The "slave population" is growing like never before... The "reality of the world" that leaves the Japanese speechless [Jacques Attali] - 2024.1.15
//Summary - Level-C2//
The global 'slave population' has reached an unprecedented 52 million. Wealth is highly concentrated, with less than 10% of the richest owning over 75% of financial capital. Global poverty has risen to 2010 levels, disproportionately affecting women. The 49 poorest countries, home to 11% of the population, contribute only 2% of GDP and face high debt burdens. Widespread challenges include lack of electricity, inadequate healthcare, illiteracy and child labour. Migration (300 million people) is increasing, with significant flows to Europe and North America. Refugees are a minority, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and Congo.
A)
1)
You probably understand that people's lives vary significantly from one country or region to another. However, if you have no connection with the area, it isn't easy to have a concrete image of it, and in reality, it is more likely to be a world beyond your imagination.
Jacques Attali, considered a European intellectual, analyses the past to the present and predicts the future for the next 30 years in his book "Instruction Manual for the World(THE WORLD <INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE> Understand, predict, act, protect)". The reality of "today's world" is that you cannot see if you live in Japan. Here are some extracts from the book.
2)
Every 11 minutes, a woman or girl is murdered 'by a family member'.
The world's population has grown from 1.5 billion in 1900 to about 8.3 billion today.
More than 1.2 billion women of reproductive age live in countries without access to safe abortion. One hundred million women live in areas where the procedure is completely banned.
3)
By 2021, 25% of women aged 15-49 in sub-Saharan Africa will have undergone traditional female genital mutilation.
Every 11 minutes, a woman or girl is murdered by her own family.
More than one in 10 women aged 15-49 have experienced sexual or physical violence in the past 12 months.
4)
In 2021, one in five women aged 20-24 will have been married before 18 (slightly lower than in 2001).
Women still hold only 26.4% of parliamentary seats worldwide (compared to 34.3% of local councillors).
B)
5)
Half of humanity has no smartphone or computer.
Average life expectancy in developed countries has reached a plateau. Life expectancy is falling in certain wealthy social groups and some countries. The outbreak of the new coronavirus infection was not the only cause.
6)
Cultural diversity remains strong. There are 193 countries in the United Nations (most recognise Kosovo and Palestine). There are about 7,000 words in use worldwide (the number of languages has been declining since the early 19th century).
But there's a lot more. India, for example, has 19,569 (officially 447) languages and dialects. Are 3,000 languages in danger of extinction (mainly in the Americas and Oceania)?
7)
Over half of the world's adults read newspapers (more than 2.5 billion people read printed newspapers, and more than 600 million read electronic versions).
8)
There are more than 44,000 radio stations and more than 33,300 television stations. The number of TV viewers is about 5.3 billion. Facebook has around 3 billion regular users, TikTok 1.2 billion and its Chinese version, Douyin, even more.
9)
There are over 5.5 billion mobile phones and around 15 billion computers and tablets (which, given the world's population, works out at 2 per person, but half of humanity does not own these digital devices).
10)
In developed countries, annual working hours have decreased from 1,900 hours (36 hours per week) in 1950 to 1,400 hours (27 hours per week). In other words, people in developed countries now spend 10% of their lives working, compared to 40% in 1900. This is a significant change.
C)
11)
15% of the protein consumed worldwide comes from insects
Every year, humans produce 771 million tonnes of wheat, 800 million tonnes of rice and 450 million tonnes of meat.
12)
The average annual per capita meat consumption worldwide is 15.8 kg of chicken, 8.9 kg of beef, 15.5 kg of pork and 19.8 kg of seafood. These figures are only averages (there is significant variation between individuals) and are increasing by 1% yearly.
13)
Although only 30 plant species are cultivated on a large scale, 30,000 edible plants exist. Insects provide 15% of the protein consumed worldwide.
14% of global food production is wasted. Agriculture is responsible for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, 80% of the destruction of forests and other natural areas, and 70% of the overuse of water resources. It takes ten calories of oil to produce one calorie of grain.
14)
The annual consumption of fresh water is about 3.9 trillion cubic metres. Per person, this amounts to about 500 cubic metres. Since 2000, freshwater consumption has increased regardless of agricultural trends. 2.7 billion people suffer from water scarcity for at least one month a year and 1.1 billion annually.
15)
Most of the world's water resources are located in South America. The most extensive groundwater tables in the world are in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Peru, Colombia and western Brazil also have large groundwater tables. Oceania, Eastern Europe and North America follow this.
D)
16)
The "slave population" is at an all-time high, estimated at 52 million people.
The trend towards concentration of wealth has never been stronger. Less than 10% of the world's wealthiest people own more than three-quarters of the world's financial capital. The share of economic growth is 55% for the richest 1%, while less than 5% goes to the poorest 80%.
17)
Global poverty has returned to 2010 levels after falling. The social status of women is deficient in areas where poverty has worsened. North Africa and northern India, for example. Some 400 million women and 368 million men live in extreme poverty.
18)
The world's 49 poorest countries account for 11% of the world's population but only 2% of the world's GDP. 60% of these countries are in debt distress. About one in three urban dwellers live in a slum.
Eight hundred sixty million people have no access to electricity—six hundred million live in sub-Saharan Africa, and 80 million live in India. Over half of the world's population lacks adequate access to health care, education, drinking water, credit and housing.
19)
Some 800 million people (two-thirds of them women) are illiterate. 8% of children between 6 and 11 (more than 150 million) do not attend school. In sub-Saharan Africa, the out-of-school rate is as high as 20%. Even when they do attend school, most classes have more than 100 students, and schools lack well-trained teachers.
20)
By the time they reach middle school, 16% of young people have dropped out. By the time they reach high school age, more than a third of young people have already dropped out. One hundred fifty-eight million children aged 5-14, or one in six people in this age group, are forced to work.
21)
This is because parents cannot pay their children's school fees due to deteriorating terms of trade. The slave population is at an all-time high, estimated at around 52 million people.
22)
More and more people are becoming migrants (about 300 million people, 3.5% of the world's population), fleeing poverty and dying by the roadside or at sea (2.8% of the world's population in 2000, about 173 million people).
23)
By region, 31% of migrants went to Europe, 31% to Asia, 21% to North America and 9% to Africa. The two central destination countries for migrants are the United States (about 51 million) and Germany (about 16 million).
24)
Twenty per cent of these international migrants come from six countries: India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Afghanistan. Refugees and asylum seekers make up less than 10% of all migrants, and most of them come from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The "slave population" is increasing like never before... "The reality of the world" that Japanese people are speechless about [Jacques Attali] - 2024.1.15
https://gentosha-go.com/articles/-/57208
