Biblical HDI

So for those of you who don't know, there is this thing called the Human Development Index. It's a mathematical way to calculate who's "Developed," who's "Developing," and who is, well, "Underdeveloped." For those of you who are over 22, you are probably more familiar with descriptions of the "First world." These have been done away and have been, more or less, relabeled in terms of development. Lots of math and thinking has gone into this index. For the mathematically inclined, just take an average of the following indicies to get overall HDI:



And just like that, you know if your country sucks or not. (For those actually interested in the math, check out the Wikipedia article, from whence these formulas were jacked).

Now, that's the background. I was reading the prophets this morning. God was describing the future peace of Jerusalem and one of the attributes of it was this:

Zec 8:5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

Isn't that a lot easier? Instead of massive economic and social indicators which take thousands of man-hours to assemble, go to a place and see if there are children playing in the street. This will tell you many things: the kids are not forced to work for their food. The streets are safe. The children not sick.

This is consistent with my experience as well. My own home street is a great example of this. It is a suburban dreamland, and when I drive home I have to go 5MPH because children consider the street a placeplace and cars intruders. In various communities in Mexico, the difference between a 'good' neighborhood and a 'bad' one really is kids playing in the street. So next time you're in a foreign country and want to know if it's a good place or bad place, look for kids playing.