perspective

the heavy rise in oil and food prices worldwide affects all of us in one way or another; notably with minor or major consequences depending on our socioeconomic status. when i first moved to south africa in 2005 the fuel price was around R4.50 (more or less equal to nkr) - lately it has been way over R10.

our prime minister jens stoltenberg recently stated:

- imagine you have 10 nkr/rands to live for a day, and of those you spend 7-8 on food. then the food prices are doubled, and you have five children. this is so brutal and so incomprehensible that we cant possibly understand it..

i came over some great graphics - showing the average spending of a norwegian and a jordanian family's household. the graphs not only illustrate how much norwegians spend on housing, but really puts into perspective how insane our lifestyle is in comparison to the majority of the worlds citizens.

blue/bolig = housing
red/mat= food















think about how much money you spend on food every month. then look at the jordanian graph, and imagine how little they actually spend on housing, water, electricity and clothing! (i am glad i grew up in the eighties and often felt the pinch, in comparison to the splurging life many youth in my home country have today :-P)