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Free food almost certainly causes more starving children in any country whose main religion/culture demands "be fruitful and multiply". > Whilst some famines a
by genwin 14y ago
Free food almost certainly causes more starving children in any country whose main religion/culture demands "be fruitful and multiply".
> Whilst some famines are caused by over-population, it is far more likely that they are caused by other factors such as genocide campaigns, civil wars, refugee flows and episodes of extreme violence and state collapse.
It's also likely that all those other factors are greatly exacerbated by overpopulation, if not outright caused by it. Jared Diamond's book Collapse makes just that argument for the Rwandan Genocide event. Wikipedia: "Diamond theorized that population pressure was the main cause of the genocide. ... Rwanda's population density in 1990 was 760 people per square mile, one of the highest in the world. The population grew at over 3% a year. By 1985 all the land except the national parks had been cultivated."
> My question remains the same - what would you say to a starving child? Or their parents as the child lay dying?
If I was personally involved then I'd have a hard time not giving aid, even as I was confident I was making the problem worse in the long run. These age-old questions show the reason we insulate our leaders from problems on the ground, the better to allow them to make decisions that do the greatest good.
- 7952 14y agoHow do you know that limiting food aid would have the desired effect of limiting population growth? Do you think that people stop having sex just because their children die? I would argue that high population growth is a consequence of excessive mortality rather than the cause. This is evident in the drop in birth rate that tends to accompany development. This has even happened in countries that have traditionally objected to contraception (Italy).
- chris_wot 14y agoHe can't know that. To be clear, overpopulation is a problem - but the solution is not to stop trying to save those who are dying!
- genwin 14y agoYou can search for the article "Why Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa", which says "Aid is an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster." I can't prove that aid including its free food form contributes to population growth. I'm confident that it does from my studies. > This is evident in the drop in birth rate that tends to accompany development. I would argue that development follows a dropping birth rate, not the other way around. Poor people with 4+ kids can't contribute to development or otherwise improve their future. They're too busy each day focusing on basic survival. Unlike many African countries, Italy solved their cultural/religion problem. Now they largely ignore the Catholic Church on contraceptive issues.
- chris_wot 14y agoMake up your mind. Is it a problem with their religion, or is it a problem with free food for the starving?
- genwin 14y agoThere's no contradiction. Religion/culture is the root cause of the problem. Free food makes the problem worse.
- nivla 14y agoYou have pretty much repeated that in every comment of yours in this thread. Hope we all could have a healthy discussion without gross generalizations and prevent Ycombinator HN from turning into another r/atheism.
- genwin 14y agoHealthy discussion can include the word "religion". I haven't made any generalizations that haven't also been suggested by much research by others.
- nivla 14y agoIncluding the word "religion" and asserting a position on it via gross generalization is two things. Going through the thread it is just a shame to find you repeat the same mantra (no pun intended) over and over in the every comment without providing a substantial source or proof to back it up. In other words just like a typical discussion you find over at r/atheism.
- 7952 14y agoThat is fundamentally just misanthropy. Peoples actions are based on free will, and are often logical if you take the time to understand the world from their point of view. A subsistence farmer with no pension scheme has an economic imperative to have lots of children. It is insane to suggest that letting our farmers children die is going to change that. Children are a consequence of sex, not religion or culture. Do you want me to draw you a diagram to explain how it works?