The Grain That Shapes Power - The Effect of Food on Policy (and ultimately Revolutions)
Posted by freedomforall 17 hours, 40 minutes ago to Politics
Excerpt:
"“A nation that lets rice become gold will soon find its people eating sorrow.” The cost of food, like the cost of energy, is a pillar of prosperity because it keeps both families and the wider economy in harmony. When food prices are calm and modest, households have silver left to spend, merchants smile, and officials sleep soundly. Affordable food tempers wage demands, steadies business costs, and allows the economy to flow as smoothly as tea in a well-balanced cup. But when prices surge like an untrained horse, it strikes hardest at the humble, stirs discontent, and forces people to cut back on everything except necessity. Thus, while energy may fuel the machines of industry, food nourishes the people who operate them—and without both in balance, even the strongest kingdom can wobble like a three-legged table."
"“A nation that lets rice become gold will soon find its people eating sorrow.” The cost of food, like the cost of energy, is a pillar of prosperity because it keeps both families and the wider economy in harmony. When food prices are calm and modest, households have silver left to spend, merchants smile, and officials sleep soundly. Affordable food tempers wage demands, steadies business costs, and allows the economy to flow as smoothly as tea in a well-balanced cup. But when prices surge like an untrained horse, it strikes hardest at the humble, stirs discontent, and forces people to cut back on everything except necessity. Thus, while energy may fuel the machines of industry, food nourishes the people who operate them—and without both in balance, even the strongest kingdom can wobble like a three-legged table."
