In late 1999, neck-deep in the Y2k silliness, I wrote an article called “Thoughts for a New Year, Decade, Century, and, yes, Millennium.”
It’s chock full of statistics — most of which are inevitably dated but their significance remains obvious. I’m reposting it here today to demonstrate how long we’ve been on the current trajectory and how little has been done because we’re too busy being divided.
Keep in mind, when this compilation was initially published, it and I were labeled “radical leftist.”
Side note: I wrote this piece before I owned a computer with an internet connection. (That wouldn’t happen until later in the year 2000.)
Okay, enough of this introduction. Here’s my article from 24-plus years ago:
2000 is a man-made number and Y2k is a man-made phenomenon. These numbers hold no power, magic, or significance.
Below are some numbers — some facts — and some stark realities that can be of much value if only we choose to join together and act.
War and Peace
During the 1990s, an average of 2,174 people died each day due to war. Nine out of ten were civilians. Five out of ten of those civilians were children.
Since 1975, roughly 100,000 Vietnam veterans have committed suicide.
Worldwide, 500 people per week are killed or maimed by landmines.
Between 600,000 and 800,000 children under the age of 5 have died in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War.
Since the Revolutionary War, the United States has been involved in roughly 200 “wars” but has only declared “war” 5 times.
In 1997, the U.S. spent a record $8.3 billion in military arms and training to 52 nations in which people cannot choose their leaders.
The U.S. arms industry makes $10 million worth of PAC contributions each year.
First, Do No Harm…
There are 4 million American children and one million adults on Ritalin. That’s 10 times more than the rest of the world
Each year in the U.S., 2 million cases of prescription drug side effects result in a hospital visit. Of those, 140,000 result in death, making it the fifth leading cause of death. However, since it is believed that only 10 percent of drug reactions are reported as such, the numbers could be 20 million cases per year and over one million dead — making it the leading cause of death.
80 percent of Americans regularly take prescription drugs.
From 1960 to 1988, street drug addiction increased by 30 percent while prescription drug addiction increased by 300 percent.
One out of 4 adults in New York City are without health insurance. Roughly 100,000 Americans die each year because they lack health insurance.
Over 4000 Americans have been diagnosed with AIDS but do not carry the HIV virus.
In 1900, one in 45 Americans died of cancer. In 2000, it is one out of three.
Every 24 hours, 4000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed.
Every 34 seconds, an American dies of heart disease.
About 5000 Americans per day die due to heart disease or cancer.
Money for Nothing
The top 1 percent of Americans own wealth equal to the bottom 95 percent.
Of the 100 largest economies on the planet, 48 are nations and 52 are corporations.
The top 500 companies employ only 1/20 of 1 percent of the world’s workers but control 25 percent of output and 70 percent of trade.
In the 1950s, 35 to 40 percent of U.S. federal income was from corporate taxes. Today, corporate taxes provide between 6 and 8 percent.
By age 30, 27 percent of U.S. adults will have spent at least one year below the official poverty line. By age 50, it’s 42 percent. By 85, it’s 67 percent.
The largest employer in the U.S. is Walmart (owner of more than 1000 factories in China). Half of Walmart’s U.S. workers qualify for food stamps.
1.2 billion garments made in China are imported into the U.S. each year. That number is expected to rise by 300 percent by 2005.
I could go on and on but I’ll wrap up (for now) with one more group of numbers: Each day, 27 American children die from poverty and starvation. Worldwide, 60 million people starve to death each year. Every two seconds, somewhere on this planet, a child starves to death.
Go ahead, do the math. How many have we lost while you read this article?
Have a nice millennium…
Coda from 2024: The battle lines for this spiritual war were drawn long ago. Victory is ours whenever we’re finally willing to let go of pride so we can unite and commit.
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Wow. It has not gotten better. It is now worse. Medicine has officially become leading cause of death. But ask any American and they have been to the doctor at least once last month. They all know about meds but they are all taking them. Insurance or not the doctor is their God. I now consider it a blessing I had such a poor quality doc as a kid.. At age 15 I knew not all docs are there to help and heal you.
I don't think any of this is different up here. It MAY have been somewhat different when you wrote the article. We're just cagier about our stats
The last 4 years has shone light on a lot of malfiesance.