Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site oberon.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!sdcrdcf!oberon!walker From: walker@oberon.UUCP (Mike Walker) Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: Let them eat the Gross National Product Message-ID: <119@oberon.UUCP> Date: Sun, 22-Sep-85 02:44:23 EDT Article-I.D.: oberon.119 Posted: Sun Sep 22 02:44:23 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 26-Sep-85 08:15:04 EDT References: <3476@topaz.UUCP> <28200078@inmet.UUCP> <1790@psuvax1.UUCP> <192@gargoyle.UUCP> Organization: U. of So. Calif., Los Angeles Lines: 40 > This is *typical* of famines. Through the drought years of the > 1970's, the Sahelian countries of Africa, with the possible exception > of Mauritania, produced enough food to feed their populations. (See > R.W. Franke and B.H. Chasin, *The Political Economy of Ecological > Destruction: Development in the West African Sahel*.) Bangladesh, > rich in fertile soil, water, manpower, and natural gas, is a > potential breadbasket, yet hunger has been widespread in that > country, especially among peasants who grow rice for a living. In > the Caribbean, much of the best land is used to grow coffee, bananas, > cocoa, and sugar cane for export, while many people are malnourished. > I have mentioned Venezuela, a "rich" 3rd world country where at least > half the population doesn't get enough to eat. A large grain > "surplus" exists in India which must be guarded by soldiers. And in > the world as a whole, enough food is produced right now to keep > everyone well fed, including pets and draft animals. > > This is an example of how a more equal distribution is a positive-sum > game. The rich do not have to give up their lives or even their > health to give life to those who are starving (and in many cases they > could *improve* their health by doing so). You can't eat the per > capita GNP, you can only eat that portion of it that gets on your > table. > > Richard Carnes There seems to a problem here, if the world produces enough food to feed itself why doesn't it? There is a limit to how much food a person can eat. So what happens to the food not distributed? Why the governments buy it up and store it till it goes bad? Or perhaps pay the farmers to let it rot in the fields? Or refuse to let it go to the famine affected areas for political reasons? The fact that the poor cannot afford the food is not the only limit to its distibution. Government intervention is often the primary cause of misdistribution. -- Michael D. Walker (Mike) Arpa: walker@oberon.ARPA Uucp: {the (mostly unknown) world}!ihnp4!sdcrdcf!oberon!walker {several select chunks}!sdcrdcf!oberon!walker