YOU got that right. $1.00 per day is all a family of four has to live on in many parts of the world where poverty is the mother and father and the grandparents of all.
Now rice prices have gone through the roof. Drought. Scarcity because of a shift to other crops like corn to produce gasohol, plain old greed, and population growth are at work. People living in poverty spend about 70% of their income on food as compared with 10 or 15% for developed countries. Even less if you are wealthy.
How can these people survive? Will there be a Malthusian contraction of population to offset rice and wheat scarcity? Will there be a massive program of food support from the wealthy 1/3 of the world to the needy? Will a virus or plague wipe out many particularly in the poverty areas where their health is already at risk because of malnutrition?
Will the rains return to Australia so that rice will flourish again and push out wine grapes as the crop of choice? Will alternate energy become a reality to free us from the dependence on fossil fuels? Will we all learn to consume less? How much will global warming contribute to the problem and its solutions?
One dollar a day. Not even a Euro. Hey, buddy, can you spare a dime?
Comments