4 ms·

Oddly enough, the people who are actually dying of starvation always seem to be located in Marxist countries rather than the evil capitalist Western countries.

Oddly enough, the people who are actually dying of starvation always seem to be located in Marxist countries rather than the evil capitalist Western countries. Just bad luck, I guess.

shoo 8y ago
i totally agree that there have been avoidable and horrific famines in marxist countries due to inept attempts at central management of agriculture. these days, there's also a bit of ugly conflict popping up along ethnic lines in some countries where populations are under stress for access to enough farmland for subsistence agriculture vs grazing (environmental pressure will be part of this). i dont think there's much distinction between marxist countries and capitalist western countries when it comes towards climate change, we all love nice cheap coal and oil now.
lostlogin 8y ago
What? Care to give examples? And where is a place you would define as Marxist in 2018?
- Turing_Machine 8y ago
  >Care to give examples? Sure. Soviet Famine of 1921 (5 million). Soviet Famine of 1932-33 (7-10 million minimum, perhaps many more). Soviet Famine of 1947 (1 million or so). Chinese Famine of 1959-1961 (15-43 million). Cambodian Famine of 1974-79 (2 million). Ethiopian Famine of 1984-85 (400,000). North Korean Famine of 1996 (3.5 million). Number of famines in the capitalist west over the same time period: zero. Note that I'm not counting food shortages caused by active or recent warfare in either case, thus neither the German "Hunger Winter" of 1946-47 (several hundred thousand) nor the Siege of Leningrad Famine of 1941-44 (about a million) are included. > And where is a place you would define as Marxist in 2018? Venezuela will do until something closer comes along. And sure enough, they're on the brink of famine.
  - lostlogin 8y ago
    The op said ‘dying’ and I was referring to the use of the current tense.
  - andybak 8y ago
    > Note that I'm not counting food shortages caused by active or recent warfare in either case, Surely the Ethiopian famine and the Cambodian famine could be disregarded if you applied this rule consistently. And the Bengal famine is arguably something caused by a Western democracy that wasn't directly a result of the wartime conditions.
    - lostlogin 8y ago
      Attributing starvation in Leningrad and Eastern Germany to Marxism is a little odd too.
  - narrator 8y ago
    You forgot the Great Bengali famine of 1943 (3 million) under British rule in India. The British had the habit of ducking responsibility for all the famines that killed millions in India under their rule by blaming it on overpopulation. That there were no major famines after Indian independence is conveniently ignored.
pcrh 8y ago
It's useful to your argument that you excluded the famines in Ireland and India under the British. Let alone slavery, etc.
otalp 8y ago
Marx was literally a part of western civilisation.

Oddly enough, the people who are actually dying of starvation always seem to be located in Marxist countries rather than the evil capitalist Western countries. Just bad luck, I guess.

shoo 8y ago

i totally agree that there have been avoidable and horrific famines in marxist countries due to inept attempts at central management of agriculture. these days, there's also a bit of ugly conflict popping up along ethnic lines in some countries where populations are under stress for access to enough farmland for subsistence agriculture vs grazing (environmental pressure will be part of this). i dont think there's much distinction between marxist countries and capitalist western countries when it comes towards climate change, we all love nice cheap coal and oil now.

lostlogin 8y ago

What? Care to give examples? And where is a place you would define as Marxist in 2018?

Turing_Machine 8y ago
>Care to give examples? Sure. Soviet Famine of 1921 (5 million). Soviet Famine of 1932-33 (7-10 million minimum, perhaps many more). Soviet Famine of 1947 (1 million or so). Chinese Famine of 1959-1961 (15-43 million). Cambodian Famine of 1974-79 (2 million). Ethiopian Famine of 1984-85 (400,000). North Korean Famine of 1996 (3.5 million). Number of famines in the capitalist west over the same time period: zero. Note that I'm not counting food shortages caused by active or recent warfare in either case, thus neither the German "Hunger Winter" of 1946-47 (several hundred thousand) nor the Siege of Leningrad Famine of 1941-44 (about a million) are included. > And where is a place you would define as Marxist in 2018? Venezuela will do until something closer comes along. And sure enough, they're on the brink of famine.
- lostlogin 8y ago
  The op said ‘dying’ and I was referring to the use of the current tense.
- andybak 8y ago
  > Note that I'm not counting food shortages caused by active or recent warfare in either case, Surely the Ethiopian famine and the Cambodian famine could be disregarded if you applied this rule consistently. And the Bengal famine is arguably something caused by a Western democracy that wasn't directly a result of the wartime conditions.
  - lostlogin 8y ago
    Attributing starvation in Leningrad and Eastern Germany to Marxism is a little odd too.
- narrator 8y ago
  You forgot the Great Bengali famine of 1943 (3 million) under British rule in India. The British had the habit of ducking responsibility for all the famines that killed millions in India under their rule by blaming it on overpopulation. That there were no major famines after Indian independence is conveniently ignored.

pcrh 8y ago

It's useful to your argument that you excluded the famines in Ireland and India under the British. Let alone slavery, etc.

otalp 8y ago

Marx was literally a part of western civilisation.