Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Hence the lunacy of "relief" organizations that focus soley on shipping food in while ignoring the underlying population/resource imbalances. I call them "enablers". Is it any wonder that some of these organizations have been doing this for 50 years, with nothing to show for it.
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Agreed. Micro-credit is a much better investment and actually helps them develop their economy and infrastructure so they can sustain themselves. Also actually developing their economy gives them a sense of involvement and responsibility for the welfare of their country and community, unlike year after year food aid which sends them the signal that "life here sucks, but where we come from things are great." Encouraging the smart hard working people to leave is exactly the opposite of what we want - but giving them a stake in the economy encourages them to stay (for this reason I'm also somewhat against immigration, since it tends to retard the development of the country of emigration).
I am in favor of food aid during extraordinary situations though, like in Ireland during the Potato famine - that's a temporary situation which can be solved. But just giving people food year after year... we agree on that.
Duffman:
I think were we differ is that now that food prices have risen, farmers where I am from now receive prices for their crops that exceed their costs. I see the rising price of food as the route to eliminating subsidies to agriculture. Its unfortunate that it is hurting poor people around the world, but the fact that it is hurting people may indicate that their situation was unsustainable as well. I think its more important to address root causes of problems than just feeding starving mouths.
That would be nice if we could lessen subsidies. Also the rising food prices will hopefully encourage people in other countries to invest in modern farming methods since they'll have more of a profit to show for it. So this could be a blessing in disguise.