Today I have reached 35 years of age.
Normally it is a time for celebration, but this year I am making it a time for reflection. Not just because I'm despondent at the return of Dubbya to the Whitehouse, following Howard's undeserved election bonanza. Rather I am reflecting upon the fortunes of my life, given the quirk of nature that saw me born in one place and not another.
Today I have the dubious privilege of exceeding the average life expectancy of 1.5 million people in Botswana by 5 years, and I've equalled the life expectancy for 10.5 million people in Zambia. see Index Mundi
Instead of Africa, I was lucky enough to be born into an anglo-saxon Australian family, giving me a good chance to reach 80 years of age. I'm almost at the halfway mark. Only ten countries in the world manage to have such a long life expectancy for their citizens.
- Andorra (83.5)
- Macau (82.03)
- San Marino (81.53)
- Singapore (81.53)
- Hong Kong (81.39)
- Japan (81.04)
- Switzerland (80.31)
- Sweden (80.3)
- Australia (80.26)
- Iceland (80.18)
Canada falls just behind in 11th place with 79.96 years.
Australia might be better ranked if it were not for the shameful health of our indigenous people, whose life expectancy is at least 20 years less than non-indigenous Australians.
It means that our indigenous people have a life expectancy only slightly better than the people of Cambodia and Sudan (58 years) but worse than that of Bangladesh (61 years) and India (64 years).
So much is wrong with our own nation.
So much is wrong with the world.
I'll be waiting a very long time to have my birthday wish fulfilled (I can't tell you, as that supposedly renders it invalid) ... but I live in hope. Enormous hope, backed by perserverence and a willingness to be a conscientious objector against the misguided selfishness of our modern world.
Part of this hope has been revived by the plan for Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to re-record the Band Aid hit, "Do They Know it's Christmas Time" using a swag of contemporary artists. Although it is expected to be an instant chart topper and raise millions of dollars for Ethiopia and Sudan, it is still a small drop in the ocean and is literally just a "band-aid" to a gaping wound on human existence. Poverty and related health issues can only be solved by the combined will of the international community through their governments.
But good luck and congratulations to Geldof and his team for putting this issue back in the spotlight.
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