Hundred Million Person Tribes

Notes

Splitting the world population into equal chunks allows comparisons between regions at a glance

The disparity between the crowded Old World and the relatively sparsely populated New World is clear from the map. The Americas are represented by 9 circles, compared to 58 for the rest of the world.

The US population is represented by just 3 circles. With the spread of technology and ideas, it is not difficult to forsee a time when most people in the world are as productive as the average American. A quick glance at this map shows that when this happens, the US economy will be dwarfed by each of the economies of Africa, India and China.

There are many ways the US might prepare for this inevitable power shift. At the moment, US policy seems to be focused on preventing it from happening, by erecting trade barriers, enforcing bullying patents and demonstrating military might. Perhaps it would be better if the US just accepted that it's going to be one power among many, and concentrated on making friends rather than enemies.