‘There’s a million mouths to feed but I got everything I need’ (Annie Lennox)

(picture by international artist Soha Saiyer)

I can’t believe we’re living in the 21^st century and witnessing food shortages at such colossal levels. According to Gordon Brown just over a month ago, statistically, 25,000 people die every day and amongst them a child every five seconds due to hunger related causes. That’s probably one child by the time you finish reading this paragraph. That’s someone’s child and not just another number. And it probably means a painful and difficult death.

Honest Debate previously posted an article about ‘self-interest’ being the inevitable consequence of ‘freedom’. Is self-interest not the reason why poverty is not on top of the agenda for the world? Is individualism not the inevitable consequence of freedom and the reason why we just keep on keeping on while the politics of self-interest take us back to the system of dog eat dog

I refuse to accept there are those who ‘have’ and those who ‘have not’. There is plenty of wealth amongst us and enough to feed, clothe, house and provide clean sanitation for every single individual on the planet. The problem is the lack of distribution of wealth. But so long as we put our nation first and other’s second, rich countries will continue to exploit the poor and we will continue to make lives impossible for the poor all over the world. Isn’t it time we made this a matter of urgency?