2003 Year in Review

World Hunger vs. Freedom

While I watched TV and saw the Twin Towers come down on 9/11/01, I felt the suffering of humanity and pity for the people caught in this horrible, man-made disaster. I think everyone (globally) felt this. My second thought, unlike many Americans, was not how to "get these people" who were responsible, but how such a thing could happen, who could harbor such hate and why? I didn't see it as an attack on freedom or even the American way of life, but as an inhuman sort of wake up call to the suffering of others that we ignore at our hazard.

So, what to do: attack foreign countries in preemptive efforts to keep people in tall buildings and airplanes safe in the USA or find some root causes and work toward a more equitable life for our fellow human beings? To be fair, even the most powerful man on the planet cannot do it without our help. If you feel powerless I recommend the book World Hunger: Twelve Myths by Frances Moore Lappe, Joseph Collins, and Peter Rosset. Let me also point out that the major positive action anyone can take is a change of attitude - what we in the "oil patch" would call a "serious attitude adjustment." These twelve myths are especially near and dear to our hearts and adjusting will go a long way in preemption and preventing the most horrible man-made disaster we perpetuate on the poor today.

If you believe any of the following world hunger myths, you are wrong or at least partially (more than half) wrong:
1 - There's simply not enough food.
2 - Nature (famine) is to blame.
3 - There are too many mouths to feed (overpopulation).
4 - It is a choice between food and the environment.
5 - The Green Revolution (super farming and science) is our best hope.
6 - It is a choice between justice and production.
7 - The "free market" can end hunger.
8 - "Free trade" is the answer.
9 - People are too hungry to revolt.
10 - More US aid will help the hungry.
11 - We (rich or at least not hungry) benefit from their hunger.
12 - It is a choice between food and freedom.

I don't want you to trust me. I want you to read the book, discuss it with friends, family, your boss and your elected representatives. Just for your information a discussion of the book is being planned here in Morrison at the Library by the Whiteside Forum which will take place at 7:00 pm on Thursday February 26, 2004.

The book explains many different issues:
1 - Land reform and protective tariffs increases the incomes and purchasing power of the poor. This creates a "bubble up" economy that works better than our more conventional theory of government support of the wealthy that will "trickle down" to the poor.
2 - American foreign aid is generally a tool of diplomacy, promoting our national interest, and rarely used to help feed the poor. Paying off foreign debt would go a long way to reducing poverty as opposed to direct payments to foreign governments or agencies.
3 - Most free trade agreements benefit the wealthy and not the poor and especially hurt the working poor even here in the USA.
4 - Hunger and poverty are not inevitable.

We all need to change your attitude. We all need to learn how the world works and the injustice created by concentrating economic and political power in the hands of the few, and the small steps we can take to make the world truly safe for freedom and democracy. We will need courage to take risks. We will not be popular for challenging the status quo or the concept of freedom as civil liberty and not unlimited accumulation.

by Marc Adami, Guest Columnist
November 21, 2003