

i can't get over how some people think that being poor, in terms of international poverty, means not being able to fix your car or pay off your credit cards. not to belittle those of us who are struggling financially, but the vast majority of the poor in industrialized nations at least have access to basic survival needs like shelter, food, running water, public education, and basic medical care.

the poorest among us are rich by international standards, and that was the whole point of this thread.

That's why I said it's not right to judge industrialized nations by comparing them to third world nations, because the lifestyles and standards are so different there IS a different degree of poverty in our lives.

Maybe some of you lecturing types have never been in the situation people I have known have been in or you wouldn't talk so much and preach that they have no problems compared to somebody in a mud hut. If we could see those mud huts around us everyday we might feel more fortunate, but having to deal with the affluence of the general public makes you feel, and be, poor, by OUR standards, and those are the ones we have to live with.

I also saw a documentary where poor people were complaining about preachy western activists, mostly college kids with wealthy parents, were crusading against 'sweat shops' in their area until they got them shut down. One girl said that after the sweat shop left, girls as young as 11 had to turn to prositution to make up the money they lost. The girl said people in the west do not understand the different standards (which is where I got the idea!) and that what we consider a slave driving sweat shop with low pay is the best job in town to them, and they don't want to lose it.

Now, of course this is not okay to exploit the poor like this. It also takes away jobs in America as factories can pay these poor kids a fraction of what our labor laws demand. But it happens, and the way things are, they appreciate the money. If I could reform the entire world, for everyone, boy would I. I'm no communist, but I don't think it's right for one person to sit there on millions or billions of dollars while millions of other people can barely survive. Couldn't they do with like 10 million and give the rest to help others? I would. I was thinking last night if I hit the powerball, I'd end up broke because I feel so sorry for the poor I'd give too much away. The wrong people in this world are rich.

 

[BVS]

That's why I said it's not right to judge industrialized nations by comparing them to third world nations, because the lifestyles and standards are so different there IS a different degree of poverty in our lives.

Maybe some of you lecturing types have never been in the situation...

Do you even see the hypocricy in your statements? Telling people they can't compare yet you say things like this:

It is worse to be poor in America where most people aren't, it's humiliating to the kids.

They can't compare them, but you can?

But since this isn't FYM I won't go any further for this isn't the forum for it.

 

[daygloeyes2]

You are in the top 7.22% richest people in the world.
There are 5,566,727,941 people poorer than you.

I understand that by doing this, I should put my financial troubles in perspective. Yes, I'm well aware that there are people in the world who are far worse off than I am and to complain about my situation compared to theirs seems trivial. But that does not mean my family and I aren't under alot of financial stress right now.

 

[Got Philk?]

You are in the top 12.39% richest people in the world.
There are 5,256,041,397 people poorer than you.

Uh, yay recreation major?

 

[LyricalDrug]

Also, these statistics don't factor in cost-of-living. The COL in the US is much higher than the rest of the world, so it's possible to be "rich" according to this site, but still be under financial pressure.

There are lies, damn lies, and then statistics...

 

[Liesje]

Maybe some of you lecturing types have never been in the situation people I have known have been in or you wouldn't talk so much and preach that they have no problems compared to somebody in a mud hut.

Nobody's denying the difficulty of being poor in the Us (or anywhere on earth), but you can't accuse people of not knowing what it's like when you yourself have no idea what it's like to live in a mud hut. How can you say living without running water and having no working car is worst that the poverty in Africa when you've only seen one side?

Fortunately, I doubt there's many people here that have experienced both types of poverty.

 

[nbcrusader]

Bottom line: we are wealthy enough to discuss this issue while sitting comfortably behind our computers.....

 

[BVS]

Bottom line: we are wealthy enough to discuss this issue while sitting comfortably behind our computers.....

But it's more humiliating for those behind really old computers.

 

[Rono]

It is good to be a gardener in old europe,...


You are in the top 11.01% richest people in the world.
There are 5,338,835,705 people poorer than you.

 

[meegannie]

Also, these statistics don't factor in cost-of-living. The COL in the US is much higher than the rest of the world, so it's possible to be "rich" according to this site, but still be under financial pressure.

The most expensive city in the US (New York) is barely in the top ten most expensive cities in the world.

 

[LyricalDrug]

The most expensive city in the US (New York) is barely in the top ten most expensive cities in the world.

True. But the average cost of living is still higher in the US than the avg. cost of living elsewhere.

I'd be curious to see the list of most expensive cities. I'm guessing Hong Kong, Paris, and London make the list?

London is insanely pricely. You might as well stand on the street corner and just hand out pound notes.

 

[Kristie]

You are in the top 12.61% richest people in the world.
There are 5,243,104,786 people poorer than you.

...not including the $75,000 debt

aah, the life of a student
I'm thankful I even have the opportunity to be here, though.

edit: I went ahead and looked up the top ten most expensive cities worldwide...

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. London, England
4. Moscow, Russia
5. Seoul, South Korea
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Zurich, Switzerland
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Hong Kong, China
10. Oslo, Norway

http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm

 

[U2Kitten]

Nobody's denying the difficulty of being poor in the Us (or anywhere on earth), but you can't accuse people of not knowing what it's like when you yourself have no idea what it's like to live in a mud hut. How can you say living without running water and having no working car is worst that the poverty in Africa when you've only seen one side?

Fortunately, I doubt there's many people here that have experienced both types of poverty.

I am NOT saying it's not worse, I'm saying by OUR STANDARDS it's worse to be poor in the US than there because more people are living well here so life is harder for the poor because the cost of living is so high. People who live in places where nobody has anything don't have to deal with that. It is harder to have no plumbing and no car in a society where most people live comfortably than to live in a mud hut where everyone else has one too. And I bet a lot of them have a better attitude toward life than most US poor do, too.

 

[Dismantled]

Bottom line: we are wealthy enough to discuss this issue while sitting comfortably behind our computers.....

I'm not comfortable I'm cold....and tired.




They have thier problems...we have ours.

 

[VertigoGal]

I don't know where my family stands exactly on that, let's just say my little brother asked my dad if we were middle class and he replied "barely." It is true that poverty in the first world is different than poverty in the "third world"...my family's income probably puts us in the top 10%, but we've still had to deal with unemployment, debt, foreclosure, eviction, etc. (worst of all, our car is 20 years old! the horror)...there's no reason to pretend there are no hardships in the US and other rich nations.

At the same time, I think it's important to remember that I'm sitting in front of a computer complaining about stuff, wearing nice warm fuzzy pajamas, after just eating a nice spaghetti dinner...it simply doesn't compare to having to make a 10 hour round trip each day to get a bucket of water.

 

[Zoots]

At the same time, I think it's important to remember that I'm sitting in front of a computer complaining about stuff, wearing nice warm fuzzy pajamas, after just eating a nice spaghetti dinner...it simply doesn't compare to having to make a 10 hour round trip each day to get a bucket of water.

Exactly!

 

[Liesje]

I am NOT saying it's not worse, I'm saying by OUR STANDARDS it's worse to be poor in the US than there because more people are living well here so life is harder for the poor because the cost of living is so high. People who live in places where nobody has anything don't have to deal with that. It is harder to have no plumbing and no car in a society where most people live comfortably than to live in a mud hut where everyone else has one too. And I bet a lot of them have a better attitude toward life than most US poor do, too.

Not by my standards, it's not. And for those who have the above said "standards", they're simply wrong.

Have you ever been to any of these places you're talking about or know people that have experienced that kind of a life?

 

[meegannie]

You might as well stand on the street corner and just hand out pound notes.

...except they're coins. If they were notes, I'd probably spend less because I feel compelled to get rid of change and am more reluctant to spend notes.

Even when I entered the highest salary I earned when I lived in the US, I was only in the top 5.07%, which is much lower than many in this thread who say they're living from paycheck to paycheck. I lived pretty comfortably on that salary except for the fact that I was saving up to move here (I saved 50-60% of each paycheck, though), and I lived in DC which has a pretty high cost of living. I guess I can understand how those who have kids are spending much more than I did, but I can't figure out where is everyone else's money could be going. This isn't a criticism or a judgment; I'm just genuinely perplexed when people who make twice as much as I do/did always seem to drain their bank account each month. I feel like I must be forgetting to pay something.

 

[diamond]

matt 6:21

db9

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I make $3,200 a year on my Peace Corps income. That puts me in in the top 14.72%% richest people in the world with
5,116,326,002 people poorer than me.

Overall I can't complain. I see real poverty on a daily basis here in Africa. Not to preach at you all, but no matter how poor you think you are in the US, it's almost like you live in an entirely different universe. Luxury unimaginable to the majority of people living in the rest of the world. So take heart and be thankful that you don't have to walk 20 miles in the hot sun to spend your hard earned pennies for malaria medicine for your dying child. That you have clean water to drink and access to education. That you even have a car to complain about the gas prices.