America has problems, but America is NOT THE PROBLEM!~
Go ahead stuff you face with another big mac!
Published on July 13, 2007 By Moderateman In Current Events

 

About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds, as you can see on this display. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often.

Yet there is plenty of food in the world for everyone. The problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty. They lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves. Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families.

In a world where we Americans use the term "I am starved" because we have not eaten in 6 hours or the idea of skipping a meal sends us into a tail spin, in the time it took you to read this far into the article around 6 people died of STARVATION. STARVATION, is one of the cruelest ways to die as the body slowly consumes itself till there is nothing left to consume. You dehydrate, you die a slow and pain-filled death.

America itself has enough farmland to feed most of the worlds poor, yet what do we do? the Government pays farmers to NOT grow crops. What kind of nonsense is this? Africa is a continent so poor of soil that the people fertilize it with their own feces.The United Nations cannot get the nations of Africa to stop killing each other long enough to farm properly.  Poverty is at an all time high, even here in America people starve to death. Not many, but enough to make me wonder what kind of country is this that would let its citizens starve or be homeless? The richest nation on the planet and yet we treat our war heroes like pieces of rotting meat once they have done their duty.

I fear that truly the planet is in jeopardy of ending its own life. Our technology far outstrips our common sense and will one day kill all of us.

We have shown ourselves to be selfish as a world people and will reap what we have sown for the last thousand or so years.

 


Comments (Page 1)
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on Jul 13, 2007
"Africa is a country with soil so fertile most anything can grow there but the United Nations cannot get the nations to stop killing each other long enough to farm."

First off, "Africa" is not a country. It's a continent. Have you been there recently? Ever? I've been in Senegal, Tunisia, Gabon, Ghana, Togo, Sao Tome, and Angola all in the last year.

This "country" that has soil so fertile it would grow anything is a figment of your imagination. Know what "nightsoil" is? If the soil were so fertile, why would these folks fertilize their crops with their own feces?

I really have nothing to say about the rest of the rant...just that if you're going to talk about the "country" of Africa, maybe you ought talk out of the right orifice of your body - your facts are...not.
on Jul 13, 2007

Reply By: OckhamsRazorPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
"Africa is a country with soil so fertile most anything can grow there but the United Nations cannot get the nations to stop killing each other long enough to farm."

I stand corrected. I will make the correction in the body of the article. thank you.

No I have never, ever been to Africa, ock, But I do appreciate your expertise. I amended the article or rant as you call it to show the facts of one that has been to Africa and seen the conditions. BTW I know that Africa is a continent, but I made a simple mistake calling it a country. My bad.
on Jul 13, 2007
Snippy, snide, and rude corrections aside, I do agree that as a species we human beings are a pretty damn sorry lot.
on Jul 13, 2007

 

Reply By: MasonMPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
Snippy, snide, and rude corrections aside,

I was not going to point that out mason, but thank you for doing so. My hero.. sigh. hahahahahahah

I do agree that as a species we human beings are a pretty damn sorry lot.

why yes, that was my point.

 

 

on Jul 13, 2007
Dear MM,

Thank you for this post. Not only do we pay people not to raise crops, but much of he crops we raise we turn into bad things: corn to corn syrup; soy beans to hydrogenated oils. Goodness, and then we import much of our apples.

When people see their familes die from starvation it tends to radicalize them, I suspect. If we truely want to fight terror, we might want to feed people and assist them in meeting basic human needs.


Perhaps between us, truth lives in the middle.

Be well.
on Jul 13, 2007
Snippy, snide, and rude corrections aside, I do agree that as a species we human beings are a pretty damn sorry lot.


Not intended as snippy or snide. Just factual. Sorry.

Just for giggles, are you aware that the reason that these African countries can't stop fighting long enough to solve their problems is because the continent is filled with tribes that don't recognize the boundaries that have been drawn upon their continent? Example: There's a tribe that exists in both Ghana and Togo, and had they their way, they'd trade with one another according to their own ways, but because the border of Ghana and Togo was drawn, now they have to deal with laws they never asked for, nor wanted...hell...their currency isn't even the same (though there is currently a push to do to African currency what the Euro did for (to?) Europe.

Fun facts...and something maybe not so rude or snippy that you might like to know.
on Jul 13, 2007
About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations.


And? So long as neither you or those you care about are among them why do you care?

I believe something like 40 000 people die annually in road traffic accidents in the USA. The number is greater so why don't people care more about road traffic deaths than supposed starvation? Especially in America, if you starve to death in the middle of fabulous plenty it means you are too stupid to live. Better that you die and remove your genes from the general pool - preferably before your idiot ass manages to breed.

The planet crawls and heaves with human beings. We need more death, not less, particularly in that pullulating heap of AIDS-raddled walking corpses, otherwise known as Africa.

Africans are an example of the kind of stupidity I referred to above. Zimbabwe was the bread-basket of the continent. Mugabe, his politics, and the stupidity and greed of the Black usurpers of White owned and farmed lands, has turned its economy into a ramshackle ruin with inflation running utterly rampant and unemployment at 80% of the entire population.

South Africa is going the same way.

The more Africans that die, the better. Whatever the origins of the geo-political arrangements in Africa, its populations have had over a century (at least) to adapt to and deal with them. Instead, once independence from colonial powers was granted, they've spent their time in fucking each other over because they're too stupid to do anything else. Let them all die, so that the continent can be populated with people who have some idea as to how best to exploit its immense wealth of natural resources.

Humanity is a crawling plague on the face of the planet. The more of it that dies, and the sooner it does it, the better.
on Jul 14, 2007
Ahh the hand wringing pitch with poverty - usually either naivety or a shameless bid for a profound shining halo by demonstrating such worldly thoughts.

Or genuinely meant by truly concerned and thoughtful people.

Whatever the source of this particular poverty rant, there are many other truths lurking on this issue.

EmperorofIceCream may have chosen a form of words that makes PolPot look like ambassadors for world peace, but the general supposition made is a valid one - there comes a point where efforts to help people help themselves have to cease when their leaders insist on ignoring the plight of their own people and fatten their Swiss Bank Accounts with the offered Aid. Its pointless almost intravenously feeding the bank accounts of such people, if it has no effect on the people its supposed to help. Does the freezing of the Aid help the people in need, no, but its pointless feeding the bad guys bank account, use the money in another way. Which way? Who knows, but at least stop pouring it down the drain to no use other than giving the donor the chance to sleep wallowing in self - contentment.

Now move onto me and my family. These kinds of "feed the world and don’t eat Big Macs" thoughts are hugely naive. If they think I am going to deliberately reduce my family to sackcloth and ashes, and rechannel the surplus to feed the bank accounts of the clowns described earlier, they can think again. Does that mean I am an uncaring irresponsible Human Being who lives in a gratuitous way, not caring for the suffering of others?

Of Course Not - and I resent individuals groping for some self effacing moral high ground, to imply as such

What is poverty? The acknowledged definitions of poverty change throughout the world. They change because poverty is a Relative term depending on the local circumstances. One common truth in most Western Countries is their "poverty ridden" elements are living in gratuitous luxury compared to the poverty in the same Country of 300 years ago - even 100 years ago - certainly when compared to some in places like Africa today. Does that mean I am sweeping the issue under the carpet as an uncaring evil monster?

Of Course Not - and I resent individuals groping for some self effacing moral high ground, to imply as such

The Classic Student always wants to "work for world peace and eliminate poverty" - so went the similar phrase of beauty queen wannabe's in the days before it became non-pc to take part in such contests when asked what they most want to achieve in life. Both genre's are/were motivated by drivers more orientated to themselves than some poor devil starving in some African Desert. Does that make them horrible human beings?

Of Course Not - and I bet they resented individuals groping for some self effacing moral high ground, to imply as such

We could go on forever with the realities surrounding the resolution of this issue.

As a species we have been beating the hell out of each other even whilst we still lived in the trees, let alone when we stood up on two hind legs and discovered that beating your neighbor over the skull with a rock got you their tree as well as yours. Hopefully we have moved on a Tad since then, albeit like many I sometimes wonder. At the end of the day, Life is not simple, its a huge mountain of inter-related stresses and strains, wants and dislikes. You cant change human nature overnight - and I personally doubt you'll ever change its Core ambitious competitiveness at all, its why we are the dominant animal species on the Planet.

So should we try and prevent poverty and starvation - of course - but lets not be naive enough to believe or even merely imply that there is some "Silver Bullet" instant solution, there isn’t, and never will be. All we can do is show genuine compassion and do the best we can amidst the other whirlwind of competing stresses and pains of what passes for our existence before we go to meet our Maker.

Even then we maybe met at the Purley Gates by the immortal line "got any spare change guv?"
on Jul 14, 2007

Wrong. It has PLENTY of effect on the people it's supposed to help. It finances those who oppress them. In spite of that, America now contributes close to 50 billion dollars in aid to sub-saharan africa every year.


I used to believe in aid. And then I went to a country which received aid, and saw what it was used for.

There's nothing so illusion shattering as seeing what aid really does to a country.

If we must piss money against a wall are lots of ways that are more fun. If we want to make life better for the impoverished then our first step should always be the encouragement of small-scale economies, and the best way we have available now is microcredit. Traditional aid is just a waste of money.
on Jul 14, 2007

Reply By: So Daiho HilbertPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
Dear MM,

Thank you for this post. Not only do we pay people not to raise crops, but much of he crops we raise we turn into bad things: corn to corn syrup; soy beans to hydrogenated oils. Goodness, and then we import much of our apples.

When people see their familes die from starvation it tends to radicalize them, I suspect. If we truely want to fight terror, we might want to feed people and assist them in meeting basic human needs.


Perhaps between us, truth lives in the middle.

Be well.

I agree with what you say, watching your family die from hunger can really anger someone and turn them into a terrorist IMO. aso here we agree, no middle ground needed,

on Jul 14, 2007

Reply By: OckhamsRazorPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
Snippy, snide, and rude corrections aside, I do agree that as a species we human beings are a pretty damn sorry lot.


Not intended as snippy or snide. Just factual. Sorry.

Just for giggles, are you aware that the reason that these African countries can't stop fighting long enough to solve their problems is because the continent is filled with tribes that don't recognize the boundaries that have been drawn upon their continent? Example: There's a tribe that exists in both Ghana and Togo, and had they their way, they'd trade with one another according to their own ways, but because the border of Ghana and Togo was drawn, now they have to deal with laws they never asked for, nor wanted...hell...their currency isn't even the same (though there is currently a push to do to African currency what the Euro did for (to?) Europe.

Fun facts...and something maybe not so rude or snippy that you might like to know.

I really do not mind being told I am wrong ock, it is how I LEARN, so for that I thank you.

I also thank you for any other facts about anything you care to throw my way.

 

MM

on Jul 14, 2007

Reply By: little-whipPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
Poverty is at an all time high, even here in America people starve to death. Not many, but enough to make me wonder what kind of country is this that would let its citizens starve or be homeless?


Poverty isn't anywhere NEAR an all-time high in America, Elie, whose koolaid have you been drinking?

And I'll challenge you the way I've challenged others here who claim that people starve to death in America. Prove it. And I don't mean victims of abuse or mentally ill adults that refuse treatment but cannot legally be committed because after all, this IS America and we have certain freedoms here, including the freedom to refuse food and assistance.

If you can show me any significant number (even if as you say, that number is 'not many') of actual starvation deaths in this country in the last 20 years or so, people who wanted to eat and made some effort on their own behalf to obtain help but were refused so consistently and for such a long period of time that they starved to death I'll print this page out and eat it myself, and take a digital picture of it so you can gloat.

AS for a significant number, here is how I feel about that whip if ONE America starves to death that is to many is such a rich country. Here we hear all the time about the homeless dieing from malnutrition, poor people dieing from freezing cold or heat stroke because they cannot afford the high heating or cooling bill, whilethe utilities reap billions in profits and the oil companies set new records every quarter for profit.

WORLD POVERTY is at an all time high whip.

This is my point, no one should have to starve period. NOT ONE!

And eat something healthy, like Simon. heh heh heh ''' no picture needed.

on Jul 14, 2007

Reply By: little-whipPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
And what's up with the "YOU Americans" crap? Shouldn't that read WE Americans? Or are you the only enlightened one?

Was feeling mighty seperated that day hon, we both know how proud I am to be an American, even the bad stuff.

on Jul 14, 2007

 

Reply By: EmperorofIceCreamPosted: Friday, July 13, 2007
About 25,000 people die every day

I believe something like 40 000 people die annually

 see your mistake Simon? 25,000 a day vrs 40,000 a year.

I care because I do. it's that simple.

on Jul 14, 2007

Reply By: ZydorPosted: Saturday, July 14, 2007

well hello, nice of to drop in to this artilce about "self effacing moral high ground" you seem to like that phrase, as you used it three time in your comment.

 

All I am saying is People can do MORE to help their fellow man. That is the short and sweet of the content of the article.

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