Why are millions starving while grains and corn are in surplus?

Eeset

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LIFETIME MEMBER
Something is terribly wrong with civilization. Surplus food sits rotting while millions starve. The ships, manpower, fuel and other resources needed to provide the food to those who are starving exist. The only missing ingredient is the power of the purse.

So .... how does our society address this problem? The price of grains and corn drops below the cost of production which eliminates the surplus over time. Simple. :)
 

ClimateSanity

New member
Something is terribly wrong with civilization. Surplus food sits rotting while millions starve. The ships, manpower, fuel and other resources needed to provide the food to those who are starving exist. The only missing ingredient is the power of the purse.

So .... how does our society address this problem? The price of grains and corn drops below the cost of production which eliminates the surplus over time. Simple. :)
My wife came from a country where all international shipments of food are sold to the highest bidder from the government and the food is resold on the market making it out of reach for the poor. That's what is going on.

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Stripe

Teenage Adaptive Ninja Turtle
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
Something is terribly wrong with civilization. Surplus food sits rotting while millions starve. The ships, manpower, fuel and other resources needed to provide the food to those who are starving exist. The only missing ingredient is the power of the purse. So .... how does our society address this problem?
With liberty. People should be free to buy and sell as they see fit, rather than being controlled by socialist constructs.

The price of grains and corn drops below the cost of production which eliminates the surplus over time. Simple.
Simple?

You want to regulate prices, which drives businessmen out of trade and into political maneuvering, exacerbating the problem.
 

Stripe

Teenage Adaptive Ninja Turtle
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
I think the familiar name is greed. Back in old China, the people starved while the rulers were were fat and draped in expensive silks.

This is a non sequitur. The problem in OP is described as waste amid starvation.
 

Angel4Truth

New member
Hall of Fame
Something is terribly wrong with civilization. Surplus food sits rotting while millions starve. The ships, manpower, fuel and other resources needed to provide the food to those who are starving exist. The only missing ingredient is the power of the purse.

So .... how does our society address this problem?

War? Corruption is why many in third world countries are starving to death. See Africa and Venezuela and Haiti for exmples.

So tell us how lowering the price of corn, gets the corn to the people past the corrupt rulers?
 

DavidK

New member
Isn't corn already subsidized in the US? I thought that was a big part of what makes our food so much cheaper here than in the rest of the world.

Why are we still putting corn into our gas tanks when evidence says that it isn't actually doing anything useful?
 

ClimateSanity

New member
Isn't corn already subsidized in the US? I thought that was a big part of what makes our food so much cheaper here than in the rest of the world.

Why are we still putting corn into our gas tanks when evidence says that it isn't actually doing anything useful?
That's part of the problem. Third world countries cannot sell us food products because they can't compete.

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Angel4Truth

New member
Hall of Fame
Why are we still putting corn into our gas tanks when evidence says that it isn't actually doing anything useful?

Because.. liberals hate fossil fuels?(note, a lot of "good things" listed about ethanol there, are a lie like this:

Is it good for my engine?

Not only does ethanol fuel the car you already have – it keeps your engine clean, reduces tailpipe emissions, and at the right blend can even increase mileage. E10 works in small engines like lawn mowers, too, and will even help make your boat more environmentally friendly

Its been proven that ethanol is bad for engines, not good and it even voids the warrantee on many small engines in lawnmowers for example and people are told now to add additives to the gas, so the ethanol wont hurt the mower.

Conclusion: Truth doesn't matter to green liberals so its ok if you ruin your engine, corn is needed for fuel rather than fossil fuel anyway.
 

DavidK

New member
Because.. liberals hate fossil fuels?(note, a lot of "good things" listed about ethanol there, are a lie like this:

Its been proven that ethanol is bad for engines, not good and it even voids the warrantee on many small engines in lawnmowers for example and people are told now to add additives to the gas, so the ethanol wont hurt the mower.

Ethanol definitely started off as a liberal environmentalist thing, but I got the impression they dropped support once it became clear that it was actually more harmful to the environment. Isn't it the midwest corn producing states that are the reason we're still pouring corn into our tanks? A quick google search came up with Chuck Grassley (Republican Senator, Iowa) as a champion of ethanol. It also turned up Carl Icahn, a billionaire refinery owner and Trump adviser, Tom Vilsack, agriculture secretary under Obama, and of course, John Dogget, National Corn Growers Association executive vice president.

Plenty of blame to spread around.
 

Eeset

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LIFETIME MEMBER
My original post wasn't exactly clear about the solution. By prices falling then the producers vacate the market which reduces supply and balances the market while leaving starving millions hungry. This is the Achilles heel of capitalism. Resources flow to the production of profitable goods which is not necessarily the most desirable goods. By way of example investing in a luxury yacht factory makes good sense rather than investing in a bread factory when people are starving as purchasing power becomes more and more concentrated in the hands of fewer people.

Have you noticed that the shelf space for loaves of bread has shrunk at your local grocery while the cookie aisle has exploded in pricey items? Let them eat cake. :)
 
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