Friday, May 21, 2010

poverty and hunger

Some may tire of socialists pointing out that for the hungry it is not a shortage of food that is the problem , but that they cannot afford to buy the food. It is the economics of capitalism - can't pay, can't have!

It is not only socialists who explain this fact of life but the capitalist class themselves. The American government in a recent policy document says

"More than one billion people—nearly a sixth of the world’s population—suffer from chronic hunger. It is a crisis with devastating and far-reaching effects. Hunger weakens immune systems and stunts child development; half of all child deaths in the developing world are related to under-nutrition. Chronic hunger and under-nutrition primarily results from poverty—people who are poor often simply cannot afford to buy food."

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