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Please Don't Feed the Hungry

Posted by CaptainKirk 7 years, 7 months ago to Politics
51 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

I grew up in the 1980s with the pictures of the starving kids in Africa. And I wanted to help.
"For the cost of a cup of coffee per day, you could feed an entire family!"

Besides, they were cramping my style. My mom would say "Finish your meal, there are starving kids in Africa!"
Man I wish I could have fixed it! For BOTH reasons (LOL).

And at some level, I was amazed. Americans were giving up their money to help feed people in a far away country.
Of their own free will. I was Proud to be an American. There were a couple of MILLION starving people in Africa, and we were HELPING Them. Props!

Then over time, I see these Signs "Please Don't Feed the Animals". And I thought it was because bread was bad for the birds, or whatever. But then I got an education. We started learning that our GOOD INTENTIONS have HORRIBLE side effects. By feeding wild animals, you can literally breed out the ability to be self-sufficient. When the people stop showing up, they don't know what they can eat. They starve.

Wow... I get it. Some times, helping is destructive. And potentially OBVIOUSLY destructive with a little forethought.

So, let's think back. Was sending food to starving Africans a net good or a net bad? Lets frame the question in terms of number of poor people that are starving, or just living in horrible conditions?

I would say it was Net Bad. Because we went from Millions of people in a bad conditions to tens of millions. See, we NEVER realized that if we protected those little boys and girls from starving to death, they would eventually get to child bearing age, and they would have MORE THAN enough children to replace themselves. Putting even more stress on their food situation, and eventually getting to where they are today!

Nature kinda works. It is cruel and hard about it. Only those who can feed themselves and their families survive. If they only people who survive are the ones who don't care to have families, nature removes them from the gene pool by removing their ability to reproduce. If only the people who reproduce the most are surviving, but not able to feed themselves, nature removes them through starvation. The net survivors are the ones who do both. Natural selection.

Now, in a society like America, I have no problem feeding the hungry, and have done so through donations, and delivering food to them.

We are talking about foreign environments where the root cause is literally the lack of development, and infrastructure, and availability of food. Where we were sending countless millions of dollars to feed people. But we were not going there to build infrastructure and educate (I support missionary work to Africa every year!)

But simply feeding those that are hungry may actually create a culture of dependence. And worse, without education, and other things, the poor tend to spend more energy on reproduction, which makes the problem worse.

The same can be said for putting out forest fires. The logic of extinguishing all forest fires is being questioned. Because it turns out that NOT letting some areas burn naturally creates too much demand for limited water, which actually causes MORE forest to become super dry, which means that the next forest fire will be gigantic. And we are witnessing that.

We cannot work against nature all the time. Capitalism works, because it works within nature. People are naturally Self-Interested but also interdependent. Capitalism leverages both of those things.

Communism works AGAINST nature. When it is everyones responsibility, it is no ones. When everyone owns something, nobody takes good care of it.

So, the full title should be:
Please Don't Feed the Hungry... Build them infrastructure, and start getting them educated, so they can feed themselves!


All Comments

  • Posted by Donald-Brian-Lehoux 7 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thank you it is always good to learn something. I did know about Pisces Zodiac fish symbol but didn't connect the two. Have a great weekend.
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  • Posted by Dobrien 7 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The vesica pisces (piscis) is a symbol made from two circles of the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the bladder of the fish in Latin. In the Christian tradition, it is a reference to Christ, as in ichthus. https://www.google.com/search?q=vesic...
    It is also representing woman .... in DC the Washington Monument has the penetrating obelisk
    Centered in the female shape representing fertility.
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  • Posted by 7 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    DO you SEE THIS?
    It's Sand...

    You know what it's going to be in 50 years? SAND!

    We have deserts in America. We JUST DONT live There. Agghhhh Agghhhh Ahhhhh

    One of my favorites. Lookup his think on Jesus wasn't married! ROTFLMAO
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    More importantly, the oceans gave us a sense of separation so strong that it discouraged dependency, which forced greater creativity and self reliance. Had there been quick and easy access to other lands it would be Europe all over again.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I think of anything except art that is done in Europe is paint by numbers, compared to USA which was a blank canvas. Greater difficulty but worth the effort .
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  • Posted by Storo 7 years, 6 months ago
    I’m reminded of Sam Kennison’s solution for world hunger....
    Don’t send food. Send them U-Hauls.
    Because THEY DON’T LIVE WHERE THE FOOD IS!!
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  • Posted by RevJay4 7 years, 7 months ago
    Totally agree with you, Cap'n. Its why I resist all the solicitations I recieve in the mail and online. If they send me something without my requesting it, I keep it or throw it away. Usually the latter.
    I'm not heartless, just not stupid either. From the reports and studies I seem to recall, most of the donations end up in the pockets of the administrators of those charities.
    Want my money? Do something to earn it, besides attempt to instill some sort of guilt feelings in me. Good luck with that.
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  • Posted by 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    My grandfather would say "There is something motivating when you get up and have no idea where your next meal is going to come from, and you have to go out and hustle!"
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  • Posted by 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The oceans gave us a certain protection. That is for sure. Mostly as a barrier to entry (lol).

    But we had NO IDEA how big it was in 1492. And America ENDED UP with the Highest Gumption Factor per capita, of any regular country. Why? Because those with ANY Gumption, left and came here.

    Not for free food, or an easy life. But for a chance to work, and keep what you made. To change your lot in life through hard work. So, those willing to work hard, came, and came in droves.

    Much Later, Tesla followed suit. I believe he wrote, that when he arrived in America, it was clearly 50 years behind Europe. And when he went back to Europe, they were amazingly now behind America. He was dumbfounded.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    America was unique in many ways. It was bigger than all Europe put seperated from Western civilization by a vast ocean.Everything that was needed was already there, just needed work to get it out.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Lately me dino has been donating to destroy Planned Parenthood.
    Bwahaha! To destroy is what dinos do!
    Hit it a lick!
    Hit it a lick!
    Harder! Harder!
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  • Posted by Dobrien 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Likewise, BTW I have donated to st Joseph Indian school in S. Dakota and probably will again.
    I get all the trinkets including note pads , labels dream catchers. The school room and boards Indian Kids from South Dakota whose parents can't stay away from the fire water. Do they sell my name yeah , but they have called once or twice on the phone to thank me.
    The solicitations are always in the mail not a robo call.. I choose when I want to do something.
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  • Posted by ReneeDaphne 7 years, 7 months ago
    Thanks for your comments. They are quite timely. Portland O is the poster child for the homeless "industry". We have an 8 1/2" by 11" by 1 " book with all the facilities to feed, clothe and care for the homeless. Kansas City gave THEIR homeless one way bus tickets to Portland. They are everywhere....and so is there poop and trash. It's like immigration. Turn off the "free rides" and the "free loaders" disappear. We'ver started openly calling them freeloaders here.
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  • Posted by LibertyBelle 7 years, 7 months ago
    I see nothing wrong with sending some food to starving people far away, if one wants to and can afford it. It might be a good idea to also send contraceptives or the means to get them. As to those "who do not care to " procreate getting out of the gene pool, that decision is not hereditary.
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  • Posted by 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Herb, you get it. But keep in mind, America was NOT ALWAYS so inviting. For the first 2-3 seasons, the pilgrims were dying and starving. While they were testing out this Communal approach, and Sharing everything. they failed.

    But the land was not just producing, it had to be tamed. Look at CA in the middle of one of the longest droughts... We have friends out there who just had to pay to have a deeper will installed a couple of years back. If they did NOTHING, they would not be having crops this year.

    Yes, we are fortunate, and we should always be grateful.

    But America was not handed to us. It was built. I was recently reminded when Russian friends came back here for a visit, and they commented on the changes. A String of buildings had been demolished, and replaced with new building since their last visit.

    Capitalism constantly encourages investment and growth. And the land usually ends up in the hands of the person who can get the most out of it. Who is willing to invest more into it.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Me dino has a cardboard box half full of those.
    That's not counting the cardboard box half full of recently received Christmas address return labels.
    Did I ask for them? Heck, no.
    Did I donate in response? Heck, no..
    Can I use them all? Heck, no.
    Am I gonna use some anyway? Hell, yeah!
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