Sunday, January 21, 2007

Money, money, money!

Came across this webpage the other day... (http://www.channel4.com/money/chat_vote_win/richometer/index.html)
...where you can input your annual salary and it tells you your wealth in comparison to either the rest of the UK or the rest of the world. It's obviously not going to be spot on by any means but it is a sobering thought when you realize just how much of the world's population is poorer than you. I took the average salary between Shelley and I (as for most being a couple is about shared wealth) and we're in the top 3% of the world's wealthiest people!

I pointed this out to someone who said, "yeah, but that includes all those staving millions in Ethiopia" as if that fact somehow invalidated the ranking. No - that's exactly the impact this meter had - the other 97% of the world consists of people who worry that they can't afford an education for their children, or can afford medicine for their illness, or can't even afford food to keep them alive. And here's me worrying about if I can afford a second holiday each year!

Not that I'm going to start feeling guilty about either my "wealth" or about the fact I will continue to worry about affording holidays and other luxuries, but I like it when things like this give me pause to sit back and realise just how lucky I am. Life is good to me really.

Now let's get back to moaning about my work....!

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