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Hunger

Writer's picture: Bait Al-AmanahBait Al-Amanah

It only takes flour and water to make a simple bread that can satisfy one’s empty stomach. Perhaps an apple is sufficient too. Alas, according to World Food Programme (WFP) (2019), there are approximately 821 million people across the globe that does not have enough to eat meanwhile, The World Counts website recorded that 1.3billions tons of food is fed to the dustbin annually in a world where 9 million people die due to starvation or hunger-related diseases. If this does not concern us, then nothing would. Dying without having anything to eat is one of the worst ways to die. One would experience living in a netherworld before dying in starvation. Eating nothing continuously for a longer period of time will gradually develop health complexes. Madena (2005), stated that first, the person would face hunger aches and will start to long for food. Then, they will experience fatigue and weight loss followed by cachexia and hypothermia. After this stage, the person would be highly mentally affected. The body tissues or cavities will have watery fluids in excess. Finally, due to weakened immune systems, they would develop hunger-related diseases such as diarrhoea, tuberculosis, and would eventually die. The whole process of losing our body and mind to the wreath of the hungry stomach is awful. Modern technologies and modern ways of food production made it possible to have sufficient amounts of food for all and yet why would anyone die in such a manner? Where is the mistake? Why are people starving even when we have enough to feed all? Millions of people dying in starvation are not something unavoidable because we could clearly recognize the causes which are totally under rational jurisdiction of a human (George, 1989).

Firstly, as much as capitalism created a space for entrepreneurs to become wealthy it has thwarted the growth of the poor too. Since it gives more credits to profit, every sector that decides what you know, what you can eat, how you can be treated has converted into a profit-based sector and we cannot single out any. This system is accountable for the current imbalanced food distribution which causes part of the world to be obese and another to starve (Albrritton, 2013). The imbalanced food distribution is parallel to the imbalance of wealth distribution too. A century of continuous development on basic facilities (roads, buildings, transportation & education) made it feasible for the United State of America to be as developed as it is right now (Kaufman, 2009). The scenario is the same for all the current developed countries. It has to invest a huge sum before becoming a nation that could compete in the global market. However, poor countries can’t afford this. While the poor dies of starvation, many of the rich people are making money through multinational food production companies. Their packaged, processed, chemicalized and rich flavours are people’s favourite and hit a higher sale than the targeted sales. The food industry has seen a huge profit thus, it does not show any mercy towards the dying hunger nor the health of the people. Most of the people who die in starvation will be going through extreme poverty. They got no money and no food, but it does not concern the wealthy. The developed countries such as the US, and the UK is threat for farmers as it converted traditional farming methods into machine- based production. Companies such as Unilever, Nestle, and PepsiCo are few among the giants in the food industry that makes millions of profits annually (Scully, 2019). Thus, one of the major reasons for the poor to die in starvation is because the giants in the economy have conquered the market ocean leaving no space for the underprivileged people to pave their way towards a better life.

All of us on this planet equally have our rights to live. This planet is for the common. The resources of this planet should be equally enjoyed by everyone because it is not designated for the rich ones only. John Locke has stated that in a natural state, man is liberal, and they can do whatsoever they want to do as long as it does not harm anyone (Grant, 1987). However, the actions of some of the multinational companies affected and affecting the livelihood of the traditional farmers and the poor. The epoch of the modernized world is the epoch of people dying in hunger. The statistics on people not having enough to eat shows that the rights of many in this world have been neglected. While millions of people are not even entitled to their rights to have proper meals, then how could we be so proud of our achievements in politics, science and technology? Yes, there are many worldwide organizations that are making efforts to overcome this terrifying situation, but their efforts are not enough. We have reached a whole new height on studying and experimenting in the physical world. From the Earth we could see how outer space looks like and we could even send astronauts all the way to the Moon, which is 384, 400 km far away and yet we could not feed our neighbours. George (1989) has mentioned that our outbreak in science and technology is astonishing that we can afford a proper diet for everyone on Earth. Have you ever imagined yourself without meals for the next one or two days? No? Then, I would challenge you to do so if you still could not understand the seriousness of this issue. Not only the multinational companies that enjoyed the results of capitalism to be blamed but our own apathy and ignorance too. Many among us would not care what is happening to our neighbours because it is not affecting our life. We are suffering from a disease called ‘selfishness’ with a symptom of, ‘if it is not me, then it is not my problem’. However, in order to create a peaceful world, we should care about each other. Everyone needs to work together as one to fight against this cruel hunger that haunts many among us every single day. Gandhi once said that there is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed. In short, we could stop people dying of starvation if we all reprogram our mind to the default mode where humanity is greater than the money.

_ Komathi Muthu Raja (Cabaran Penulisan Artikel – Kategori Terbuka)

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