world & gold

on thursday night i went to see a film documentary called black gold about the especially bleak circumstances of the coffee trade in ethiopia - also an examination of the problem of africa and world trade on the whole. i did feel somewhat pleased in my western way that, by the fruits of my shopping at an all-vegetarian wholefoods store most of the time, the coffee sitting in my cupboard was fair trade ethiopian yirgacheffe, so happens exactly the kind sold by the co-operative farmer's union that was featured in the film. i suppose if it's more or less arbitrary to us in the western world, i should pay that 3 pounds 37 pence for my bulk coffee to the poor farmers i've seen who struggle so while growing seriously delicious coffee (chocolate overtones from this region of ethiopia; i fell in love/addiction back home at my coffeehouse, the mudhouse). anyway, i bring this up because shortly thereafter i stumbled upon this fascinating map: watch the GDPs of individual states liken to/house the GDPs of countries around the world (ethiopia's too poor to be on the map, of course). also it should be noted that population figures weren't taken into consideration at all in the drafting, but still, super interesting to ponder... (for the source website, click here)