December 20, 1990

There is much talk in the United States today about recession -- an economic slowdown. Economists are concerned that consumers are not spending enough. Consumers are worried about their security. Perhaps we need a recession, uncomfortable as that may be, to moderate our overconsumption of energy, food and natural resources, which helps to keep the rest of the world poor.

At times like this it may be helpful to compare some of the disparities between the haves in the industrial world and the have nots of the lesser developed (Third) world. Some people react negatively to the many facts and figures that substantiate the rich-poor gap in the world today. I suggest that facts and figures are essential to "shock" us into the reality of the unjust and immoral inequities prevalent in our world today.

The Global Ecology Handbook (Beacon Press 1990) and Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider (3rd edition, Word 1990) draw facts and figures on the rich-poor gap from many reliable sources. These include the World Bank's World Development Report 1990; State of the States 1989-90; Sivard's World Military and Social Expenditures 1989-90; State of the World's Children (UNICEF 1990); Bread for the World and many others. The statistics in this article come from these sources.Compelling evidence of the widening gap between the world's rich and poor comes statistics on income, food and hunger, health, energy and natural resource use and education. The Handbook points out, "The gap between rich and poor nations is large and widening. In 1977 developing countries' average income per person was about 9 percent of that in industrial nations; by 1987 developing countries' average per capita income was less than 6 percent of that for industrial nations."

In 1987 developing countries with about 77 percent of the world's population had an average income per person of $670 per year while industrial countries had an average income of $12,070 per capita per year. Ten years earlier the figures were $490 and $5,210 respectively. It's clear that the income gap has widened dramatically in just 10 years. Sider quotes Sivard thus: "The gap in per capita income between countries is now more than twice as large as it was 30 years ago; the gap in public health expenditures is four times as large."

The World Development Report 1990 lists the gross national product (GNP) per capita of the United States as $19,840 for 1988 while in India it is $340. What a gross disparity!

Sider refers to a study done by a specialist in income comparisons at the University of Pennsylvania a few years ago. The specialist concluded that the real income per person in the United States was 14 times that of India and 17 times that of Kenya. State of the World 1990 points out that if we had data to compare the average incomes of the richest one-fifth of the world's people, regardless of where they live, with the poorest one-fifth, it would show that the rich have 30 to 40 times as much.

Lack of income produces hunger. The Handbook says, "Today nearly a billion people live in absolute poverty -- lacking enough income to obtain a diet adequate to prevent stunted growth and serious health risks." In developing countries 40 to 60 million people die from hunger and hunger related diseases each year. In 1985 the average consumption of calories in 46 nations was less than needed for productive work.

An average industrial-nation citizen consumes about 40 percent more than the United Nations' recommended daily intake of 2,350 calories of food energy, while the average Third World resident receives about 10 percent less than needed. In general, people living in the poorest countries receive only one-half to two-thirds as many calories as do those living in the richer countries.

The Handbook reports, "Since 1980, the number of malnourished people in developing countries has risen by 30 percent. It is estimated that one-fifth of the world's population goes hungry -- nearly a billion people... Nations with a per capita GNP of $400 or less account for 80 percent of the world's malnourished."

Sider says, "The most striking measure of the gap between the rich and poor is our consumption of food. U.S. citizens, for example, consume six times as much grain per person as do people in lesser developed countries."

The reason for this large difference in grain consumption is that Americans consume a lot of meat. Sider says that it takes about 13 pounds of grain equivalents to produce one pound of feedlot beef. The ratio of grain to meat for hogs is 6:1; for turkeys 4:1; for chickens 3:1.

Another measure of the world's rich-poor gap is in the amount of disposable income spent on food. In the United States it is 9.7 percent; in the United Kingdom it is 12.8 percent; but in the Philippines it is a whopping 51.6 percent. In many Third World countries, people must spend half of their disposable income on food.

Sider reproduces a chart which shows the calorie supply as a percentage of daily requirements in various countries. In the United States it is 138 percent; in Pakistan, 97; and in Chad only 69. This verifies the fact that some countries' people get only half the food calories that Americans get each day.

Another glaring disparity in the world today is seen in health care for the rich and the poor. A few statements from the Handbook illustrate: "In the 37 poorest countries, per capita expenditures during the 1980's have dropped 50 percent for health care and 25 percent for education... Each year, a half million women die from pregnancy-related causes, 99 percent of them in the Third World... Of the 15 million children under the age of five that die each year (mainly from malnutrition and disease) the overwhelming majority are in the Third World."

Sider points out that more than 1 billion of the world's people lack access to elementary health services; 1.6 billion do not even have safe water to drink.

Infant mortality, caused by lack of adequate health care, is extreme in the Third World. While Sweden has only 7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births and the United States only 10, India has 98 and Mozambique 172.

A World Health Organization (WHO) study concludes that 1.3 billion people around the world suffer from malnutrition or are seriously ill with diarrheal, respiratory and other diseases.

Another example of the incredible inequities between rich and poor countries in the world today is the use of energy and natural resources. Industrialized nations have less than 25 percent of the world's population but consume 75 percent of its energy, 79 percent of all commercial fuels, 85 percent of all wood products and 72 percent of all steel produced. North Americans consume more than twice as much energy per person as people in other industrialized countries like France or Switzerland. An average American uses an estimated 140 time as much energy as an average person in Zaire.

Education also plays a role in the world's inequities. Only 61 percent of all the 3.86 billion people in the Third World were literate in 1987, according to Sider. The number of illiterates has increased by nearly 70 million since 1960 to an estimated 900 million in 1985. For example, only 44 percent of India's 800.3 million could read in 1987.

Such facts and figures detailing the gross inequities in our world today may seem overwhelming. Success in eliminating these rich-poor gap problems may seem unrealistic. Christians, however, are asked not necessarily to be successful but faithful. We can only be faithful to the extent that we are aware of our brother's and sister's needs. We dare not dismiss the facts.

James, the brother of Jesus, provides the encouragement that we all need to act upon our awareness. In James 2 he writes, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (vs. 14-17, NIV)

Christians, through their mission and relief agencies, today face an unprecedented challenge to put their faith into action as James has admonished.