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From: edhall@randvax.ARPA (Ed Hall)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: The Joy of Starvation
Message-ID: <1656@randvax.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 28-Jan-84 15:43:29 EST
Article-I.D.: randvax.1656
Posted: Sat Jan 28 15:43:29 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 31-Jan-84 03:44:59 EST
References: <854@ihuxl.UUCP>, <355@rayssd.UUCP>, <249@pyuxss.UUCP>, <2437@rabbit.UUCP>
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica
Lines: 38

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Many African nations have a thriving agriculture industry, growing
things like coffee, cocoa, and sugar--for export.  This way they can
get dollars and other currecies from the industrialized world, with
which to buy arms and other things their governments feel necessary.
Of course, the folks at home may be starving because they can hardly
eat the particular crops they are growing.

This is a gross simplification of a highly complex problem.  Yes,
there are multi-national corporations involved here as well as corrupt
governments.  And there are some areas that actually are populated
beyond their capacity for food production.  But in the majority of
cases hunger is a political and economic problem, not just a matter of
overpopulation.

As to the matter of education and overpopulation: even in the third
world there is a negative correlation between education, and family
size and hunger.  The reasons are pretty obvious: education allows a
more effective use of labor (and in the third world the size of one's
family has a lot to do with one's productive ability), enables the
employment of technology (e.g. irrigation), allows for better
communication and coordination, and last but not least, gives people
something to do besides making babies (and enables them to stop if
they want to).

Once again, a simplification.  The need for tools and education has
been known for as long as aid programs have existed; this business
about `liberal hand-outs' is a crock--sort of a spillover from the
criticisms of welfare here at home.  But a starving person is not
about to plow a field.  In areas of mass starvation the dead are in
some ways the lucky ones, as the survivors must contend with the
environment of death, disease, retarded development, and crowding.
Many of the surviving children will be permanently brain-damaged or
crippled by malnutrition.  These people need to be fed before they
can be taught how to feed themselves.

		-Ed Hall
		decvax!randvax!edhall