People in the developed world usually portrait life in developing states very badly as if an average individual from these places were deprived from "reasonable" human conditions. The first major problem with this reasoning is that the "developing/third world" category is just too broad. It combines states with life expectancy higher than the US (e.g. Chile) with countries where more than 50% of the population live with less than US$1.25 per day (e.g. Sierra Leone). More specifically, many depict life in Rio de Janeiro's favela, for example, as poor and sad. Data from 2013 indicates that the average person living in the slums of Rio earn US$460/month but the median income of the world is US$243/month (Gallup). Therefore, in fact, the average person in a favela has almost 2x more money than the median human being. Second, a same year study from the Data Popular Institute indicates that 85% of favela residents like the place where they live, 80% are proud of where they live and 70% would continue to live in their communities, even if their income doubled. Meanwhile, many of the highest suicide rates in the world are in rich countries. Economic gains can generate short term happiness but wealth in itself has no correlation with quality of life (after a very low line). Third, humans do not necessarily need $15/hour or 1000 euro/month to live well. This argument is flawed.
AuthorPedro Moraya Barros is the Founder & Owner at Moraya Consulting and Ph.D. Researcher in Foreign Investment and International Taxation Archives
October 2020
Categories |