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Join me and indulge yourself in the best National Something Day ever!
I have so many decisions to make. What shall I do with my newfound wealth? Shall I fritter it away on a luxury yacht and a private jet? Should I divide my fortune between the many charitable causes that are so deserving? Maybe I'll travel the world and soak up the cultural diversity that blesses our little planet? I should definitely learn all about stocks, bonds, investment funds and offshore banking. Perhaps I should get a broker?
Or, perhaps I should get a grip.
With the news of the latest rich list hitting the press in the last couple of weeks, I have been adept at avoiding the gory details for fear of depression. It was therefore surprising that my willpower was conspicuous by its absence when I stumbled across globalrichlist.com. This innocent looking web site simply invites you to enter the amount you earn to discover your ranking amongst the financially blessed of the world. And I couldn't resist.
Taking into consideration the fact that I pay through the nose to live in a privileged nation, I was ready to discover that I am in the top half of the world's rich. I was also ready to feel quite nonchalant about the results and press on with my day.
What I didn't expect was the revelation that I am, apparently, in the top one percent of the world's richest people. The top one percent! That can't be right, can it?
Before you assume that I am a rich eccentric who likes to live relatively humbly for fear of being socially ostracised or besieged with begging letters, I urge you to take a couple of minutes to visit globalrichlist.com and find out where you are placed. Be prepared to feel stunned, guilty, perplexed or even a little smug.
Once you realise your riches are not due to an enviable business acumen, or good old-fashioned hard work, but are more to do with the overwhelming poverty that exists elsewhere in the world, you may come crashing back down to earth with an almighty bump. Or, you may feel the impetus to make a difference to those less fortunate.
And that's the point of this site. Put together by a London-based design company with a conscience, globalrichlist.com is designed to hit you between the eyes. If you are able to browse the internet, the chances are you are a rich kid - or at least in the top 10 per cent of rich kids.
The calculations are based on figures from the World Bank Development Research Group and it is assumed that the world's total population is 6 billion with an average income is $5000 per annum. This is not a figure plucked out of the thin air but one based on the findings of a report by Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute. It seems that whilst the site is designed to make an impact, it is also built to withstand a little investigative journalism.
Judging our fiscal achievements against the nations that feature in advertisements involving children with huge, sad eyes and a tale that breaks your heart may seem a little unfair. It would be a different story if you measured your earnings in the UK, wouldn't it?
Channel 4 has cottoned on to this way of thinking and commissioned the same company to put together a UK rich list. If you earn over £40k per year, you are in the top 4% of the UK's rich. If you earn over £20k, you are in the top 20%. The fact is that 10% of our population are earning less than £7,000 per year and 50% are on less than £15,000.
What we do with these figures is another matter. The message is clear - wealth is just a matter of perspective and globalrichlist.com invites us to spread the word. It also provides a handy way for us to donate part of our newfound wealth to a worthy cause in the form of the charity, CARE.
But, really, it is just asking us to think. To appreciate how lucky we are. And then it asks if we would be so kind as to make someone else feel lucky too. That can't be a bad idea, can it?
