The percentage of income spent on food, drink, and fuel per country, around the world

I suggest that the "green countries" are the wealthy countries. And obviously people in a wealthy country will spent proportionally less on fuel, food, and drink. Let's not misunderstand the data here - the data is not telling us that the green countries spend less per person on these things, but less as a percentage of their total spending.

In fact, I would wager that people in the green countries indeed spend more, in absolute terms, on these things that people in the other countries.

 

The green ones are capitalist system based democracies?

Most of the worst are tribal and muslim?

Just guessing.:thumbs:

 

Once you factor in rent, bills, medical, along with whatever we spend on food, and gas we're at about %80 of our income. So we are not rich.

 

PRior to WW2 the average American spend 50% of income on food. My Old Man quit school in the 8th grade so he could help support the family. We have been living in freak economic conditions since WW2 and we are reverting to the historical norm.

 

I think you may have misinterpreted the numbers, Bill.

 

Misinterpreted what numbers? The US was the only industrialied nation that came thru WW2 with an intact industrial base and population. Thanks to the Marshall Plan there was no post war depression and many American jobs were created. Thanks to the GI Billl we took many people out of the job market while they trained to be a techie generation. Thanks to the Eisenhower (sp?) freeway system many jobs in the construction and auto industries were generated and thanks to cheap fuel people could get their house in in the country and a job in the city. (we are now paying the bill for that one.) The prosperity we gained from the war started to fade about the time the world went off the gold standard. Those conditions will not return anyplace unless there is another world war and they willl not return to the US. Not in the next 100 years.

90% of you on this list have never seen a day of real hard times - possiby defined as not being able to eat for an entire day because food was unavilable to you. 100 years ago the working poor and the unemployed poor put cardboard in their shoes and stole coal at night to keep warm. Before Social Security half of all old people lived in real poverty.

In the first 25 years after WW2, thanks to the unions, the working people got the majority of the economic increase from increased productivity. In the last 10 years our masters and owners have gotten most of the increase thus the shrinking middle class.

Before WW2 the population was maybe 10% rich, 20% middle class, the rest the working poor and the poor. Anyone read "Cheaper By The Dozen?" The father was a low end techie - a time and motion study guy - and they live in servants. Most all the middle class prior to WW2 had servants. Half the people who came here through Ellis Island got servant jobs.

That's the way it was since A&E got kicked out of the Garden. The last 60 years have been freak conditions and we are returning to normal times. You all who think pre-WW2 conditions were the good old days? You havn't a clue. They were terrible times for the working poor.

You all who think the post WW2 era was normal times - you are nuts. You all who think you would would personally be rich if only the govt would lower taxes, who think you are to smart to join a labor union - you are dreaming.

Post WW2 US was the BEST economic times for the working class in the history of the entire world. Anyone over 40 with at least normal health and intelligence who isn't at least middle-middle class now -those with extra ordinary bad luck excepted - would be working poor in any other economic situation.

 

The ones pertaining to the charts.

If you can't see that, it's a waste of time talking to you about it.

 

What, specifically do you think these figures mean?

Only a simpleton would conclude that these figures mean that people who spend a higher percentage on food, fuel, and drink are self-indulgent or otherwise have their priorities screwed up. Such a simpleton would not see that if one is poor, one is inevitably going to spend a big percentage on the essentials on the basics - food, fuel, and drink. If I only made $ 500 per month, I would spend a big percentage of it on food, fuel, and drink.

Since I will assume you are more sophisticated in your thinking than this, what is your point?

 

>Carpro, you are on the right track, but think of it in a spiritual sense.

In general, protestant Christianity has produced better living conditions for the working class than other religions but I stand by my historical analysis. Further, the era of the male WASP is drawing to a close in the US.

 

Probably a good thing that all the old barriers to marriage - race, religion, politics, national origin . . . - are gone. If people are no longer limited in a choice of mate by these things, then on what basis will they mate?

I propose on the basis of education, intelligence, and ambition. The civilized world will self segregate into a financially rich class and a poor class, a upward bound culture and a static culture. The large middle class will disappear. It was a freak 50 year phenomenon.

 

An insightful observation, I suggest. I have heard compelling arguments for exactly such a prediction.

 

Of course you do...and should.

It just doesn't apply to the map and figures shown for TODAY.