Enjoy Capitalism

Abookamongstthemany

hippiemom wrote:

That kid is way beyond "well-fed." He's suffering because of an over-abundance that he lacks the knowledge to make proper use of. Perhaps a wiser use of his abundance would be to share some of it with the other child

Well yes, his parents obviously need to teach the child proper nutrition and the consequences of over eating but the point I was wanting to stress is that one kids has access to food in abundance and the other has to go without.

But yes, the fat kid could do with sharing a nugget or two.

hsewif

that's an interesting photo, such a huge contrast between the 2 children...

My first thought is that both mothers must be uncaring... one for making horrible meal choices on a regular basis and the other for having a child in those living conditions.

After thinking about it a little more and doing a quick google search, it's interesting to note that most technically obese children are minorities in a low income household. People with money and an education don't make bad food choices overall.

although there is a big contrast in the photo images, the 2 are similar in many ways....

I'm not really sure how capitalism plays a part in that... It's obvious that the photo is supposed to make the US look bad...can someone fill me in?

-and I'm not being argumentative, I really want to know.

VictoryGin

hsewif wrote:

After thinking about it a little more and doing a quick google search, it's interesting to note that most technically obese children are minorities in a low income household. People with money and an education don't make bad food choices overall.

people with money and an education have the resources to eat healthy, balanced diets. processed junky foods are more affordable than a balanced meal with protein, good carbs, dairy, vitamins, etc. look at how cheap a box of mac and cheese or a package of ramen noodles is compared to a cooked meal of meat or soy, fresh veggies, fruit, whathaveyou.

hsewif

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

Well yes, his parents obviously need to teach the child proper nutrition and the consequences of over eating but the point I was wanting to stress is that one kids has access to food in abundance and the other has to go without.

But yes, the fat kid could do with sharing a nugget or two.

well one kid lives in the US and the other lives in a desert.

In a perfect world, we would move them all over here and make most of Africa a tourist-only zone. Those pictures really tug at the heartstrings. All those damn flies!

I wonder... should we be more concerned with the starving kids in Africa or the obese kids here?

chadwick

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

Well yes, his parents obviously need to teach the child proper nutrition and the consequences of over eating but the point I was wanting to stress is that one kids has access to food in abundance and the other has to go without.

But yes, the fat kid could do with sharing a nugget or two.

this is exactly what Abook was trying to say.
one kid eat to much.
i promise ya that kid is eating tons of junk food
and all day long.(exccess)
while the other child starves to death in agony.(excess)
you'd think after all this time we'd have learned
to become a loving peaceful world.
like that saying the 3 musketeers use.
all for one and one for all.
makes sense to me.

Abookamongstthemany

hsewif wrote:

well one kid lives in the US and the other lives in a desert.

In a perfect world, we would move them all over here and make most of Africa a tourist-only zone. Those pictures really tug at the heartstrings. All those damn flies!

I wonder... should we be more concerned with the starving kids in Africa or the obese kids here?

Our policies here affect the lives of those who live in the countries we do business with.

You can be concerned about which ever you feel is the most dire. I'm personally concerned about both but I tend to care more about poverty and hunger than bad parenting/diets.

hsewif

VictoryGin wrote:

people with money and an education have the resources to eat healthy, balanced diets. processed junky foods are more affordable than a balanced meal with protein, good carbs, dairy, vitamins, etc. look at how cheap a box of mac and cheese or a package of ramen noodles is compared to a cooked meal of meat or soy, fresh veggies, fruit, whathaveyou.

obviously. They don't call it "Whole Paycheck" for nothing.

Plenty of low-income people don't have a problem.. this (childhood obesity) is something that has exploded over the last 20 years. How is capitalism to blame?

VictoryGin

hsewif wrote:

well one kid lives in the US and the other lives in a desert.

In a perfect world, we would move them all over here and make most of Africa a tourist-only zone. Those pictures really tug at the heartstrings. All those damn flies!

I wonder... should we be more concerned with the starving kids in Africa or the obese kids here?

not all of africa is desert. a perfect world would entail moving hundreds of millions of people here? wow. then i'd really not be able to find an apartment or a job.

VictoryGin

hsewif wrote:

obviously. They don't call it "Whole Paycheck" for nothing.

Plenty of low-income people don't have a problem.. this (childhood obesity) is something that has exploded over the last 20 years. How is capitalism to blame?

i was just addressing that part of your post about low income obesity (in the u.s.), i wasn't tying it into the capitalism u.s./africa photo. i think poverty issues in africa aren't the result of only capitalism. some things we do as a capitalistic nation don't help their problems, but i think poverty is due to much more.

hsewif

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

Our policies here affect the lives of those who live in the countries we do business with.

You can be concerned about which ever you feel is the most dire. I'm personally concerned about both but I tend to care more about poverty and hunger than bad parenting/diets.

I'm also concerned about both but I'm a parent so I tend to be more concerned about other parents. (and I still question why someone would get pregnant while living in a fly-infested shack in Africa... do the women there just part there legs when they're told to do so?)

It's not that hard to feed yourself and your kids on a limited income. If you have acces to dirt, sunlight and water, you can plant seeds and grow things. The other nutrients aren't THAT hard to find, either.

Sure, it's easier to buy some ramen or buy off the dollar menu at McDonalds... that's an education issue in my mind.

hsewif

VictoryGin wrote:

not all of africa is desert. a perfect world would entail moving hundreds of millions of people here? wow. then i'd really not be able to find an apartment or a job.

no need for the sarcasm. I'm here tonight to learn a few things.

I don't know anything about life in Africa. why don't you tell me why the people there are sooooo poor? why do women have babies when they are starving themselves?

Abookamongstthemany

hsewif wrote:

I'm also concerned about both but I'm a parent so I tend to be more concerned about other parents. (and I still question why someone would get pregnant while living in a fly-infested shack in Africa... do the women there just part there legs when they're told to do so?)

It's not that hard to feed yourself and your kids on a limited income. If you have acces to dirt, sunlight and water, you can plant seeds and grow things. The other nutrients aren't THAT hard to find, either.

Sure, it's easier to buy some ramen or buy off the dollar menu at McDonalds... that's an education issue in my mind.

Seriously, I don't know where to begin to address this post.

I guess they are just starving because they are too lazy to find all these nutrients laying all over the place. :rolleyes:

lucylespian

hsewif wrote:

I'm also concerned about both but I'm a parent so I tend to be more concerned about other parents. (and I still question why someone would get pregnant while living in a fly-infested shack in Africa... do the women there just part there legs when they're told to do so?)

It's not that hard to feed yourself and your kids on a limited income. If you have acces to dirt, sunlight and water, you can plant seeds and grow things. The other nutrients aren't THAT hard to find, either.

Sure, it's easier to buy some ramen or buy off the dollar menu at McDonalds... that's an education issue in my mind.

These are easy questions to answer, as a ton of research has been done. The key to population control is maternal education. When mothers are educated, teh infant mortality rate drops. When infant mortality drops, so does the birth rate. Children are the only form of old age welfare in these countries. If none of your children survive, you will not be cared for in old age. The higher the infant mortality, teh more children you need to have to ensure there will be someone alive to care for you.

War dirupts agriculture. Most of this poverty comes from famine casued by war. Drought contributes, but war is the main issue.

And yes, women there do spread their legs when they are told to.

It's funny, white folk are blamed for all the bad in the world, but we did invent women's rights, contraception and abolish slavery.

THe images in teh original post are all to do with education, littel to do with capitalism.

hsewif

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

Seriously, I don't know where to begin to address this post.

I guess they are just starving because they are too lazy to find all these nutrients laying all over the place. :rolleyes:

my comment wasn't about starving Africans, it was about low-income Americans that choose McDonalds over healthier (and available) choices.

Abookamongstthemany

hsewif wrote:

no need for the sarcasm. I'm here tonight to learn a few things.

I don't know anything about life in Africa. why don't you tell me why the people there are sooooo poor? why do women have babies when they are starving themselves?

http://www.ifpri.org/2020/briefs/number19.htm

hsewif

lucylespian wrote:

These are easy questions to answer, as a ton of research has been done. The key to population control is maternal education. When mothers are educated, teh infant mortality rate drops. When infant mortality drops, so does the birth rate. Children are the only form of old age welfare in these countries. If none of your children survive, you will not be cared for in old age. The higher the infant mortality, teh more children you need to have to ensure there will be someone alive to care for you.

War dirupts agriculture. Most of this poverty comes from famine casued by war. Drought contributes, but war is the main issue.

And yes, women there do spread their legs when they are told to.

It's funny, white folk are blamed for all the bad in the world, but we did invent women's rights, contraception and abolish slavery.

THe images in teh original post are all to do with education, littel to do with capitalism.

I question your war angle, I will research it at a later time. I read a few things earlier tonight and they all pointed towards climate, population (specifically over-crowding) and a search for a better environment overall.

VictoryGin

hsewif wrote:

no need for the sarcasm. I'm here tonight to learn a few things.

I don't know anything about life in Africa. why don't you tell me why the people there are sooooo poor? why do women have babies when they are starving themselves?

i wasn't actually being sarcastic. it's difficult to find an apartment and a job as it is. if over 600 million people came here now, it would be a lot harder.

i don't think i could tell you in a post why many people are poor, but i think drought, colonization, and civil war have something to do with it. if you really want to know, i'd do some research about african history.

one reason women have babies is because they don't have access to family planning services, thanks in part to the global gag rule, which is something george bush reinstated on his first day in office.

hsewif

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

http://www.ifpri.org/2020/briefs/number19.htm

It's great to see the numbers dropping overall.

Abookamongstthemany

hsewif wrote:

It's great to see the numbers dropping overall.

Of course but they still seem staggering.

hsewif

VictoryGin wrote:

i wasn't actually being sarcastic. it's difficult to find an apartment and a job as it is. if over 600 million people came here now, it would be a lot harder.

i don't think i could tell you in a post why many people are poor, but i think drought, colonization, and civil war have something to do with it. if you really want to know, i'd do some research about african history.

one reason women have babies is because they don't have access to family planning services, thanks in part to the global gag rule, which is something george bush reinstated on his first day in office.

interesting...
global gag rule. I've never heard of it before tonight.

Why should the United States be responsibile for teaching family planning to every country on the globe? Shouldn't every country be responsible for their own people?

are you referring to "family planning" as abortion? There are other ways to not have babies...