Hunger Rumblings
ELCA World Hunger staff and associates write about root causes of hunger, current events, and anything else they find pertinent.
Who is the 1%…Me?
Happy Thanksgiving, Blogging Colleagues!
On Thanksgiving Day, we think about what we have and give thanks. However, sometimes this day seems increasingly like the “eve” to the real holiday, “Black Friday,” where we think about we do not have, but that we want.
Recently, I was sharing with a colleague about the last website I blogged about, and she suggested another—the “Global Rich List.” Very interesting…
From the site, “Every year we gaze enviously at the lists of the richest people in world. Wondering what it would be like to have that sort of cash. But where would you sit on one of those lists? Here’s your chance to find out.”
According to the Global Rich List, I am the one percent (to use the catchphrase of the Occupy Wall Street Movement). The site uses a sliding scale to show your position of wealth within the global community. You can see your rich list position, as well as the percentage in which you fall. Simply select the currency of your salary, type in your annual income, and click “show me the money!”
So, I am the one percent. The site asks one follow up question, “how do you feel about that?” and then encourages us to give just one hour’s worth of our salary (calculated using the above information) to a worthy cause.
I will be giving ELCA Good Gifts this holiday season—a very worthy cause in my (admittedly biased) opinion. But on this day of thanks, I will be giving thanks for the many gifts of friends, family, good employment and yes, the wealth that is entrusted to me for good stewardship toward health, wholeness and fulfilling life for all. That is the mindset I want to take into the holiday frenzy…wish me luck!
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Check out the Global Rich List site, and post back your comments here. Looking forward to the conversation!
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on November 25th, 2011 at 7:13 am
while we may or may not align ourselves with the 1% of the U.S. economy, we should never forget that we are the 1% of the world’s economy. As long as we strive to see that others have, in terms of food, shelter and clothing, we are being the hands of God and showing the love of Jesus.
Thank you for the reminder!
on March 20th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
[...] said the other day that, from a global perspective, almost all of us reading this blog are the One Percent. Instead of insisting we’re not privileged, asking “who, me?” and pointing fingers, [...]