Food shortages may spark war, IMF warns
Posted by Paul Collins at 01:58, 19 Apr 2008Food shortages may spark war, IMF warns.
Apr 18, 2008 07:43 AM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS – The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Friday that soaring world food prices can have dire consequences, such as toppling governments and even triggering wars.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn told France's Europe-1 radio that the price hikes that set off rioting in Haiti, Egypt and elsewhere were an "extremely serious" problem.
"The planet must tackle it," he said.
The IMF chief said the problem could also threaten democracies, even in countries where governments have done all they could to help the local population. Asked whether the crisis could lead to wars, Strauss-Kahn responded that it was possible.
"When the tension goes above and beyond putting democracy into question, there are risks of war," he said. "History is full of wars that started because of this kind of problem."
Strauss-Kahn was appointed last year to head the IMF. He was a finance minister in the late 1990s in France.
Also on Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested a global partnership among financial institutions, governments and the private sector to tackle the reasons for rising food prices. He also said France is doubling its food aid budget this year to $159 million because 37 countries are experiencing "serious food crises."
Globally, food prices have risen 40 per cent since mid-2007. The increases hit poor people hardest, as food represents as much as 60-80 per cent of consumer spending in developing nations, compared with about 10-20 per cent in industrialized countries, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization has said.
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14 January 2006
10 weeks 4 days
I believe I read about this in a book called Greybeard by Brian Wilson Aldiss
28 June 2006
6 days 22 hours
Here in Japan, food prices have always been a little high; because, much of the food is imported. So, the impact of rising prices is not as strong as it might be in other countries. You might say that we are used to high food prices. Also, meal portions in Japan are much smaller than they are in other countries; but, they are well balanced meals. Furthermore, the farmers of the world are getting a good pay day, which is very rare! I'm happy about that, too!
This being said, I'm very concerned about the impact of the combination of rising oil prices, rising food prices, the potential fallout from the subprime loan crisis, and the fiscal mismanagement of the world monitary system, mainly by the U.S.! In this regard, let us not forget that the World Bank and/or its parts have, for any practical purposes, functioned as an extension of the U.S. Treasury Department for most, if not all, of their existance. John Maynard Keynes, "Why didn't they listen to all of your ideas during the Bretton Woods Monitary Conference?" "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" Furthermore, I don't believe that bio-fuels, ie. bio-ethenol, will prove to be eco-friendly fuels. But, I strongly support the development of eco-friendly fuels. So for the time being, I suggest that development be halted on bio-fuels in order to reduce food prices, that research be doubled on other eco-friendly fuels, that people in affluent countries tighten their extra large belts in order to reduce fuel consumption, food consumption, and polution, and that non-politcal aid be given to developing countries in order to help them develop as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the reduction in food consumption in affluent countries, along with, abandoning bio-fuels will help to reduce food prices, and make food much more affordable for the poor in developing countries! John Maynard Keynes, "Where are you when we need you?" Where? Where? Where?
Or, "Do the powers that be want war and the destruction of everything?" The poor have nothing to lose! So, "Why should they care?" The poor, not the rich, have the survival skill to survive! Think about that Mr. Fat Cat, whoever you are! Think very carefully, and be immaginative, very immaginative!
What do you think?
cnnek
{You Can Teach People How To Think Or What To Think; But, You Can't Do Both! It Is Better To Teach People How To Think!!!}
12 April 2007
42 min 10 sec
We can plan everything we want, but without bees pollinating the crops, well...
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
22 November 2004
3 days 2 hours
It is a 2-way deal with the bees. We cultivate bees, increasing their numbers a lot. So that they will pollinate our crops.
Without us, there would be much fewer bees.
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if everything is under control, you are not going fast enough (Mario Andretti)
12 April 2007
42 min 10 sec
You're not worried then, about these reports of bee hives dissapearing, apparently uncapable of finding their way back to their colony? Some people say it's got something to do with a disease that affects their tracking skill.
And apparently it's not just with bees. There's problem with bats too, and bats constitue a very important pollinating species.
These beings happen to be at the very base of the pyramid that we sit on top of. Couple that with bad crops being the result of climatic unrest —labeling it Global Warming is optional— and crops being diverted to the production of biofuels, and it seems likely that McDonald's will be short of happy meals in a very near future.
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
14 January 2006
10 weeks 4 days
A lot of things the masses can't handle. No one likes change. Imagine owning a multibillion dollar business that you inherited from your family. Anybody with a new idea, or new ideas, would threaten your company, your money earning ways and your station in life. Such vision impaired people occupy such positions. In my opinion, this planet is way over populated and population control mechanisms should be promoted. IE china has a two child per family limit. Why not us in North America, UK, EU, or in Africa. Population control should be the norm.
12 April 2007
42 min 10 sec
During the 60s there were implemented massive birth control campaigns in Latin American countries. Despite much lags
the campagins were a success: during my father's childhood the usual was a family of 5-6 members (my grandmother had 12 children!), whereas the norm now is 1-2 kids at the very most.
But the problem we now face is an aging generation that will demand pension benefits in 15-20 years, with a much smaller younger generation supporting them. These conditions could bring about a "Logan's Run" scenario if we don't act quickly to ensure ample food resources for our global population. That's the problem with solutions that are sound in heory, but only if carried out over the course of many generations, and not as a desperate measure. The curve graphic of population has now turned in some countries from a steady rising arrow, to a bell-shaped curve; which is not a great thing for the reasons I discussed above.
There's also another problem, and that is the perceived "racial dillution" of countries that for most of their history had a mainly caucasian population, an that now have increasing numbers of immigrant groups coming from Latin America & Africa seeking a better life. The logical conclusion of this we are already seeing it in Spain, France, Italy and of course the US: xenophobe attitudes that are fertile soil for fascism.
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
22 November 2004
3 days 2 hours
Europe especially does not need a 2 child limit, they have considerably less than 2 children per family already.
China has a 1 child policy, not 2. The consequence is that there are considerably fewr girls than boys. This is due to birth control methods, such as abortion. Another popular birth control method, because boys are preferred for economic reasons, is to kill baby girls after birth.
Aside from the moral problem of killing baby girls, there are social problems - you end up with a large number of lonely bachelors. These people can cause trouble.
Asie from that, after some years the old people are a majority, and they don't work. So the fewer young people have to feed them. At some point, I predict the fewwer young people will stop doing that.
It is not a question of retirement funds and money. You can have all the money in the world, but if notbody produces anything for you, you can't buy it.
So no, I don't think it is a simple as "fewr people are better -> we want population control."
And then there is the other moral point - who does the controlling, and why do they have the right to do so?
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if everything is under control, you are not going fast enough (Mario Andretti)
12 April 2007
42 min 10 sec
I just recently acquired Battlestar Galactica's season 2.5 & 3 (I can't keep up with TV schedules anymore, I could with the X-Files, but now I prefer obtaining the DVDs. I'm beginning season 3 tonight!). Anyway, the reason I find this program so enjoyable on so different levels—there are the hot robots to consider, of course— is because it's a great micro-cosmical example of several social problems like corruption in politics, substance abuse, smuggling, and also birth control.
In the show the president of the Colonies is a huge defender of women's rights, but then realizes that, with less than 50,000 human beings that survived the zylon attack, unless they boost the birth rate the human race would become extinct in less than 20 years. So she grudgindly ends up banning abortion.
In that moment the idea came to my head: we are ALL travelling inside a space-ship too. A sphere-like habitat that travels at a speed of 30 km/s around a largely unimportant star in a very outward region of the galaxy. Somebody needs to make difficult decissions to ensure our survival, and the problem is that either those decissions are based on faulty logic, or are inffluenced by interest that have nothing to do with the benefit of the majority.
So, we are really fraked up right now.
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
22 November 2004
3 days 2 hours
I am worried about the problems with the bees. I am just saying that the bee population we are used to is artificially large. due to our beekeeping practices. So the solution cannot be to return to a natural state - it would worsen the problem for us, and for the bees.
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if everything is under control, you are not going fast enough (Mario Andretti)