Poverty and pop culture.

According to a BBC article today, the gap between the rich and the poor is wider in 2005 than it was in 1990. Twelve of the eighteen nations that have lost ground are in sub-Saharan Africa. While the shift is tied into the prevalence of AIDS and civil war, it is also an indication of declining effective aid to those regions.

The timeline made me think back to what was going on in 1990. Personally, I was really starting to enjoy chapter-books, and I was spending time memorizing my multiplication tables. Meanwhile the world was undergoing some major changes.

The fall of the Berlin wall in January of 1990 directly preceded the collapse of the Soviet Union in February. Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in South Africa. The Simpsons debuted. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched. The Gulf War began as Iraq invaded Kuwait. MC Hammer was topping the music charts. Cellular phones and the internet were unfamiliar technology for most individuals. The Portland Trail Blazers were a decent basketball team.

We have come a long way since 1990. Information is faster. Transportation is easier. The world is smaller. The West is richer. And yet we have managed to leave a startling segment of humanity in the dust of our developments. I can only hope that the next fifteen years will show a move toward global compassion and economic equality.