Misery Index and Prayer for the Nations
Dear COAH,
Have you heard of the misery index? Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University calculated how economic problems bring misery to people by applying the misery index, which is the sum of the interest, inflation, and unemployment rates minus the year-over-year percent change in per-capita GDP growth. The top three countries with the highest scores are Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Syria. Zimbabwe scored 414.7 points with a 2022 inflation of 243.8% and an interest rate of 131.8%. In Canada, the inflation rate of 2022 was the highest at 6.8% in years. We all felt it in rising restaurant bills and housing costs. I cannot fathom what it is like to live with inflation over 200%!
Did you know that more than seven million people left Venezuela since 2015? I just realized that when I wrote this short article. Two and a half million of them went to the neighboring country Columbia. Another million and a quarter went to Chile. Today, Venezuelan refugees are found in every nation in Latin America, Mexico, and the United States. Thousands and thousands of women and girls sell their bodies to make a living on foreign soil. What is most ironic is that Venezuela has the most petroleum reserves in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia. Though low quality, their oil can make the country prosper.
I found one thing in common among the top three countries on the misery index: they all had long-term dictators who drove the nations to financial ruin and social unrest. Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 40 years (1987-2017). Nicolas Maduro has been in charge of Venezuela for eleven years (2013 - present). And finally, Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father and has been the president of Syria since 2000.
If I were a believer living in one of these three nations, how would I pray to God and go about my daily routine? What would my sermons be to my church members every Sunday? I can’t imagine keeping my spirituality intact, let alone helping others. Brothers and sisters, let us pray for those most affected by bad leadership and poor governance. The words of the prophet Amos come to mind:
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24)
Blessings,
Pastor Minho Song