These stats come from the UN statistics website. and then I extrapolated some more information from it.
Average annual income per capita:
in Liberia: $192.00
in the US: $43,562 (we make on average 226x more money than the average Liberian), Most of us make more per day than the average Liberian makes per year.
There are 1,971,300 men and 1,970,900 women in Liberia
There are 152,004,400 men and 156,793,900 women in the US
147,834 people over age 60 in Liberia
62,501,783 people over age 60 in the US
Percentage of population below the age of 15 years:
Liberia: 47.2% (1,861,190 people)
US: 19.6% (60,524,467 people)
Percentage of men over 60 years of age:
Liberia: 3.4% (67,024 people)
US: 17.6% (26,752,774 people)
Percentage of women over 60 years of age:
Liberia: 4.1% (80,810 people)
US: 22.8% (35,749,009 people)
Number of people under 15 for each person over 60:
Liberia: 12.5
US: 0.98
Liberia is a nation of children with no older generation to teach them. What heritage is being passed to the next generation Liberia? The older generation is already pretty much dead. The only heritage that can be passed is whatever remnant of teaching the young people received before their fathers and mothers died, whatever meaning they can come up with amongst themselves, and then (and probably mainly) whatever influence a foreign culture has on them.
Another interesting fact is that Liberia has one of the fastest growing Muslim populations on earth.
In contrast to this, America is on the brink of becoming a dying culture, with less people under 15 than we have over 60.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Some stats on Liberia
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4 comments:
Very interesting post. Gives a lot to think about.
What's even sadder, UN Staff, who are deployed to Liberia, make $128 a day in Monthly Subsistance Allowance (that doesn't inlude their salary or hazardous duty pay). Imgagine how all those UN staff members, with all that money in Monrovia, impacts the price of housing and goods. It marginalizes the average Liberian.
I did not know that about the UN staff. I know that the UN is pretty much adding to the oppression of the Liberian people. Although thier military presence maybe doing something to stop another war from breaking out, thier troops bring in everything from hostile cultures (mainly a large Muslim population), to disease (the UN and refugees started coming in after the war and brought with them an increase in HIV/AIDS). On business sector the UN seems to prop up in Liberia is the prostitution industry. Everything there is set up to oppress the Liberian people, from the crumbled infrastructure and the money going to repair being mis-spent by corrupt leaders, to the business sector that is totally controlled and colluded by the Lebanese or worse some remnant of one of Charles Taylor's back pocket companies (like Lone Star, the biggest cell phone provider in Monrovia), to the aid organizations who simply seem to perpetuate the poverty of the Liberians by keeping them alive, but doing very little to provide a way for them to live.
Hi Dax,
I'm so glad you found my blog. It's weird coming back home with a mix of emotions. A part of me is so glad to be home yet a part of me misses the people, the noise and the culture. Please tell everyone I say hello. Keep me updated on how you're doing!
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