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UN Deletes Article Titled ‘The Benefits of World Hunger.’ Was It Real or Satire?

26 points by app4soft 4y ago

app4soft 4y ago
Covered article removed by UN from site on July 6, 2022. Original UN Chronicle's article on site[0] and scan from printed magazine[1,pdf] archived. [0] http://web.archive.org/web/20220330070452/https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/benefits-world-hunger http://web.archive.org/web/20220330070452/https://www.un.org... [1] https://shop.un.org/books/un-chronicle-v45-23-2008-40202 https://shop.un.org/books/un-chronicle-v45-23-2008-40202 [pdf] http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent/BenefitsofWorldHunger.pdf http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent/BenefitsofWorldHunger.pdf
- andsoitis 4y ago
  Thanks. The opening paragraph: "We sometimes talk about hunger in the world as if it were a scourge that all of us want to see abolished, view- ing it as comparable with the plague or AIDS. But that naive view prevents us trom coming to grips with what causes and sustains hunger. Hunger has great positive value to many people. Indeed, it is fundamental to the working of the world's economy. Hungry people are the most productive people, especially where there is a need for manual labour." I consider myself open-minded, but this introductory paragraph is outrageous if you consider what policies this would incentivize.
  - jjk166 4y ago
    That's the point, we should be outraged at the perverse incentives which propogate world hunger.
  - elliekelly 4y ago
    I don't think "would" is the correct word because it's not really hypothetical. The current system does incentivize such policies.
  - franga2000 4y ago
    This is an accurate description of what IS happening in the world though. This opening is great. We DO need to come to grips with the fact some people benefit from it, or we will never be able to end it.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
fallingfrog 4y ago
It was satire. (And in my earlier comment I had the wrong George Kent) https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/commentary/un-touts-then-memoryholes-the-benefits-of-world-hunger https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/commentary/un-to...
- sobkas 4y ago
  >the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule But it doesn't use any of the above. It's just a factual description of conditions under which people enslaved by hunger live and how we* benefit from their misfortune. It's not even exaggeration, it downplays how much we* benefit from hunger. *in general richer people(not rich, just richer than exploited masses)
  - jjk166 4y ago
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire 1: a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn This is definitely a work holding people's vices and follies to scorn
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- yunohn 4y ago
  Your link clearly mentions that the author did not mean it as satire.
- DangitBobby 4y ago
  TFA quotes George Kent as saying it's not satire. The point was that there are people who benefit from others being hungry, that is Kent's position. > “For those of us at the high end of the social ladder, ending hunger globally would be a disaster. If there were no hunger in the world, who would plow the fields?” Kent wrote. “Who would harvest our vegetables? Who would work in the rendering plants? Who would clean our toilets? We would have to produce our own food and clean our own toilets. No wonder people at the high end are not rushing to solve the hunger problem. For many of us, hunger is not a problem, but an asset.”
advisedwang 4y ago
The article is neither satire nor advocating for world hunger. Its dryly explaining capitalism uses need to incentivize work. Hunger ensures there's no alternative for workers to participating in the economy. The author doesn't clearly state approval or disapproval, just lays it out there. For the UN this is a pretty radical position. Ending suffering, including hunger, is a major goal of the UN. Liberal capitalist democracies are the largest power-holders in the UN and to say that this system is not capable of solving hunger is to criticize these countries and admit that the UN as it exists is not capable of delivering on its promises. This is why the article was taken down.
- vt85 4y ago
midislack 4y ago
If it was satire why would they hit the emergency delete button?
- lithos 4y ago
  It was, it's very important to read to the last line of an article.
Pr0GrasTiNati0n 4y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20160927103120/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/6-ways-europe-must-respond-to-the-refugee-crisis/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160927103120/https://www.wefor...

26 points by app4soft 4y ago

Covered article removed by UN from site on July 6, 2022. Original UN Chronicle's article on site[0] and scan from printed magazine[1,pdf] archived. [0] http://web.archive.org/web/20220330070452/https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/benefits-world-hunger http://web.archive.org/web/20220330070452/https://www.un.org... [1] https://shop.un.org/books/un-chronicle-v45-23-2008-40202 https://shop.un.org/books/un-chronicle-v45-23-2008-40202 [pdf] http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent/BenefitsofWorldHunger.pdf http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent/BenefitsofWorldHunger.pdf

andsoitis 4y ago
Thanks. The opening paragraph: "We sometimes talk about hunger in the world as if it were a scourge that all of us want to see abolished, view- ing it as comparable with the plague or AIDS. But that naive view prevents us trom coming to grips with what causes and sustains hunger. Hunger has great positive value to many people. Indeed, it is fundamental to the working of the world's economy. Hungry people are the most productive people, especially where there is a need for manual labour." I consider myself open-minded, but this introductory paragraph is outrageous if you consider what policies this would incentivize.
- jjk166 4y ago
  That's the point, we should be outraged at the perverse incentives which propogate world hunger.
- elliekelly 4y ago
  I don't think "would" is the correct word because it's not really hypothetical. The current system does incentivize such policies.
- franga2000 4y ago
  This is an accurate description of what IS happening in the world though. This opening is great. We DO need to come to grips with the fact some people benefit from it, or we will never be able to end it.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

fallingfrog 4y ago

It was satire. (And in my earlier comment I had the wrong George Kent) https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/commentary/un-touts-then-memoryholes-the-benefits-of-world-hunger https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/commentary/un-to...

sobkas 4y ago
>the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule But it doesn't use any of the above. It's just a factual description of conditions under which people enslaved by hunger live and how we* benefit from their misfortune. It's not even exaggeration, it downplays how much we* benefit from hunger. *in general richer people(not rich, just richer than exploited masses)
- jjk166 4y ago
  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire 1: a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn This is definitely a work holding people's vices and follies to scorn
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
yunohn 4y ago
Your link clearly mentions that the author did not mean it as satire.
DangitBobby 4y ago
TFA quotes George Kent as saying it's not satire. The point was that there are people who benefit from others being hungry, that is Kent's position. > “For those of us at the high end of the social ladder, ending hunger globally would be a disaster. If there were no hunger in the world, who would plow the fields?” Kent wrote. “Who would harvest our vegetables? Who would work in the rendering plants? Who would clean our toilets? We would have to produce our own food and clean our own toilets. No wonder people at the high end are not rushing to solve the hunger problem. For many of us, hunger is not a problem, but an asset.”

advisedwang 4y ago

The article is neither satire nor advocating for world hunger. Its dryly explaining capitalism uses need to incentivize work. Hunger ensures there's no alternative for workers to participating in the economy. The author doesn't clearly state approval or disapproval, just lays it out there. For the UN this is a pretty radical position. Ending suffering, including hunger, is a major goal of the UN. Liberal capitalist democracies are the largest power-holders in the UN and to say that this system is not capable of solving hunger is to criticize these countries and admit that the UN as it exists is not capable of delivering on its promises. This is why the article was taken down.

vt85 4y ago

midislack 4y ago

If it was satire why would they hit the emergency delete button?

lithos 4y ago
It was, it's very important to read to the last line of an article.

Pr0GrasTiNati0n 4y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20160927103120/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/6-ways-europe-must-respond-to-the-refugee-crisis/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160927103120/https://www.wefor...