A new book out this week: Fifty Facts That Should Change the
World by Jessica Williams, charts a series of horrifying
statistics that gives one a rather depressing insight into the
global psyche. It reveals people en masse to be ignorant and
superficial and the world in which we live to have its priorities
desperately out of whack. A selection of these facts is a
sobering read indeed. Brazil has more Avon ladies than members of its armed
services. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this one. On
the one hand the superficiality this attests to is significantly
disgusting, especially given the level of poverty in Brazil. It
is after all one of the nations with the biggest discrepancies
between rich and poor in the world. On the other hand a nation
less obsessed with military prowess than Bush can’t be a bad
thing. I’d be highly surprised if America’s defense
budget wasn’t significantly higher than the money it invests
in health and education. There are 67,000 people employed in the lobbying industry in
Washington DC – 125 for each elected member of Congress. This
further attests to the level of corruption in American politics,
where lobbying plays a stronger role in the US than in any other
‘free’ country in the world. With lobbyists influencing
the stances taken by politicians it is hardly surprising that
America’s priorities are so twisted. As Michael Moore (
Dude, Where’s My Country) will tell you, Bush knew of the
threats posed to the US by terrorist sections in Saudi Arabia, he
just never delved into it too deeply because of the importance of
oil to the American market. Even the Clinton presidency had
strong ties with the Bin Laden family. In American politics money
certainly comes before ethics. Hardly surprising in a place where
Bush became president through the faults of a fouled-up electoral
system and a corrupted means of resolution. Every cow in the EU is subsidised by $2.50 a day: a higher
income than that of 75% of Africans. Shocking as this statistic
is, it isn’t the most extreme example of cows (or rather
farmers) being put before people. According to the World Bank,
Japanese cows receive a whopping $7.50 every day. The Catholic
aid agency Cafod calculates that for the money the EU spends
protecting its farmers, each of the EU’s 21 million cows
could go on a round-the-world trip once a year. I think the
majority of starving Africans would settle for clean water and a
sturdy meal. More people can identify the golden arches of McDonald’s
than the Christian cross. This shocker was garnered from a survey
of 7,000 people in six different countries. 88% recognised the
arches while only 54% correctly identified the cross. I’m
not so bothered about what this says about levels of religiosity:
for one thing there are more Hindus and Muslims in the world than
Christians. For another, people strangely seem to find it rather difficult
to reconcile the teachings of love and acceptance with their
desire to kill others who don’t share their religious views. However it further testifies to the astonishing level of
ignorance among the masses. And, more terrifyingly, their
susceptibility to advertising. If Ronald McDonald came on TV and
suggested that vegetarians were evil and flouting the sacred
Maccy D’s laws that demand maximum consumption of dubious
meat burgers then no doubt a mass genocide of the veggie-eaters
would swiftly follow. After twenty minutes soaked in these depressing numbers I was
readily prepared for the most shocking of all: more people voted
in the Pop Idol contest between Gareth Gates and Will Young than
voted in the last general election. To be precise: fewer than 26
million attempted to effect the future of their country, while
over 32 million attempted to effect the future of Top of the
Pops. The very lamentable fact of the nation’s interest in two
talentless youngsters strangely makes their politcal apathy less
lamentable. This may be a slightly controversial point to make,
since it is essentially un-democratic, but I for one am glad that
voting isn’t somehow enforced. Politicians (those few of an idealistic bent) complain that
people are too apathetic. They mourn that a quick shower of rain
stops people coming to the polls. But such commentators
don’t stop to think that perhaps needing to put a little
effort into the voting process is something of a good thing.
Imagine if we could vote online, or through our digital-cable
boxes, or in a telephone poll. I can see it now: a Saturday night on ITV, Ant and Dec
presenting, Blair and the Tory opponent of the week sitting
across from each other in hot seats, Celine Dion belting out of
few numbers to keep us amused: place your votes please! It’d
be a bloody nightmare. If most of the nation bothered to vote,
Will Young would currently be residing at No 10. Perhaps
that’s a little harsh; surely people wouldn’t apply the
same criteria to a pop contest that they would to a political
one? Maybe not. But what criteria would they apply? Given the level
of knowledge of the vast majority of the population possess, it
is as likely that they’d be voting on the colour of Tony
Blair’s tie as much as his stance on Europe. Anyone trivial enough to vote in a pop contest should have
their name taken off the electoral roll. If this book shows us
anything it’s that most people do not have enough knowledge
or interest in their country – let alone the wider world
– to qualify for a say in how it should be run. What Britain needs is a good, old-fashioned dictatorship.
Someone get Ronald McDonald on the phone. No wait, we don’t
need him. Let’s not forget our problems closer to home when
we point out everybody else’s: we already have Mr Blair.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004
It’s a wonderful world
