Matters of Scale - My World for a TV!
In the book Material World, reviewed in this issue, 30 families from 30 countries were chosen as representative of both "the common humanity of the peoples inhabiting our Earth and the great differences in material goods and circumstances that make rich and poor societies." The following statistics are from the profiles of those families.
Number of the 30 families who have a TV | 21 |
Number who have books | 9 |
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Number who live in a one-room house made of dung and straw | 1 |
Number who live in a 5,000 square-foot house with a 45-foot-long sofa | 1 |
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Number who have a computer | 4 |
Number who have a mortar and pestle or stone matate with which to grind grain for food | 5 |
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Number who mentioned, among their most valued possessions or the things they wished for, a cleaner, healthier, or more protected environment | 1 |
Number who mentioned a TV or motor vehicle | 17 |
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Number who own a gun | 3 |
Number who own tools for growing food | 15 |
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Number whose countries have recently experience war or civil violence | 13 |
Number of these 13 families who own guns | 0 |
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Number of guns owned by the American family | at least 4 |
Number owned by the families of the other 29 countries, combined | 2 |
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Percentages of family incomes spent on food, | |
?by the Cakoni family of Albania | 100% |
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