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"If you are an American, you are rich. If you have electricity, are able to purchase food at a grocery store without having to own land, plant, and harvest your own, own a cell phone, go to the bathroom indoors and have a toilet to flush, have running hot and cold water, live in a place that has a refrigerator, own clothes that you did not weave or kill an animal to get, you are rich. If you have a computer, air conditioning, central heating, an automobile, live in a dwelling that’s more than 500 square feet, you are super rich.It wasn’t that long ago that there were only one or two computers in the entire world. There was no air conditioning in most homes in the 1950s and 1960s. If you wanted to experience air conditioning, your best bet was the local one-screen movie theater.The majority of people around the world – billions of them – have very few of the luxuries that American’s possess. Our greatest health problem is obesity. Storage facilities populate the landscape of our cities to hold possessions that we can’t fit in our homes and apartments. In some societies, all that a person owns can be stuffed in a cart small enough for a person to pull. If you want to bake a cake, fry an egg, or cook a roast, you can do it with clean energy brought to your door. There is no need to fell a tree, chop it up in small pieces, lug them to your house, build a fire, and then haul away the ashes.Yes, there are lots of people who are richer than you and I, but that does not mean that our lives can’t be fulfilling. The apostle Paul wrote, “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Tim. 6:8). Of course, he wasn’t saying that have anything beyond these is wrong, but it does show that true happiness does not reside in the multitude of possessions."
Luke 12:48:From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.
As scholar James Q. Wilson has stated, “The poorest Americans today live a better life than all but the richest persons a hundred years ago.”(3) In 2005, the typical household defined as poor by the government had a car and air conditioning. For entertainment, the household had two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR. If there were children, especially boys, in the home, the family had a game system, such as an Xbox or a PlayStation.(4) In the kitchen, the household had a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. Other household conveniences included a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker.The home of the typical poor family was not overcrowded and was in good repair. In fact, the typical poor American had more living space than the average European. The typical poor American family was also able to obtain medical care when needed. By its own report, the typical family was not hungry and had sufficient funds during the past year to meet all essential needs.Poor families certainly struggle to make ends meet, but in most cases, they are struggling to pay for air conditioning and the cable TV bill as well as to put food on the table. Their living standards are far different from the images of dire deprivation promoted by activists and the mainstream media.
I can't remember where I heard or read this. But I recently learned that the average poor person in America has a better standard of living than the average middle class person in Europe. I'll see if I can find that source...
