14 April 2008
The MSM is Waking Up to the Crisis
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Emergency Preparation; What's News; World Affairs; World Economy .
I couldn’t stomach posting more of the article. Maybe it is just me and I am tired but it seems that the blame for the crisis was laid squarely on capitalism and the answer to the problem was socialism. Click on the link to read the whole article. I need some time to think about this and the possible repercussions. What do you think?
How Hunger Could Topple Regimes
By TONY KARONThe idea of the starving masses driven by their desperation to take to the streets and overthrow the ancient regime has seemed impossibly quaint since capitalism triumphed so decisively in the Cold War. Since then, the spectacle of hunger sparking revolutionary violence has been the stuff of Broadway musicals rather than the real world of politics. And yet, the headlines of the past month suggest that skyrocketing food prices are threatening the stability of a growing number of governments around the world. Ironically, it may be the very success of capitalism in transforming regions previously restrained by various forms of socialism that has helped create the new crisis.
Haiti is in flames as food riots have turned into a violent challenge to the vulnerable government; Egypt’s authoritarian regime faces a mounting political threat over its inability to maintain a steady supply of heavily subsidized bread to its impoverished citizens; Cote D’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mozambique, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Indonesia are among the countries that have recently seen violent food riots or demonstrations. World Bank president Robert Zoellick noted last week that world food prices had risen 80% over the past three years, and warned that at least 33 countries face social unrest as a result…
The reason officials such as Zoellick are sounding the alarm may be that the food crisis, and its attendant political risks, are not likely to be resolved or contained by the laissez-faire operation of capitalism’s market forces. Government intervention on behalf of the poor - so out of fashion during globalization’s roaring ’90s and the current decade - may be about to make a comeback.
15 Comments so far...
S.J. Says:
14 April 2008 at 7:37 pm.
I don’t know if they are really waking up. I didn’t see anything about the problem on the news tonight. Not a word. For something like this you would think it would headline the news.
Ghost Says:
14 April 2008 at 7:54 pm.
Hey, I finally got here in time to take part in a new discussion. Joy, I don’t see how you could take it any other way. Here is a paragraph that you didn’t post from the article that seems to help nail the point:
The social theories of Karl Marx were long ago discarded as of little value, even to revolutionaries. But he did warn that capitalism had a tendency to generate its own crises. Indeed, the spread of capitalism, and its accelerated industrialization and wealth-creation, may have fomented the food-inflation crisis - by dramatically accelerating competition for scarce resources.
Iffer Says:
14 April 2008 at 8:46 pm.
I don’t think converting to socialism will solve anything. It will just take away our freedoms and we will never get them back again.
CindyL. Says:
14 April 2008 at 8:50 pm.
If people are panicked over how to keep their kids from starving they won’t care about their rights.
Ghost Says:
14 April 2008 at 8:53 pm.
Iffer and Cindy, those are the things I’ve been thinking too. Well, I’m off to give a family home evening lesson to my baby. My wife is falling asleep so I think I’ll have an audience of one.
Hank Says:
14 April 2008 at 10:18 pm.
I have to go along with S.J. There is still very little about this out there. I don’t think we should be so worried about capitalism being over thrown here in the US over this even if it gets worse but I could see it happening in a lot of third world countries. It is too bad and I feel sad for those scared people. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I couldn’t feed my family.
Jesse Says:
15 April 2008 at 1:40 am.
It seems like Globalism has become synonomous with Capitalism. It wasn’t that way originally. That makes people think socialism is the answer. The real answer is the Constitution with tariffs to protect the interests of your own country because when we hit a crisis like this, everybody is going to be looking to protect their own country anyway and the whole one world idea falls apart. This article confirms this blog, IMO.
France’s answer to global food crisis is EU protectionism
With deft political timing, the French Agriculture Minister blamed economic liberalism and “too much trust in the free market” for the soaring cost of food.
He said: “We must not leave the vital issue of feeding people to the mercy of market laws and international speculation.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3746899.ece
Mac Says:
15 April 2008 at 10:30 am.
Oh crap, socialism is not the answer. We shouldn’t freak out by this though. It doesn’t mean all the politicians feel this way and like Hank said, it doesn’t mean it will happen here. It really bugs me to read that capitalism is getting the blame though. Bio-fuels are the biggest problem and that is a liberal socialist agenda piece of crap.
Matt Says:
15 April 2008 at 10:43 am.
Wall Street, economists, and politicians are all so scared they don’t want to face the music. Even the MSM here seems scared. Putting your hands over your face doesn’t make the monster go away. It’s just keeps you from knowing where to run for safety and makes you go splat.
Sharon Anderson Says:
15 April 2008 at 2:57 pm.
Famine and starvation may cause the hungry and frightened to beg for government control of food production and distribution.
I’m sure the UN would like to have that global opportunity. As for the US, the following executive order is interesting:
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/10998.htm
Executive Order 10998
ASSIGNING EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FUNCTIONS TO THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, including authority vested in me by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958 (72 Stat. 1799), it is hereby ordered as follows:
SECTION 1. Scope. The Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) shall prepare national emergency plans and develop preparedness programs covering: Food resources, farm equipment, fertilizer, and food resource facilities, . . .. These plans and programs shall be designed to develop a state of readiness in these areas with respect to all conditions of national emergency, including attack upon the United States.
SEC. 2. Definitions. As used in this order:
a)”Food resources” means all commodities and products . . . that are capable of being eaten or drunk, by either human beings or animals’ . . . , at all stages of processing. . .
(b) “Farm equipment” means machinery, equipment and repair parts manufactured primarily for use on farms in connection with the production or preparation for market or use of “food resources.”
(c) “Fertilizer” means any product or combination of products for plant nutrition in form for distribution to the users thereof.
(d) “Food resource facilities” means plants, machinery, vehicles (including on farm) and other facilities for the production, processing, distribution and storage (including cold storage) of food resources, and for domestic distribution of farm equipment and fertilizer.
. . .
SEC. 6. Stockpiles. The Secretary shall assist the Office of Emergency Planning in formulating and carrying out plans for stockpiling strategic and critical materials. In the administration of Commodity Credit Corporation inventories of food resources shall take all possible measures to assure the availability of such inventories when and where needed in an emergency.
Jan W. Says:
15 April 2008 at 3:52 pm.
Sharon, that is disturbing information. I sure hope we don’t see these things implemented.
Sharon Anderson Says:
15 April 2008 at 3:55 pm.
When the government takes control it might not be such a good thing. For example:
Ukraine Famine - 1932-1933 - 7,000,000 Deaths
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, set in motion events designed to cause a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule. As a result, an estimated 7,000,000 persons perished in this farming area, known as the breadbasket of Europe, with the people deprived of the food they had grown with their own hands.
If you want to read more: http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/Ukraine_famine.htm
Stalin was responsible for far more deaths than Hilter. And to think we were allies with Stalin and the Soviet Union during WW II!
Sharon Anderson Says:
15 April 2008 at 4:18 pm.
Yes, Jan, there is much to be disturbed about and not much we can do about most it. Sometimes finding out what is happening can be depressing and distressing. It helps me to remember these words from Isaiah: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; year, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10) Words worth repeating when we might feel down.
The Realist Says:
15 April 2008 at 5:12 pm.
Sharon you are a great one for keeping our spirits up. It is appreciated. I don’t understand much of Isaiah but his words are poetic and inspiring.
Bryon Says:
15 April 2008 at 5:26 pm.
That is a shocking amount of people who died by deliberate starvation. Stalin should always be drawn red with horns.
The government needs to assist the food production area’s, not control them. Why take on a burden that it can’t handle properly when they could just add its advice and offer help to that industry?
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