There's a distinction between technology level and time disposition, I think. Compared to a self-sufficient small-scale agrarian society (say, 10th century Eur

There's a distinction between technology level and time disposition, I think. Compared to a self-sufficient small-scale agrarian society (say, 10th century Europe), what would have caused famine in their time would not for us. At the same time, we allocate our time differently than they did -- few of us actually farm for ourselves. If we allocated time more similarly + applied current technology, it'd be pretty hard for people to starve (between improved long term food storage, GMO crop yields, and environment mitigation). Side note: the always educational Bret Devereaux lays out a solid argument for why famines were the result of an underdeveloped monetary and trade system, that led to fragile choices being optimal for individual farmers. [0] [0] see "Risk Control" section https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they-make-it-part-i-farmers/ https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they...