Bush says the price of food has increased because people in India as well as in China are eating more. What does he intend to say, that it was better when people in these countries were impoverished and stayed malnourished? Some studies have claimed that 73% of food in the United States is disposed of, uneaten (read this). People simply consign the food on their plates to the garbage can as soon as they don’t feel like consuming it; and they take big portions even when they don’t intend to eat the whole thing. So much for causing food shortage by eating more by people in other countries.
I’m not denying that food habits in India have changed. In fact even at our house we eat a lot better than what we used to eat when we were kids. We were not poor back then but there was not much awareness regarding food-eating options and to be frank, not much was available. Due to overall progress and globalization people have access to a variety of comestibles, irrespective of the escalating costs.
But you cannot blame people for eating better, especially when people in your own country moronically go on wasting food and fuel despite the galling shortage. The problem is not the shortage, it is a litany of bad decisions. Currently, almost 30% of corn produce in the USA is converted into ethanol and similar trends are being observed in the EU where different governments are setting up targets for producing more and more biofuel.
In India more food rots in the godowns than is eaten. Shady marketers horde food so that they can sell it at the times of scarcity and in the process lots of it is destroyed, and the government doesn’t do much about this, and this must be happening in many countries. In fact numerous countries are experiencing food riots already.
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Amrit,
Doesn’t everybody know by now that George Dubya Bush is a brain damaged – by choice – alcoholic, (former) cocaine addict with no intelligence and less compassion? And Dick Cheney has an artificial heart, if he has a heart, at all. And since, they will both be out of office next January, there is little to restrain them now.
If I may be blunt, it seems to me that not just Bush, but the United States, whoever is running it, is the wicked, meddling mother-in-law of the whole world. I mean the very worst stereotype of the MIL that tosses kerosene on the daughter-in-law if she doesn’t have a big enough dowry or if she is thought to be disrespectful or just because the MIL is annoyed in general. And she is getting harder and harder to placate, seeing no wrong in herself.
And it goes on…Hillary has threatened to ‘obliterate’ Iran, if she is president and Iran doesn’t toe the American line.
Americans are incredibly fat and wasteful. a nation of selfish children who care not a whit, for the most part, of how their actions affect the rest of humanity. Generous during emergencies – there will be a massive outpouring of American aid to Burma now, for example – but completely unwilling to modify the lifestyle of conspicuous consumption for which they are famous.
And, of course, global warming is some sort of sinister plot – by Al Queda, I bet – to weaken America.
Chardi kala!
Mai, I totally subscribe to your sentiments; a majority of Americans are like that (and hence the problem) but not all.
The points made in your post are all very relevant and true. But the problem is we are reacting to a very normal (and no way insulting) comment, solely on the basis of misrepresntation by our great Indian media. I am no fan of Bush or U.S. But sometimes our jounalists(!) and news anchors cross the line. This place is too small to quote the full comment by Bush. You can check theis post (not by me): http://libertynewscentral.blogspot.com/2008/05/indian-media-poison-in-air.html for the complete picture. Or better check the comment itself from the whitehoues site (link given in that post). Also for information recently UN made a similar comment (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Developmental_Issues/File_India_China_pushing_up_food_prices_UN/articleshow/2981439.cms) and nobody raised any finger to them. And please understand nobody blaming India (or China) for price increase. It’s a simple economic reality that demand has incresed due to the prosperity in these nations (which Bush acknowledges as a good thing, off course from US commercial interest point of view). will wait for your (and others) reply in this regards.
Cheers…
May like to see:
http://retributions.nationalinterest.in/how-dumb-can-indian-media-and-politicians-get/
Americans are incredibly fat and wasteful. a nation of selfish children who care not a whit, for the most part, of how their actions affect the rest of humanity
@Mai: I guess by the same token, Indians are corrupt and xenophobic racists who care more about cricket and Bollywood more than literacy, development and progress?
Vallath, I agree with you too
Valluth – Yup, ‘for the most part.’ Don’t leave that out. There are concerned, caring people in both countries, like Amrit, for example, but these are, unfortunately, far outnumbered by the dolts.
BTW, I’m Canadian – and we have our own problems.
Amrit : I agree with what the transmitter said. George Bush is a jackass and quite possibly the worst thing to happen to planet earth but in this case, it’s just misrepresentation of his words by the Indian media. Bush wasn’t “blaming” anyone for the food shortage, he was just basically echoing what the experts in the field are citing to be the reason behind the food shortage.
Mai : If Indians had the means and the opportunity, they would be fat and wasteful too. Being fat and wasteful is a human trait, not specifically American.
I accidentally posted the previous comment under the wrong nick. I must be stupid.
cool stuff i hope i get to read more updates
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