Saturday, June 11, 2005

13 Reasons To Believe Why We Live In A Crazy World

I am sure that there must be sound economic reasons - and purpose - for these snapshots of the world we live in. The list is longer than just these dozen (+1)facts, and I am still trying to figure out a rationale why these happen.

  • According to the FAO, every year governments world-wide spend $116 billion to catch just $70 billion worth of fish.

  • The production of one gram of microchips consumes 630 grams of fossil fuels. According to the American Chemical Society, the construction of single 32 megabyte DRAM chip requires 3.5 pounds of fossil fuels in addition to 70.5 pounds of water.

  • The cows of the North earn twice as much as the peasants of the South. The subsidies received by each cow in Europe and the United States double the average salary earned by peasants in the poor countries for a whole year of work.

  • in 1996, Food and animal feed imports to UK involved transportation by sea, air and road amounting to over 83 billion tonne-kilometres. This required 1.6 billion litres of fuel and, based on a conservative figure of 50 grams of carbon dioxide per tonne-kilometre resulted in 4.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions

  • The World Bank praised the privatization of public health in Zambia: "It is a model for the rest of Africa. There are no more waiting lines at hospitals." The Zambian Post daily completes the idea: "There are no more waiting lines at hospitals because now people die at home."

  • In 1998, journalist Richard Swift arrived in the fields of western Ghana, were cheap cocoa is harvested to be shipped to Switzerland for making chocolates. The journalist carried some chocolate bars in his backpack. The native harvesters had never tasted chocolate before. They loved it.

  • In 1998 Britain imported 240,000 tonnes of pork and 125,000 tonnes of lamb from overseas - and in the same year exported 195,000 tonnes of pork and 102,000 tonnes of lamb to other countries.

  • In the US, the average piece of food is transported almost 1,500 miles before it gets to a plate. In Canada, the average piece of food is transported 5,000 miles from where it is produced to where it is consumed.

  • Ever since China opened up to the so called "market economy," its traditional menu of rice and vegetables has been speedily overtaken by hamburgers. The Chinese Government had no choice but to declare war on obesity, which is now a national epidemic. The advertising campaign publicizes the example of Liang Shun, a young man who lost 115 kg (253 lbs) last year.

  • in 1997, Britain imported 61,400 tonnes of poultry meat a year from the Netherlands and exported 33,100 tonnes to the Netherlands. It also imported 240,000 tonnes of pork and 125,000 tonnes of lamb while exporting 195,000 tonnes of pork and 102,000 tonnes of lamb.

  • According to a UN study, the 20% Northern minority of humankind has: 82.7% of world gross national product, 81.2% of world trade, 94.6% of all commercial lending, 80.5% of all domestic investment, 80.6% of all domestic savings, 94.0% of all research and development.

  • In UK, among all products, food items travel the farthest before being consumed. On average, a food item travels 129 km compared to the average product travel of 94 km. Nearly 30% of household waste is food waste.

  • The annual market value of the world's water supplies is estimated at about US 1 trillion dollars. In the year 2000, for example, 12 countries received IMF loans - negotiated under the new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility - on the condition that they privatize their water services. Eight of these were in sub-Saharan Africa.

    I hope that one day I - and you - will be able to understand these, and make sense out of these kind of things happening around us. Till then, we will continue to live in this topsy-turvy world.

    Sources:
    http://www.sunsonline.org/trade/process/followup/1999/08310299.htm
    http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=2604§ionID=13
    http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Index.html
    http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/040605_world_stories.shtml
    http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/waterGrab.html

  • 1 comment:

    Shivaji said...

    Well.. you missed out the biggest reason...more than 80% of world citizens still believe in a concept of God..