World News

22328 readers

82 users here now

Breaking news from around the world.

News that is American but has an international facet may also be posted here.

Guidelines for submissions:

Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
Social media should be a source of last resort.

These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.

For US News, see the US News community.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Feed People, Not Factory Farms | by Peter Singer - Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Peter Singer points out that even with Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s grain exports, the world produces enough food for all.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Blinken is right to say that Russia is responsible for denying food to desperately needy people around the world, but let’s not pretend that other countries are powerless to prevent the food shortages brought about by Russia’s willingness to attack ships carrying Ukrainian wheat.

This is something you really don't hear often enough. We could already feed the entire planet, we just don't want to (I mean many people surely do, just not the ones who matter). Our problem isn't food or resource production, but allocation

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

Every time I hear someone say "the world is over populated" I always toss in "for the current economic system we are using."

Like the whole thing with AI. AI taking jobs isn't the problem, it's that jobs are pretty much the sole determining factor on who gets to eat and who doesn't with our current system.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Archer-Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Dreyfus – also known by the acronym ABCD – control 70-90% of the world’s grain trade

See https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/cereal-secrets-worlds-largest-grain-traders-and-global-agriculture

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Financialization seems to me to be the key issue, also in a general sense.

Everything has been turned from serving its original purpose to serving capitalist interests - ie. making more money for an extremely small upper class. Who cares if millions of people starve or don't have potable water as long as there's a profit to be made from turning food into a financial instrument - nevermind that the system no longer actually does what it claims to do, ie "efficiently allocate resources."

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

has been turned

You say as if it weren't always like that. Because it definitely has always been like that from the dawn of civilization, sadly.

These corporate instruments are quite efficient. Unfortunately you and I just happen to disagree with the rich and powerful about what we should be efficient at doing