I just read an article by philosopher Peter Singer, which can be found here. The article, published in 2006, discusses how much a billionaire should be expected to give to charity. Towards the end of the article, Singer discusses the UN Millenium Development Goals.
These goals, set in 2000, include:
Reducing by half the proportion of the world’s people in extreme poverty (defined as living on less than the purchasing-power equivalent of one U.S. dollar per day).
Reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Ensuring that children everywhere are able to take a full course of primary schooling.
Ending sex disparity in education.
Reducing by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under 5.
Reducing by three-quarters the rate of maternal mortality.
Halting and beginning to reverse the spread of H.I.V./AIDS and halting and beginning to reduce the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
Reducing by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
It has been estimated that achieving these goals would cost $121bn in 2006, rising to $189bn by 2015. To illustrate how much America's rich can help to acheive these goals, Singer then goes on to suggest brackets by which the top 10% of American earners could give, and still live comfortably. The top 0.01% of taxpayers earn a minimum of >$5m, with the average wage of $12.75m. Singer suggests that if each of these people, 14,400 in total, gave a third of their salary, they would donate an average of $4.3m each, with total givings of around $61bn for that group. Each person would still have an average annual income of $3.3m. The next group, the remainder of the top 0.1% of earners, makes a minimum of $1.1m per year and has an average salary of $2m. Each person in this group, comprising 129,600 people, could give 25% of their income, with total givings equaling around $65bn, and each person still having an average of $864k per year to live on.
The next group consists of 575,900 people, the remainder of the top 0.5% of earners. The average wage for this group is $623k, with a minimum income of $407k. If each person in this group gave 20% of their income, they would give a total of $72bn, an still have an average salary of $325k. The remainder of the top 1% have an average income of $327k and a minimum salary of $276k. If each of these 719,000 people gave 15% of their annual income, they would give a total of $35bn and be left with a total average wage of $234k. Finally, the remainder of the top 10% of taxpayers have an average wage of $132k and a minimum of $92k. If each of thse 13m families gave 10% of their income, they would give a total of around $171bn, leaving each with a total of at least $83,000 to live on.
Put together, these givings amount to a total of $404bn. The fact that everyone in these groups could give so much and still live so comfortably should make every one of us think seriously about how much we do for those less fortunate than us.
Monday, 10 October 2011
I really will try to update this blog more...
It may not have escaped your attention that I've been awol recently. In hindsight, I should have checked when my last blog was posted before I began this one. But I didn't. I think it was around May. So about 5 months ago. Various things have happened since then, mostly A-levels and moving into Uni. But I've also had a pretty quiet summer, and from around the start of July to the end of September, I had basically nothing to do. So no excuses for not 'blogging' (is that the word?) in that period. But now I'm back, and will (probably, hopefully, maybe...) try to update this blog more. Mostly philosophical stuff (I hope) but also some 'this is what's going on in my head' stuff. Also some political stuff. Oh, and in a week I'll be going to watch Stephen Law debate William Lane Craig on the existence of God. Two heavyweights on either side of the God debate. So that should be good, and I'll (almost certainly) blog about that. But until then, I may or may not continue with one or two updates, and after that I'll do my best to write regular blogs (hopefully ones with a few less brackets used).
On a more serious note, I swallowed a particularly sharp piece of crisp and it got lodged in my throat. It hurts. This isn't relevant, it's just difficult to think about anything else just now.
On a more serious note, I swallowed a particularly sharp piece of crisp and it got lodged in my throat. It hurts. This isn't relevant, it's just difficult to think about anything else just now.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
May 22nd 2011- We're Still Here!
So as I'm sure you've all heard, May 21st 2011 was supposed to bring about judgement day, and the end of the world. This prediction was made by Harold Camping, the 89 year old leader of the Family Radio Christian network. Well, as I type this, it is 12:28 AM on Sunday, May 22nd, and we're still here.
Camping's prediction was based on two Biblical 'proofs':
1. Noah's flood happened in 4990 BC (I've not heard any explanations as to how he knows this, so we'll just have to take his word for it). God gave Noah 7 days warning for the flood, and since the Bible tells us that "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8). So, this means that God will give us 7000 years to prepare from the rapture after Noah's flood, and that year is 2011 (apparently we have to subtract a year, as there was no year 0).
2. Jesus was crucified on April 1st, AD33 (again, this is something we'll just have to take Camping's word for.) The three Holy numbers are 5, 10 and 17 (once again, we'll have to trust Camping on this one). if you multiply these 3 numbers together (twice, for added emphasis and to make the numbers fit), you 722500. May 21st 2011 is exactly that number of days from the day of the crucifixion.
As for the time, 6pm, that is also something which it seems is not down to any particular proof. Camping certainly has relied on a lot of guesswork for his prediction. The same can be said of his claim that about 2,000,000 people will be saved. There are probably more people than that who have bought into his claims.
In general, I don't think I would have had a problem with a nutjob going around telling everyone that he had pulled some numbers out of his backside, tried to make them all fit in the Bible and used them to predict the end of the world. I'm a Christian, and I believe that one day, Christ will return and people will be judged. What I object to is the way in which he has gathered his followers to spread this in a huge, scaremongering advertising campaign which has gained worldwide publicity. Even more worrying is what some people will decide to do as they prepare for the end. If I knew that I wasn't going to be around much longer, I would probably spend a considerable amount of money, for one. I saw an interview with one family who, a few months ago, pulled their children out of school in order to spend more time with them before the rapture.
Denying your children an education because of a prediction from a mad old fundamentalist preacher is not on. You'll have an eternity to spend time with them in Heaven, so for now it's probably best to let them prepare for their future, just in case.
Another thing which worrys me about this whole sorry episode is the effect it may have on children who believe it. I'm sure all of us feared death in childhood, maybe some still do. So to have people around you proclaiming that you're going to die this evening cannot be too healthy for a child's mind, particularly not if your parents are also telling you this. The ease at which some adults are buying into the prediction is also somewhat worrying, particularly considering the number of failed apocalypse predictions in the past, including one from Harold Camping himself.
So, the day of judgement is still not upon us. When will it come? No-one knows. Harold Camping would have realised that if he'd studied the Bible properly (Matthew 24:36, 25:13, Mark 13:32). I certainly don't believe that there will be so few people saved. All we can do is carry on with our lives, and not worry about it. I believe Christianity is the truth, and one day Jesus will return. That day was not May 21st 2011. I don't believe it will be October 21st 2011 (the day Camping predicts the world will end). I will spend the rest of my life assuming that it will occur after I'm gone, and trying to remain true to the Christian teachings and be faithful to Jesus, and encourage others to do the same. As for Camping, he's probably working out where his calculations went wrong, and trying to find some other numbers in the Bible which he can throw in. Third time lucky and all that. He's also probably a bit annoyed that his prediction failed again.
Cheer up Harold, it's not the end of the world.
Camping's prediction was based on two Biblical 'proofs':
1. Noah's flood happened in 4990 BC (I've not heard any explanations as to how he knows this, so we'll just have to take his word for it). God gave Noah 7 days warning for the flood, and since the Bible tells us that "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8). So, this means that God will give us 7000 years to prepare from the rapture after Noah's flood, and that year is 2011 (apparently we have to subtract a year, as there was no year 0).
2. Jesus was crucified on April 1st, AD33 (again, this is something we'll just have to take Camping's word for.) The three Holy numbers are 5, 10 and 17 (once again, we'll have to trust Camping on this one). if you multiply these 3 numbers together (twice, for added emphasis and to make the numbers fit), you 722500. May 21st 2011 is exactly that number of days from the day of the crucifixion.
As for the time, 6pm, that is also something which it seems is not down to any particular proof. Camping certainly has relied on a lot of guesswork for his prediction. The same can be said of his claim that about 2,000,000 people will be saved. There are probably more people than that who have bought into his claims.
In general, I don't think I would have had a problem with a nutjob going around telling everyone that he had pulled some numbers out of his backside, tried to make them all fit in the Bible and used them to predict the end of the world. I'm a Christian, and I believe that one day, Christ will return and people will be judged. What I object to is the way in which he has gathered his followers to spread this in a huge, scaremongering advertising campaign which has gained worldwide publicity. Even more worrying is what some people will decide to do as they prepare for the end. If I knew that I wasn't going to be around much longer, I would probably spend a considerable amount of money, for one. I saw an interview with one family who, a few months ago, pulled their children out of school in order to spend more time with them before the rapture.
Denying your children an education because of a prediction from a mad old fundamentalist preacher is not on. You'll have an eternity to spend time with them in Heaven, so for now it's probably best to let them prepare for their future, just in case.
Another thing which worrys me about this whole sorry episode is the effect it may have on children who believe it. I'm sure all of us feared death in childhood, maybe some still do. So to have people around you proclaiming that you're going to die this evening cannot be too healthy for a child's mind, particularly not if your parents are also telling you this. The ease at which some adults are buying into the prediction is also somewhat worrying, particularly considering the number of failed apocalypse predictions in the past, including one from Harold Camping himself.
So, the day of judgement is still not upon us. When will it come? No-one knows. Harold Camping would have realised that if he'd studied the Bible properly (Matthew 24:36, 25:13, Mark 13:32). I certainly don't believe that there will be so few people saved. All we can do is carry on with our lives, and not worry about it. I believe Christianity is the truth, and one day Jesus will return. That day was not May 21st 2011. I don't believe it will be October 21st 2011 (the day Camping predicts the world will end). I will spend the rest of my life assuming that it will occur after I'm gone, and trying to remain true to the Christian teachings and be faithful to Jesus, and encourage others to do the same. As for Camping, he's probably working out where his calculations went wrong, and trying to find some other numbers in the Bible which he can throw in. Third time lucky and all that. He's also probably a bit annoyed that his prediction failed again.
Cheer up Harold, it's not the end of the world.
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