This was a long week for me. I was still recovering from a cold I had. And the whole new years thing was cool but it sucked to go back to work friday
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Interesting, yet I think the human issue is complicated by our ability to reflect upon our circumstances. There's no morality in the wolf/deer ratio. There is a morality in witnessing human starvation, in the abundance of resources in one place and their lack in another and how that inequity should be corrected (provided that you believe it should be). We also have cultural hurdles. Even in this country the talk of contraception is taboo in some circles - it is even more so in others. Even more subtle is the tie between environment and culture. Some areas that once were fertile and perfect settling grounds have changed and support far less life but the culture remains because it has a historical or religious tie to it - both of which are very hard to break and as a result make headlines daily.
And unfortunately it is not always an issue of surplus food being wasted but rather the use of surplus resources as political leverage. Ask anyone involved in aid to Darfur in the last decade about the frustration of having the government intercede in distributing the aid packages. Starvation is not just moral, its political and those who choose to exploit it are very well aware of the dynamic involved. In some ways they are playing the moral-less game of survival of the fittest but they're doing it with a stacked deck. Its no wonder that people get very uneasy around talks of social Darwinism, its often the harbinger of genocide.
If you haven't already I highly recommend Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (actually anything by Diamond - he's fantastic).
Oh yeah, in reading my little research about this subject I keep recalling the way Somali warlords like Mohammad Farah-Aidid used hunger for political leverage throughout the last 20 years.
I've heard of the Diamond book, I look forward to checking it out
And unfortunately it is not always an issue of surplus food being wasted but rather the use of surplus resources as political leverage. Ask anyone involved in aid to Darfur in the last decade about the frustration of having the government intercede in distributing the aid packages. Starvation is not just moral, its political and those who choose to exploit it are very well aware of the dynamic involved. In some ways they are playing the moral-less game of survival of the fittest but they're doing it with a stacked deck. Its no wonder that people get very uneasy around talks of social Darwinism, its often the harbinger of genocide.
If you haven't already I highly recommend Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (actually anything by Diamond - he's fantastic).
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I've heard of the Diamond book, I look forward to checking it out
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