This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Food Riots 2011
Food Riots 2011
Courtesy of Michael Snyder at Economic Collapse
The stunningly violent food riots in Tunisia and Algeria show just how quickly things can change. Just a few months ago, these two northern Africa nations were considered to be very stable, very peaceful and without any major problems. But now protesters are openly squaring off with police in the streets. Many of the protesters are throwing "fire bombs" or are shooting fireworks at the authorities, and the police are responding with a tremendous amount of violence themselves. In Algeria, several protesters have been killed by police and several others have actually set themselves on fire to protest the economic conditions. In Tunisia, more than 100 people have been killed and the president of that country actually had to flee for his life. But on a global scale, food shortages have not even gotten that bad yet. Yes, food prices are starting to go up and food supplies are a little bit tighter right now, but much worse times than these are coming. So what in the world are the cities of the world going to look like when we have a very serious food shortage?
Just as we saw during the food riots of 2008, when people get to the point where they can't even feed themselves anymore, they tend to lose it. In the video posted below, you can really feel the desperation of these young Algerians as they riot in the streets....
This next video is of the food riots in Tunisia. You will not want to let any young children watch this video. In fact, if watching police beat and smash protesters laying on the ground upsets you, then you might not want to watch this video either. The massive food riots that have erupted in Tunisia have left many city streets looking like war zones and at this point it is being reported that the violence has left over 100 people dead. The president of Tunisia has left the country because of the rioting, and an interim president has been sworn in. It is hoped that this will help restore order. This video is absolutely stunning....
You see, the truth is that it is not just in the United States that people are becoming angry at government. All over the world, frustration is boiling over. But unlike the United States, where food is still very plentiful, in many areas of the world it is the deteriorating economic conditions that are sparking many of these riots.
According to the FAO, the global price of food hit a new record high in December. For most Americans and Europeans, a rise in the price of food is just an inconvenience. But in many areas of the world, even a relatively small rise in the price of food can mean that the survival of millions is suddenly threatened.
Global authorities are concerned that these food riots might start spreading - especially if the extremely harsh weather all over the globe continues to damage crops.
In fact, there are some signs that economic unrest is already beginning to spread....
*In the nation of Jordan, peaceful demonstrations were held in several locations around the country on Friday to protest rising food prices.
*In Libya, protests about the late completion of government subsidized housing entered their third day on Sunday. Reportedly, hundreds of uncompleted units have been taken over by protesters and so far the police are not taking action to evict them. There is also growing concern that the food riots in neighboring Tunisia will soon pour over into Libya.
*Economic protests also been reported recently in Mozambique, Morocco and Chile.
Sadly, the desperate economic conditions that are sparking these food riots did not develop overnight. Rather, they have been building for decades. The truth is that the new "global economy" is designed to funnel more and more of the wealth of the world into the hands of the wealthiest 0.001% of the global population. Everyone else is left to fight with one another to divide up a pie that is increasingly shrinking.
Just consider the following five facts....
#1 Approximately 1 billion people throughout the world go to bed hungry every single night.
#2 Approximately 28 percent of all children in developing countries are considered to be underweight or have had their growth stunted as a result of malnutrition.
#3 Every 3.6 seconds someone starves to death and three-quarters of them are children under the age of 5.
#4 "Least developed countries" spent 9 billion dollars on food imports in 2002. By 2008, that number had risen to 23 billion dollars.
#5 A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research discovered that the bottom half of the world population owns approximately 1 percent of all global wealth.
So if things are this bad already, what kind of food riots are we going to see if all of this weird weather continues and global harvests are much lower than anticipated in 2011?
Most Americans have a really hard time even imagining such a thing, but the truth is that we are just one really bad harvest away from mass starvation in many areas of the world.
We are not going to see mass starvation in the United States in 2011, but we could see food prices start to go up significantly. Keep in mind that more than 43 million Americans are already on food stamps. The incredible abundance of food that we have been enjoying for so many decades is not guaranteed to last indefinitely.
Dennis Conley, an agricultural economist at the University of Nebraska, recently told MSNBC that food reserves in the United States are already disturbingly low....
"I haven't seen numbers this low that I can remember in the last 20 or 30 years."
So yes, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned.
The world really is on the verge of a major food crisis, and if global harvests are not significantly better than most analysts are currently projecting, then we are likely to see a lot more food riots around the globe before 2011 is over.
»
- ilene's blog
- 7654 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
May I suggest you use your nightstick, officer?
hmmm...what if starving massive amounts of 3rd world peasants is part of The Plan?
Population control, anyone?
One day Food and cheap food will be available for all in the world
When that happens they will all turn on the US.
That will happen when something like a disease, more war, or a massive natural disaster like a volcano, enormous floods, or a tsumani is unleashed and wipes out a huge swath of humans.
visit senic Tunisia
bring spam....
These rioters are communists. Hungry communists, perhaps, but communists nevertheless.
Now we can all feel better about this.
What godless communist junked me? Go straight to bed. No dinner!
I just love how the MSM is spinning these food riots as oppressed peoples cry for "democracy".LOL
MSM doesn't really want to examine how incredibly distrustful people have become of our "institutions". In the US and all over the world. So many no longer trust their Governments, Banks and Financial institutions, Education systems and schools, main stream media, or hospitals.
Once revered professionals are no longer trusted - teachers, doctors, journalists. Most of the systems are obviously gamed now and cynicism is on the rise. There will come a point where the powers that be cannot hope to quell the disgust, disdain and contempt of the populace without violence. Tunisia just went over that tipping point. They may be the first in 2011, but they won't be the only. This is fermenting everywhere and it will hit the boil in many more locales.
The MSM and ALL of TV are in bed with these people. It is a kleptocracy.
Regardless of the amazing capacity for advancement of Mankind, his nature will always make him a self-limiting phenomenon.
Strong words. Nice.
"Most Americans have a really hard time even imagining such a thing, but the truth is that we are just one really bad harvest away from mass starvation in many areas of the world."
We could always revert to horse and wagon! Uh oh... that means more mouths to feed all that scarce grain to.... but then think of all the HORSE SHIT we would have for methane and fertilizer production! Oh no.... in order to use all the HORSE SHIT we would have to use hard commodities to build facilities to process all the HORSE SHIT. In fact I think we need facilities now to process all the HORSE SHIT I trip over every where I step!
Breed like rats and pretty soon you run out of Shit to eat. Oooooo, can't touch the breeding problem. That wouldn't be an appropriate topic in the eyes of the Pope or your local Mullah.
Don't discount shit. It will be a valuable commodity when the squeeze for fertilizer hits. Horse, cow, and people, we'll need it all.
The future is shit.
You can burn it too. Long ago, people who lived in places where wood was scarce cooked and heated with fires of dried dung.
The American public won't riot until you take away their Cheez Doodles and dollar menu. If someone comes along that promises to keep those things going in exchange for democracy, they'll sign on the dotted line.
I don't know to what degree financial speculators are responsible for the surge in commodities like rice and wheat but I've always maintained that with regard to something as essential to existence as food , speculation should be severely curtailed .
I honestly can't comprehend the mentality of those individuals/funds that bid on the likes of rice futures , corn futures , wheat futures and sugar futures fully in the knowledge that these commodities are at very elevated levels . Surely they realise the effect of these rampant upward price fluctuations . Or perhaps they just don't care . I have trouble convincing myself that anyone could be that apathetic though .
Stick to equities . Stick to bonds . Stick to ETF's . Stick to options . Stick to swaps . Just stay the hell out of agricultural futures .
a local market of producers and consumers is healthy.
a global market of speculators and starving human beings is a disease.
fat dude with the club, starving dude with the split skull... may i suggest a metaphor?
Beans, Bullets and Band-aids, Bitchez!
DaddyO
As usual, everyone cannot grasp that the gold-standard and capitalism are the only systems that actually work. They have their flaws and there may be a wealth gap, but capitalism is what has afforded all of the wealth and properity of the world. From the rich and riches have come all of the advancements for the bettement of mankind in a very short amount of time. The gold standard will bring back some stability that will allow prosperity again. Its better than the ponzi scheme being run by gov'ts and centrla banks.
Why do you want a change? Prosperity is here, never disappeared.
You cant provide one singular difference between your capitalistic prosperity and today capitalistic prosperity.
Dont fix what is not broken.
Hope & Change. Americans are totally brainwashed 24x7 in HD but a totally complicit TV news media. they care more about the super bowl as all of TV fawns over the Kenyan boy king coup leader and his cronies - The Ben Bernank, The JP Morgue and The Goldman Sack.
That is that.
That is the heritage of Smithian economics: transfer wealth to somewhere from an exterior.
The US has grown as the world champion of that system. The system is exclusive: the more wealth is concentrated on US territory, the more expensive to live on the US territory grows. The more one participates to concentrate wealth on a territory, the more one increases the likelihood of leaving.
So wait for the next round: as more and more US citizens will be unable to leave on the US territory, they are going to move to the exterior, claiming the best pieces of land for them ("America knows best"mentality), and performing ethnical cleansing in the doing.
WTF? Does Google have a translator for this?
A few typos here and there that might hinder understanding. Plus words used to mean what they are supposed to mean can confuse people who speak a popular english.
so:
Heritage of Smithian economics: transfering wealth to somewhere from an exterior.
Should be crystal clear.
The US has grown as the world champion of that system.
The US is the best at and the most vocal advocate of Smithian Economics.
The system is exclusive: the more wealth is concentrated on US territory, the more expensive to live on the US territory grows. The more one participates to concentrate wealth on a territory, the more one increases the likelihood of leaving.
An exclusive system is one that excludes entrants through progression.
Competition for example is an exclusive system. Entrants are eliminated as competition progresses.
the more wealth is concentrated on US territory, the more expensive to live on the US territory grows.
This is the underlying principle leading to exclusion.
When one accumulates wealth on a territory, it follows that living on the territory grows more expensive.
Adding running water makes living on the territory more expensive.
The more one participates to concentrate wealth on a territory, the more one increases the likelihood of leaving.
Exclusion happens bottom to top wage wise. People at bottom contribute to add more wealth to the US. The more efficient they are, the faster they get to the point when their wages are no longer sufficient to pay for the increased cost of living in the US.
This is what has shapened the US social landscape and is a major force behind outsourcing.
So wait for the next round: as more and more US citizens will be unable to live on the US territory, they are going to move to the exterior, claiming the best pieces of land for them ("America knows best"mentality), and performing ethnical cleansing in the doing.
This is the expected outcome of the story.
The US citizens are concentrating wealth in the US. As they do that, they are excluding themselves from living on the US territority.
Just as it is stupid to think of a sweeper living on Park Avenue (generated revenue not enough to allow living there), it is stupid to think that all the US citizens will be able to keep living in the US while it is repeatedly poining out their revenues are insufficient to afford living in the US.
Therefore, they will get compelled to move and settle outside the US.
With the US mentality ("America is best") they will want the best of their next location for themselves, pushing out locals of their ancestral land.
Expect a repeat of US colonization, save that the Indians were much less numerous than the people the US citizens are going to cleanse.
This should clarify.
no shield loved behint
If every country ends their unfair pegs then we could not export food inflation. The pegs are the problem even in that asian food basket Laos. The pegs are forcing our de industrialization. I dont care if all those fucking peggers starve. They can float at any time they choose and end the pain. Otherwise if they refuse those mother fuckers can take hunger beating tips from somalians. I hear termites are quite delicious and very crunchy raw. Fuck those currency peggers
does it hurt to say stupid things?
Friend, it is best to just ignore stupidity and ignorance... they love the attention and it only encourages them. They want their unsullied simplicity and ignorance ... they have no desire to inform themselves ... the world is too complex and they lack the empathy and-or energy to understand. Just ignore them and put energy into discussions with people who are seriously sharing and trying to understand.
Somalians have a peg on USD? Now, that is a piece of news.
Some people have to sugarcoat and rationalize reality.
Reality is that the US must get pegged nations so they can drain their resources faster by forcing them to export instead of focusing resources on internal developpment.
That's not the way the FED see's it.
"Will the Asset Purchase Program Have Adverse Effects on Foreign Economies?"
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/yellen20110108a.htm
Most people don't even notion that they spend 100 dollars more on food per month.
But if you make 50$ a month and food goes up like it does now, there's nothing left anymore.
And as these people have a full nest of mostly 6 to 8 kids I still don't understand how they do it.
If I had 6 or 8 kids I really really don't know how I could make the end of the month.
I get where you're coming from, but when you think about it from the perspective that 95% of the stuff that Westerners think they "need" to "live" is actually completely unnecessary for survival/subsistence, you see how desperately poor people can still manage to get by.
Float your damn third world currency or die you third world bitchez. If no one will renegotiate a new bretton woods then we will impose our own. Peggers are parasites and cheaters and they deserve to starve.
may your careless words come back to haunt thee.
Too much meat, too many cars. We are competing with our toys for something to eat.
Lose the carz and industrial ag. Start now, it'll take ten years to make the jump.
If we're lucky, there will be some people left in 2021. Right now it's questionable ...
By then we'll be with 10 billion :)
Just more ingredients for soylent green. High protein diet will keep your weight down?
Personally I prefer my meat fresh and not processed into a pill. Yum, Yum.
The results of doing "god's work" on wall street and when central bankkkers are "100% certain"...
People will soon be praying for 2012 to come now..
In this case i dont think we can blame the midget demon GG. Pegging third world currencies unfairly low is the problem. They are stealing our industrial base and jobs for the lower classes. The peggers are to blame. They can stop all the pain immediately by letting currencies float.
...
no one anywhere should be hungry with the amounts of wealth accumulated...
this is natural justice for them not having any conscience at all. no fair trials or speech here. gives us all reason to appreciate liberty.
http://covert2.wordpress.com
"no one anywhere should be hungry with the amounts of wealth accumulated..."
I'd say that no one needs to go hungry, not that no one should go hungry. I'm quite sure there are, at a minimum, many millions of people too stupid and/or lazy to live. I'm not willing to give up a damn thing for someone who simply wants to sit on their ass all day - and don't tell me there aren't such people, because I know better. Simply throwing food at anyone and everyone is somewhat short-sighted.
How many billions of people can the planet handle?
There it is. I suspect the answer is substantially fewer than are on it now. We are bacteria crowding the edge of the Petrie dish. Poof!
And that wealth should be redistributed by the only honest institution around, government, and it should be done by force if necessary, right?
I couldn't agree more, but capitalism is all about scarcity. Without scarcity there is no profit.
without profit, there is no product