What percent of earth is suffering?

[aLn]

The media is constantly rubbing our faces in it. Suffering. The animals are all dieing. Seemingly everyone but us lucky Westerners are either working for pennies an hour, dieing of aids or being blasted away.

I am not really a well traveled person. I can't really say I know much of "non-Developed" countries.

I don't know much of nature other then we seem to be developing over everything.

Anyways, how much of the life here do you think is suffering?

[vazilizaitsev89]

I'd say about 75% of the planet

[nshanin]

"Happiness is an illusion. Only suffering is real."

--Voltaire

[aLn]

Originally Posted by vazilizaitsev89

I'd say about 75% of the planet

Really? That seems a little bit extreme. I wouldn't be able to justify my existence if it was that high.

I would maybe say 20-25% at most. Keep in mind its only the bad stuff that the media tells us.

[i poop in your cereal]

Originally Posted by aLn

20-25% at most.

I lol'd.

[Lord. Better Than You]

The same percentage of people forced to listen to god-awful teenage poetry...

OR

The total population of the third world + 35% of the second world + 5% of the first world / the total population * 100%



NOW DO THE MATH

MWAH XXXX

[Sentinel]

"100%"
---a Buddhist.

[ReclaimPublicSpace]

Originally Posted by aLn

Really? That seems a little bit extreme. I wouldn't be able to justify my existence if it was that high.

I would maybe say 20-25% at most. Keep in mind its only the bad stuff that the media tells us.

AHAHAHA. Do you realize that a little more than half of the world lives on the equivalent of a dollar a day? Granted, that doesn't mean they're "suffering", in fact, recent studies have shown that happiness is actually higher in Third World countries, but speaking purely economically, basically everyone who isn't in the G8 or a beneficiary of an evil First-World-supported dictator in some drastically poor country.

[ductape]

Originally Posted by nshanin

"Happiness is an illusion. Only suffering is real."

--Voltaire

QFMFT

Happiness is merely an absence of pain.

Freud went into this real heavily.

[Hammm]

Originally Posted by Sentinel

"100%"
---a Buddhist.

Accuracy bonus.

I think EVERYONE suffers as we're ALL attached to things and experience sadness at their loss. However, people who live in Africa in small villages don't really know what it's like to live in a 2 floor house in the suburbs with running water and a fully stocked fridge, so how could they suffer from not knowing what it's like to have them? In fact, in my experience it's the people who are the most "impoverished" living in 3rd world countries that're the happiest...