Predictions: GlobalCitizen.org Will Achieve Its Lofty Goal; You and I Will Help
The activities of GlobalCitizen.org are so uplifting and inspiring that it’s hard to believe the group will fail in its mission, i.e., ending global poverty by 2030. So exactly what are those activities? In a word: education. They understand that universal access to K-12 education is the gating factor to achieving productivity and affluence, as well as to attaining wisdom in family planning.
Here’s a video in which Stephen Colbert is about to encourage you to tweet the Prime Minister of Norway on the subject, asking her to support education of the world’s people. I challenge you to watch it without breaking into a huge smile; it certainly made my day.
The linked article referred to a funding gap of $39 billion a year. With this amount of additional funding used correctly, it may be possible to ensure that every child worldwide has 12 years of education.
$39 billion seems like a lot of money, however, lets put it in context!
According to The International Institute for Strategic Studies, there are 9 countries who’s annual military expenditure exceeds $39 billion. (US expenditure is $581 billion).
Global military spending is estimated at $1,776 billion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
We are therefore looking for an amount equivalent to around 2% of global military expenditure.
Global consumer energy expenditure is estimated at $6,000 billion – in which context, we are looking at slightly more than 0.5%.
Or look at the top 10 confectionery companies in the world – they have combined sales of $84.35 billion
http://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/chocolate-industry.html
In the context of the global economy, this really is not a large amount of money!
Good for you, Gary. Exactly right, IMO.