I’ve been a fan of Ian Fleming’s James Bond since my youth. It started with the movies, of course, but one summer I decided to read all the novels, in order. I moved on to John Gardner’s take on the character, and then found renewed interest when my friend Raymond Benson penned a few excellent Bond novels (please Raymond write more!).

And, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that James Bond has saved the world many times over during the course of his illustrious career. But, alas, agent 007 is only a fictional character. What the world really needs is ALL of us to help save the world in our own (generally less exciting) way.

The UN Millennium Project suggests a target of 0.7 percent of every country’s national income for official development assistance to help solve the issues of hunger, education, gender inequality, child mortality, maternal health, disease, environmental sustainability, and more.

Unfortunately, the US continues to fall far short of that goal, averaging only about 0.16% each year. Now the US still provides a lot of real money, but think what doubling the percentage could do. Or how much good could be done if the US reached the actual UN suggested target goal of .7%. Only Norway, Sweden, Luxemburg, Netherlands, and Denmark met the goal.

Now make sure you read that right. The goal is .7% of income, not 7%, but instead –

.007

So if you make $50,000 a year, you would contribute $350 (50000 x .007). You could be your own 007 out to save the world.

Despite our own issues here in the US with the economy and other tales of woe and strife, we still need to think of the global community and work to raise the percentage of money we contribute to the UN Millennium Project.

We all benefit in the long run. Don’t you agree?