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Speaking of Planet Earth...

If the world were a global village of 100 people, one third of them would be rich or of moderate income, two thirds would be poor. Of the 100 residents, 47 would be unable to read, and only one would have a college education. About 35 would be suffering from hunger and malnutrition; at least half would be homeless or living in sub-standard housing.

Of the 100 people, six would be Americans. These six would have over one-third of the village's entire income, while the other 94 residents would subsist on the other two-thirds.

How could the wealthy six live in peace with their neighbors? Surely the minority would be driven to arm itself against the majority- perhaps even to spend, as Americans do, a disproportionately huge amount of money on the military. In fact, the per capita military outlay in the U.S. is twice as high as the total income of two-thirds of the inhabitants of our fictitious (but illustrative) village.


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