Page 266 - The Signs of Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) Second Coming

Signs of Jesus’ (pbuh)
Second Coming

$1.2 trillion, which is six times the total of Turkey’s national revenue. The
wealth of Bill Gates, who for a long time was the wealthiest man in America,

is estimated to surpass the total national revenue of Peru, a country with 25
million people. Meanwhile, it is one-third of Turkey’s national revenue,
which is around $200 billion. The same report mentioned that the personal in-
come of Warren Buffet, more than $28 billion, is more than the national rev-
enue of Kuwait, an oil-rich country with a population of more than 2 million.
Ted Turner, who ranks twenty-first on the list, is worth $9.1 billion, an
amount that equals the national revenue of Panama, which has a population
of 2.7 million people. This picture reveals that on the national and interna-
tional levels, the poor become even poorer and more numerous, whereas the
wealthy have become even richer. The total amount of wealth held by the 400

people on the list increased by 20% in one year. 41
On 2 February 2003, the Turkish daily newspaper Aksam illustrated the
inequality of income around the world in the following terms:
The most important problem of the world: According to the World Development
Report of 2003, the inequality of income among countries is growing even
deeper. The report indicates that the most important problem of development on
the world agenda is to find jobs for the three million people whose daily income
is less than 2 dollars a day, in order to make them individuals who can contribute
to production and to provide them better a quality of life. One of the foremost
factors threatening world peace today is global poverty.
The Situation of the World: The average income of the 20 wealthiest countries is
37 times greater than the average income of the 20 poorest countries of the
world. The developed countries, where 20 percent of the wealthiest people live,
hold 86 percent of the world’s national revenue, 82 percent of the world’s export
markets, 68 percent of all foreign investments, and 74 percent of all telephone
lines. Meanwhile, the share of the 20 percent of the poorest in these areas does
not exceed 1.5 percent.
Figures related to the gap between the 20% of the wealthiest and the 30% of the
poorest are striking:

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