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I thought the human angle of the piece was far overblown. The underlying story being presented is "Goldman Sachs raises prices and people starve as a result". I
by hooande 15y ago
I thought the human angle of the piece was far overblown. The underlying story being presented is "Goldman Sachs raises prices and people starve as a result". I think that was mostly to add a dramatic point to the article. In reality it's a "look at how all of these pieces fit together, and here's how Goldman Sachs hacked the system" story. While hackers love that kind of thing, we're a relatively small market and a story with a spin about the evil of corporations is so in right now.
The reason people aren't reacting to human suffering is because we can see that it isn't a real factor in this story. We're talking about a small change in the world's supply of food here. It would be very difficult to image (or prove) that anyone actually died of starvation as a result of this. It's more like a loaf of bread that used to cost $4.50 now costs $6.00. That extra $1.50 can be enough to make an unpleasant life significantly less pleasant (believe me, I know), but I don't think it equates to the starving human beings.
tl;dr - Capitalism is a dick move. Don't blame the flaws in the system on the people who benefit from them.
- justincormack 15y agoFood prices have tripled since 2005, roughly. That makes a huge difference in many countries, and to the poor in many more. It is a very real factor.
- rdl 15y agoUnfortunately, people at the margin DO starve. All economic activity happens at the margin. What usually happens is a country at a large scale imports less subsidized food commodity, and this limits government distribution of that commodity -- they usually stop some feeding centers, which makes the marginal trip more difficult or impossible for some people. It might also lead to scaled back or eliminated aid programs.
- edu 15y agoSo what happens when you've to live with $5 a week? This $1.50 blocks you from buying any bread.