World News and Trends...UN describes worsening world economic conditions
The overall drop in income affects almost 100 countries and nearly a third of the world's population, according to the report.
The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting even poorer, according to this year's United Nations annual human-development report.
The report states that in the last 15 years more than a billion people worldwide saw their income fall. The report characterized this figure as an indicator of increasing widespread economic trouble throughout the world, noting that only 200 million had experienced similar loss of income in the 15 years from 1965 to 1980.
This overall drop in income affects almost 100 countries and nearly a third of the world's population, according to the report. Incomes in 43 countries were lower in 1995 than in 1970, 25 years earlier.
The UN report described these income declines as "unprecedented, far exceeding in duration, and sometimes in depth, the declines of the Great Depression of the 1930s in the industrial countries."
The economic impact of AIDS is huge, said the report. On average, the world lost 1.3 years of development in the last decade because of the devastation in some countries brought about by AIDS. The nation of Zambia was set back more than a decade and Tanzania eight years as a result of AIDS. It is now said to be the leading cause of death for adults under 45, affecting the poor the most, said the report.
The report also described quality of life in the post-Cold War era and noted that the United States' obsession with sex, drugs and television "gives cause for concern." Television consumes 40 percent of the free time of Americans, resulting in "a sharp reduction in voluntary activity."
It also noted that the United States ranks second in drug crimes in developed countries, and its 90,000 rapes a year are four times that of the next-highest industrial country. (Source: Gannett News Service.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: November - December 1996
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
