He knows a little about wheat.
Africa. Yes; this is going to be a bit of a preachy blog, but guess what? It's my blog, and Amanda and I like to talk about this stuff, so you are going to have to suffer through it. Let's be clear, here; Africa does not need an ounce of food aid or a penny of charity. Africa needs investment.
Now, that is not to say there is no such thing as a place for charity in Africa. However, if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he'll eat as long as the fishery is healthy. If you teach a man to fish farm, he'll build three houses and open a line of restaurants.
If Africa increased its per hectare food output by just one ton, the continent would be a net food exporter. For instance, wheat output is one ton per hectare in Africa, but the world average is three tons. It's more than possible to eliminate this issue. It's all about, in the short term, building african road and rail infrastructure so that industrial fertilizer can be sold to enough farmers for it to be a profitable enterprise for the west, and then, as the food output obliterates famine... selling the cheap food to hungry and penny pinching western mouths. It's quite logical.
Of course, governments aren't the only ones that can help. You can make the world a better place just by being a materialistic western slob. For instance, buy a t-shirt. Or buy something else. Just... get out and do something.
Really, it isn't a black hole, africa.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Friday, December 01, 2006
Norman Borlaug
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14 comments:
thanks for helping raise awareness...as an industrialized and wealthy country, we can't hold back...let's use our resources to help them help themselves.
To learn more about Norman Borlaug and what can be done in Africa, visit www.worldfoodprize.org.
hey, who helped out the US those years ago during our depression? who helped us when we were an independant nation for the first time with no imperial tax base? oh, that's right, we did. how bout we let africa sort itself out. and once they do, they will be a continent to contend with, of that i'm sure. but until those countries decide to serve their countrymen and not themselves any form of aid and assitance will be grossly missappropriated and poorly used. period. that's the history of the continent, and it's not going to change anytime soon till the people decide they've had enough. when the populous speaks, i will gladly lend assitance. till then, fuck em.
Sorry, Chud, but I just can't get behind that. Corrupt governments can't exist when the populous has resources to resist their bullying. Starving people can't put up much of a fight against despots.
Millionaire abribusiness owners and their well fed legion of workers, however, can, and will, kick ass and take names.
We don't give the money to the governments. You are right, like all governments, the african ones cannot be trusted. You set up for profit Non-governmental organizations who will hire africans to build up african infrastructure. Trust me, there's money to be made in road and rail administration.
Moreover, wealth creation is not a zero sum game, Chud. If we help them get rich, we help ourselves to get richer.
okay, there is serious disregard to the 22 million people who have died because of AIDS. They need medication, sufficient and efficient medical care, other provisions, and education on prevention. so they phrase of "f*** 'em" doesn't cut it...we're not barbarians and we can't step back while people die. It's inexcusable.
furthermore, the populous doesn't have much of a voice because of the corrupt governments and suppressed and oppressed media so we are giving our voices to help them...now I'm fired up
and any of this my problem how? darwinian evolution baby. survival of the fittest. if you are so weak as to not be able to band together to stand up to an oppressor, then sorry bout ya. the populous always outnumbers its oppressors. it's a matter of wanting it bad enough. apparently... they don't. and as far as aids is concerned... sucks to be them. think about it, in some countries the rate is 50% over there. personally, i like the odds of them dying out. sounds crass, i know, but since sexual violence is rampant and safe sex is unheard of, by starting them on the cocktail all you're doing is guaranteeing a higher aids saturation. if the average lifespan from infection to death is 10 years without the cocktail, that's only 10 years one host can spread infection. on the cocktail? that number can be inflated to 20-30 years. yeah, it's shitty to say, but by doing nothing, we're doing them a favor. you won't see it that way, but the numbers don't lie. i'm all for helping people who want to be helped. until i am shown that anyone over there wants to be helped, i think i'll donate to causes on the homefront.
I was reading this drivel yesterday, and I had typed out a thoughtful and topical response.
Then my computer crashed, and I lost the response before I could post it.
But now...looking at the way you don't want to accept anything aside from your own rhetoric, let me just say:
Fuck Africa. Save the American farmer.
Good day.
I really haven't seen any evidence where the American farmer and africa cannot both be saved at the same time.
We have the tools and the talent to become unimaginably rich while at the same time eliminating african poverty.
To suggest that one must do one or the other is simply a false dichotomy.
I'm convinced that Rev and Chud are both the devil and conspire to kill off all humans. The line of thought thinking we should let people die is pure evil
did... did you just say that? really? really? we are the devil? hahahahahahahahaha. letting people die is evil? really? really? GOD FLOODED THE PLANET FOR 40 FUCKING DAYS! HE RAINED HELLFIRE ON SODOM AND GOMORRAH. in the old testament he advocates death as penalty for any number things. if you believe in such things. so, really, i'm just following the divine lead. besides my lack of involvement and compassion is nowhere near being actively involved in their death. i'm not a monster, i'm a realist. the fact that you want to "help" a continent, and in doing so, kill them all, i prefer to let nature take its course. it usually works out better for all involved. it's the old addage of the woman watching the moth emerge from the cocoon. she sees it struggling and takes pitty on so she peels back the cocoon that he is struggling against. the moth is swollen, and its wings are wet. it tries to fly falls off the window ledge and dies. why? the struggle out of the cocoon helps remove the shit off the wings and also removes excess goo from the torso, allowing it to fly as soon as it fully emerges. africa is a continent that needs us to stand back and allow it to help itself. period. trying to help can only hurt. the old teach a man to fish mentality.
Ugh! My brain hurts. Let me know when we're ready to talk about farts, professional wrestling, and anything else mindless.
Sorry Ken, this ain't that type of blog.
Coincidentally, you brain cannot, itself, feel pain; it has no nerve receptors. Your head might hurt, but not your brain.
Anyone else going to WrestleMania?
Hey Mark. Glad to see yr still alive. Hope yr well.
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