My life sucks. Need more money.

[calmloki]

or maybe not.

"Starvation offers an interesting glimpse into the demographics of India's economic boom of the last five years. While the ranks of the country's middle class have swollen, the benefits of this advancement have fallen on a narrow segment of the population: 400 million Indians have moved out of relative poverty since 1985 -- they now make at least $5 per day -- but 880 million Indians still live on less than $2 per day".

India: Hungry for global power, or just plain hungry? -- DailyFinance

 

[Urchina]

I have an aunt and uncle who lived in Western Africa for years. The stories they tell of daily life there (as relatively wealthy individuals, though poor by U.S. standards) make me realize that I am one of the richest people, in terms of material wealth and comfort, who has ever lived in the history of mankind. I live in a palace and eat like a queen, every day.

 

[Billy]

One of the benefits that Billy and I enjoy about world travel is the perspective it brings to our lives.

Having 'more' and having lots of things can be very attractive, yet many times not so necessary to living. It can truly encumber one's life.

In Asia we've seen whole villages with bamboo walled homes and in between the gap of the bamboo strips you can see outdoors. The wind and rain simply pass through. No running water except maybe down the street in a central location if at all. They, of course, have dirt floors...

It truly brings home how fortunate we are - to have choice in our lives, to eat well, to be educated.

Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[Notmuchlonger]

or maybe not.

"Starvation offers an interesting glimpse into the demographics of India's economic boom of the last five years. While the ranks of the country's middle class have swollen, the benefits of this advancement have fallen on a narrow segment of the population: 400 million Indians have moved out of relative poverty since 1985 -- they now make at least $5 per day -- but 880 million Indians still live on less than $2 per day".

India: Hungry for global power, or just plain hungry? -- DailyFinance

Yeah whenever I fret about finances. I stop and think how others got it so much worse. Usually gets me to stop feeling sorry for myself

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I attended a meeting today at the office hosted by a local, private nursing home which just added a bariatric patient wing to their building. It is to house morbidly obese patients. A lot of nursing homes won't/can't accomodate the mobidly obese...you need special everything($$$$) and trained staff. This nursing home felt it was a growth industry in the U.S., a country that consumes more calories per person than any other place in the world. Prior to modern medicine, these people would have died younger. The administrator and DON showed us a map of the world and you could see areas where people were living on less than 1200 calories a day on average. This nursing home is getting calls for available beds from all over the state and they plan to expand what they see as a niche market for growth.

 

[Orchidflower]

Well that confirms it: we're oinkers! Sooooo-eeee, sooo-eee!

 

[Walt34]

In Asia we've seen whole villages with bamboo walled homes and in between the gap of the bamboo strips you can see outdoors. The wind and rain simply pass through. No running water except maybe down the street in a central location if at all. They, of course, have dirt floors...

It truly brings home how fortunate we are - to have choice in our lives, to eat well, to be educated.

DW and I frequently remember that every time some "I wanna..." comes up that we decide not to do. A very large portion of the world's population would be thrilled to have our back yard shed for a home.

We don't concern ourselves with "can we eat". The decision is "what to eat".

Central heat and A/C, running (clean!) water and indoor plumbing we take for granted. I now work with a couple of guys who grew up without that.

And the list goes on.

So what if I can't have my own private jet and ocean-going yacht? Peel me a grape....

 

[freebird5825]

I have been lucky to be able to go on Caribbean cruises. On one of the shore excursions, we took a bus from the docking area across the island to a small bay for kayaking and snorkeling.
We drove through some pretty sad areas - corrugated plastic for walls of houses, cardboard for windows. I felt really guilty seeing that.

 

[RonBoyd]

We drove through some pretty sad areas - corrugated plastic for walls of houses, cardboard for windows. I felt really guilty seeing that.

Reminds me of Hawaii.