No Time to Whine

It seems that every time I look on the Internet at sites like Oregon Catalyst or read any major newspaper, people are complaining and whining about something. I wondered if it might be worthwhile to take a look at few statistics before we continue this “woe is me stuff” any longer.1. The annual gross national income per capita for the United States is $45,000. In Cambodia the gross national income per capita is $480. (World Bank) Half the world — nearly 3 billion people — live on less than two dollars per day. (United Nations)

2. If your children are growing at a normal rate you are more fortunate than the parents of the estimated 178 million children per year whose growth is stunted due to malnutrition. (World Health Organization)

3. A survey conducted by Freedom House that ranks religious, political, and civil freedoms found only four countries in the world with a top ranking in all three categories: Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, and the United States. No where else in the world could you be any freer.

4. If you live through the day you are more fortunate than the estimated 153,000 people who will die today.

5. If you have running water and a toilet you are doing much better than the 1.1 billion people with inadequate water and the 2.6 billion lacking basic sanitation. (United Nations)

6. If your children went to school both you and they are better off than the 121 million children worldwide who have no school to attend. (UNICEF)

7. If you can read this article you are better off than over one billion people in the world who entered the 21st century unable to either read or write. (UNICEF)

Spend a couple minutes seriously thinking this through. I bet you won’t be so upset about that ATM fee, the 2 minute wait at Starbucks, the traffic jam, or even those crazy politicians in Salem.