Oh, and while we are at it, what about this 'starvation' myth???
There are many myths about why there is hunger in the world, many of which are false. A few of these myths include: There’s not enough food to go around, the occurrence of natural disasters, and there are too many people in the world to feed.
These myths are indeed false. Thomas Malthus (wrote which is now known as the “Malthusian Theory” or the “Demographic Model”) developed an explanation for hunger in the world. According to Thomas Malthus, there are too many mouths to feed and not enough resources to go around. Malthus believed hunger occurred in cycles. When there is a lack of resources, the result is famine, disease, poverty and war which result in many people dying and in turn there is less of a population and the hunger epidemic levels off until there is another “population explosion” and the cycle repeats itself.
This explanation of hunger in the world is too simple. As a matter of fact, the world produces enough grain alone to provide every human being with 3,500 calories per day and this does not include vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, fish or grass-fed meats.
In reality, people are starving because of the horrid distribution process and the fact that corporate-owned farms (aka. Agri-business), in countries are growing crops for export to make profits rather than to feed their people, and small farmers or “peasants” as well as “subsistence farmers” are losing their land to big business take-overs. Most countries where hunger is rampant are major exporters of agricultural goods.
In Bangladesh, their official annual output of rice alone could provide each person with about one pound of grain per day. Yet the poorest third in Bangladesh eat at most 1,500 calories per day.
In Sub-Saharan Africa exports grew more rapidly than imports. In some of these countries known for famine like: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Mali, the area of unused good farmland is many times greater than the area actually farmed.
As far as natural disasters are concerned, these only effect the peasant farmers who cannot afford or don’t have the ability to build levies, dams, pipes etc. that bigger corporate owned farmers have.
The “great potato famine” in Ireland between 1845 and 1849 killed over 1 million people. It was blamed on potato blight but Ireland during those years was a net exporter of food and exported their choicest crops to England until their own food gradually deteriorated. Peasants were pushed onto drought-prone lands, areas with bad soil or deprived of land completely until they had nothing to fall back on. Natural events are not the cause...they are the final blow.
The Bangladesh famine was similar. It was not caused by natural disasters. Rich farmers were hoarding rice and not letting any of the poor people see it. When people are denied the resources to grow or retain enough of their own harvests to meet the needs of their family or community and only money gets them the food they need, they go hungry. Peasants or just the common people’s income falls and/or food prices rise.
In Africa’s Sahel, they said famine resulted from droughts, but during those famine years, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of the United Nations reported all but one Sahalian country produced enough food for its population. Poor farmers suffered because they were in debt to rich farmers and were forced to sell their crops for next to nothing. Which resulted in not having enough food to get through the “hunger season”.
In Ethiopia, drought was blamed for their famine, but studies showed the ’82-’85 drought effected at most 30% of their farmland. Acres of prime farmland were producing cotton and sugarcane, but for export. It was finally said that feudalistic landlordism, hoarding, and governmental indifferences caused the famine and not the drought.
“Give me your tired, your poor, I’ll piss on ‘em…that’s what the statue of bigotry says. Your poor huddled masses. Let’s club ‘em to death and get it over with and just dump ‘em on the boulevard.”
Lou Reed, New York
Global Free Trade is not the best way to insure food production is maximized. The markets respond to profits, not feeding the hungry. The WTO (World Trade Organization) was created by the GATT treaty (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs). Any country that signed the GATT treaty and/or is a member of the WTO can dispute laws in other countries.
Brazil and Venezuela went to the WTO with a complaint because the United States wouldn’t buy their oil because it didn’t meet the US environmental standards. In turn, the WTO had the United States lower the Clean Air Act by not enforcing it so Brazil and Venezuela could sell their oil over the market to the United States.
It’s all CORPORATE CAPITALIST BULLSHIT!
Global Free Trade has had its toll on a number of issues. It is responsible for hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and Canada losing their jobs because giant corporations are moving their businesses to places like Mexico and South America where labor is cheap. Even Mexico is starting to feel the effects because corporations are realizing its labor and costs are even cheaper in places like China.
Global Free Trade and the Free Market are also taking their toll on agriculture. It’s the “Agri-business”, the corporate capitalists who are benefiting from free trade. Poor peasant and subsistence farmers cannot afford the machinery, pesticides etc. that are being traded on the market. Forcing small farmers out of work, putting them in debt to rich farmers or just plain being taken over by corporations or governments.
Small farmers cannot afford to buy these chemicals and pesticides in bulk and they don’t need the big machinery that “Agri-businesses” use because their acreage is so small it doesn’t justify buying these things.
Free Trade is making the bigger farms more profitable because they can afford and have the acreage to use this machinery and buy these pesticides etc. in bulk, which, in turn, make them a bigger profit and push the smaller farmers out of business.
It’s the companies that make the pesticides, herbicides and farm machinery that are making the profits and those profits don’t “trickle down” to the small farmers, the poor or the hungry. They stay in the claws of these corporate capitalists.
So, in conclusion, Global Free Trade and the Free Market has had an effect on poverty and hunger…it’s made it worse.
Oh, and while we are at it, what about this 'starvation' myth???
There are many myths about why there is hunger in the world, many of which are false. A few of these myths include: There’s not enough food to go around, the occurrence of natural disasters, and there are too many people in the world to feed.These myths are indeed false. Thomas Malthus (wrote which is now known as the “Malthusian Theory” or the “Demographic Model”) developed an explanation for hunger in the world. According to Thomas Malthus, there are too many mouths to feed and not enough resources to go around. Malthus believed hunger occurred in cycles. When there is a lack of resources, the result is famine, disease, poverty and war which result in many people dying and in turn there is less of a population and the hunger epidemic levels off until there is another “population explosion” and the cycle repeats itself.
This explanation of hunger in the world is too simple. As a matter of fact, the world produces enough grain alone to provide every human being with 3,500 calories per day and this does not include vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, fish or grass-fed meats.
In reality, people are starving because of the horrid distribution process and the fact that corporate-owned farms (aka. Agri-business), in countries are growing crops for export to make profits rather than to feed their people, and small farmers or “peasants” as well as “subsistence farmers” are losing their land to big business take-overs. Most countries where hunger is rampant are major exporters of agricultural goods.
In Bangladesh, their official annual output of rice alone could provide each person with about one pound of grain per day. Yet the poorest third in Bangladesh eat at most 1,500 calories per day.
In Sub-Saharan Africa exports grew more rapidly than imports. In some of these countries known for famine like: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Mali, the area of unused good farmland is many times greater than the area actually farmed.
As far as natural disasters are concerned, these only effect the peasant farmers who cannot afford or don’t have the ability to build levies, dams, pipes etc. that bigger corporate owned farmers have.
The “great potato famine” in Ireland between 1845 and 1849 killed over 1 million people. It was blamed on potato blight but Ireland during those years was a net exporter of food and exported their choicest crops to England until their own food gradually deteriorated. Peasants were pushed onto drought-prone lands, areas with bad soil or deprived of land completely until they had nothing to fall back on. Natural events are not the cause...they are the final blow.
The Bangladesh famine was similar. It was not caused by natural disasters. Rich farmers were hoarding rice and not letting any of the poor people see it. When people are denied the resources to grow or retain enough of their own harvests to meet the needs of their family or community and only money gets them the food they need, they go hungry. Peasants or just the common people’s income falls and/or food prices rise.
In Africa’s Sahel, they said famine resulted from droughts, but during those famine years, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of the United Nations reported all but one Sahalian country produced enough food for its population. Poor farmers suffered because they were in debt to rich farmers and were forced to sell their crops for next to nothing. Which resulted in not having enough food to get through the “hunger season”.
In Ethiopia, drought was blamed for their famine, but studies showed the ’82-’85 drought effected at most 30% of their farmland. Acres of prime farmland were producing cotton and sugarcane, but for export. It was finally said that feudalistic landlordism, hoarding, and governmental indifferences caused the famine and not the drought.
“Give me your tired, your poor, I’ll piss on ‘em…that’s what the statue of bigotry says. Your poor huddled masses. Let’s club ‘em to death and get it over with and just dump ‘em on the boulevard.”
Lou Reed, New York
Global Free Trade is not the best way to insure food production is maximized. The markets respond to profits, not feeding the hungry. The WTO (World Trade Organization) was created by the GATT treaty (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs). Any country that signed the GATT treaty and/or is a member of the WTO can dispute laws in other countries.
Brazil and Venezuela went to the WTO with a complaint because the United States wouldn’t buy their oil because it didn’t meet the US environmental standards. In turn, the WTO had the United States lower the Clean Air Act by not enforcing it so Brazil and Venezuela could sell their oil over the market to the United States.
It’s all CORPORATE CAPITALIST BULLSHIT!
Global Free Trade has had its toll on a number of issues. It is responsible for hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and Canada losing their jobs because giant corporations are moving their businesses to places like Mexico and South America where labor is cheap. Even Mexico is starting to feel the effects because corporations are realizing its labor and costs are even cheaper in places like China.
Global Free Trade and the Free Market are also taking their toll on agriculture. It’s the “Agri-business”, the corporate capitalists who are benefiting from free trade. Poor peasant and subsistence farmers cannot afford the machinery, pesticides etc. that are being traded on the market. Forcing small farmers out of work, putting them in debt to rich farmers or just plain being taken over by corporations or governments.
Small farmers cannot afford to buy these chemicals and pesticides in bulk and they don’t need the big machinery that “Agri-businesses” use because their acreage is so small it doesn’t justify buying these things.
Free Trade is making the bigger farms more profitable because they can afford and have the acreage to use this machinery and buy these pesticides etc. in bulk, which, in turn, make them a bigger profit and push the smaller farmers out of business.
It’s the companies that make the pesticides, herbicides and farm machinery that are making the profits and those profits don’t “trickle down” to the small farmers, the poor or the hungry. They stay in the claws of these corporate capitalists.
So, in conclusion, Global Free Trade and the Free Market has had an effect on poverty and hunger…it’s made it worse.