4 ms·

A very valid point and an equally troubling problem with modern society. Worrying about things like shelter and putting food on the table should be a non-issue

A very valid point and an equally troubling problem with modern society. Worrying about things like shelter and putting food on the table should be a non-issue in the 21st century, instead it is a modern epidemic and must be fixed. Having said this non-corporeal but none-the-less essential concepts like privacy, liberty and an expectation of trust in leadership should also be a given, sadly they suffered the same fate.

adventured 11y ago
People have to worry a lot less about putting food on the table in the 21st century than at any other time in world history. Calorie counts have been going up a lot, for decades, across every country that formerly used to suffer deficits. Major famines are practically non-existent today, and were not uncommon in prior centuries. See: calorie count increases across Africa, Asia, South America. Poverty and global inequality also have been dropping gradually for decades. Instead of being modern epidemics, these things are former, ancient epidemics that are being eradicated rapidly.
- anon1385 11y ago
  Just because famine no longer exists doesn't mean people aren't having to worry about putting food on the table. In the UK over a million people had to visit emergency food banks last year[1], compared to only 125,000 in 2012. Hospitals are seeing such levels of malnourishment that they have started discreetly giving away food parcels to patients[2]. It's estimated that up to 40% of patients admitted to UK hospitals are malnourished and the number of people admitted to hospital specifically because of malnutrition has risen dramatically in the last year. If you are wanting to suggest that this is due political decisions rather than a famine or overall lack of food then yes that is true, but it doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of people in the UK struggling to feed themselves and their children. What's happening in Asia or Africa isn't particularly relevant to the level of political engagement in the UK, which is what this discussion is about. That fact that things are getting worse in the UK while improving in much poorer countries just makes the situation even less excusable. [1] http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects [2] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/28/nhs-hospital-tameside-food-parcels-patients-risk-malnutrition http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/28/nhs-hospital-...

adventured 11y ago

People have to worry a lot less about putting food on the table in the 21st century than at any other time in world history. Calorie counts have been going up a lot, for decades, across every country that formerly used to suffer deficits. Major famines are practically non-existent today, and were not uncommon in prior centuries. See: calorie count increases across Africa, Asia, South America. Poverty and global inequality also have been dropping gradually for decades. Instead of being modern epidemics, these things are former, ancient epidemics that are being eradicated rapidly.

anon1385 11y ago
Just because famine no longer exists doesn't mean people aren't having to worry about putting food on the table. In the UK over a million people had to visit emergency food banks last year[1], compared to only 125,000 in 2012. Hospitals are seeing such levels of malnourishment that they have started discreetly giving away food parcels to patients[2]. It's estimated that up to 40% of patients admitted to UK hospitals are malnourished and the number of people admitted to hospital specifically because of malnutrition has risen dramatically in the last year. If you are wanting to suggest that this is due political decisions rather than a famine or overall lack of food then yes that is true, but it doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of people in the UK struggling to feed themselves and their children. What's happening in Asia or Africa isn't particularly relevant to the level of political engagement in the UK, which is what this discussion is about. That fact that things are getting worse in the UK while improving in much poorer countries just makes the situation even less excusable. [1] http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects [2] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/28/nhs-hospital-tameside-food-parcels-patients-risk-malnutrition http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/28/nhs-hospital-...