There is a recent book called Factfulness, written by Hans Rosling. He was a professor of international health and did a lot of TED talks, before his death in 2017. I found it in Goodwill and brought to Mexico for reading material. It tells how most people have a much more negative view of the world than what is warranted, how things are actually better and getting better for the majority of the world. I do agree with his hypothesis, despite my own innate pessimism. I’ve read other books and articles that subscribe to the same premise, and they are mostly correct.
More of the world is becoming electrified, being connected to the internet, having less infant mortality, having access to health services, producing less kids, not starving, becoming more educated (especially women), earning more money, living in better conditions, living longer, and more. There is a lot of reason for optimism.
I haven’t gotten far in the book yet, less than a quarter done. But I did find something that I greatly disagree with. The author divided the world’s population into 4 financial categories, instead of poor and rich. He classified those who brought in less than $2 per day as poor, and those who earn $32 per day or more as rich ($1000 monthly). Approximately a billion are in the poor category and a billion are in the rich. That makes the vast majority of Earth’s people as upper and lower middle class. I have two problems with this.
1)The cost of living varies extremely from country to country, and even within countries. Real estate is a good example of that difference. One acre of desert land in the US might cost $1000, while an acre in downtown New York would be tens of millions or more. A simple house in Mexico might go for $10,000 and one in London for $2,000,000.
The same with food prices. You might be able to buy a whole chicken for a few pennies in Africa, and the same could be $15-20 in an urban metropolis in the West. Right now, food prices are jumping in the US, but they are unevenly increased depending on many circumstances (close to the source, cost of transportation, shortages, greed, local government regulations and taxes).
Food and housing can be major expenses; but there are so many other costs in normal living. Clothing, school expenses, utilities, medical, entertainment, transportation. The prices of these vary too much for a cost average to have any meaning!
2)Defining middle-class is very different from one place to another. Everyone has opinions what it takes to be rich, poor, or in between. In income, possessions, and money in the bank. Hardly any American would say $1000 per month takes you from the middle class to rich status. Most people on welfare get more than that, when you add up housing assistance, free health-care, food stamps, child-care, TANF, tax credits for low income, and so on.
To someone in West Virginia, a job at McDonald’s might mean you are solidly middle-class, while elsewhere may mean you are a step below those on welfare, both financially and in status.
My monthly Social Security payments will not be much more than a thousand if I retire at 62, and I would have a hard time being able to move out of my van and into an apartment for that. Even studios costs that much and more in Oregon; leaving me with nothing to buy food, pay utilities, prescriptions, etc. That’s partly why I’m looking at countries like Mexico, Thailand, and the Phillipines as cheaper locations to spend part of the year. I’m poor in the US, but fairly wealthy in those countries. More so in the rural areas than the urban, but I could even live comfortably in most cities there.
Of course that could change if the dollar loses value, which is likely because of how the national debt is exploding. I may be forced to continue to live in my van as my only option, with no money for traveling to foreign places. Or to keep working, to stay above water, financially. I had, and am continuing to have a rich life in experiences and gained knowledge. That’s worth much more than money. But money is needed for at least a modicum of security and comfort.
I’ll continue to read “Factfulness ” to glean what wisdom I can from it, and to share thoughts in another post. I like books that force me to think, whether I agree or not. This one is good for that.
iggyvandweller 