Proposal for DU Activist Corps: hunger in Niger

[imenja]

I propose that we make hunger in Africa, Niger most currently, our next subject of action for the DU activists corp. We could do letter writing campaigns to our representatives and to local newspapers. I'd love to hear other suggestions of tactics.

[cornermouse]

1. What about hunger here in the U.S.?

I think that would mean more. The local food pantries, here at least, were begging for contributions last year. I assume its like that in most places.

[imenja]

2. It's not comparable

and I guess I've never been one who believes American life is more valuable than everyone else. The Niger famine is critical. Hundreds of thousands if not millions may die. Americans need to start taking responsibility for our place in the world and stop being so focused entirely on ourselves.

I agree that we should all contribute to local food banks, but the Niger famine, like genocide in Darfur and horrific violence in the Congo, are international problems that our representatives must respond to. That poverty and violence is also the result of our own abundance and callous ethnocentrism at home.

[cornermouse]

3. There was a time that I would have agreed with you.

Unfortunately, due to new republican laws and policies being enacted and certain repugnant governors, I think things will hit near-critical or critical mass here this winter.

[imenja]

4. I can't look at those children with emaciated bodies

and pretend our own situation compares. It breaks my heart, especially since I know that it goes on because so few in the West care. We allow a Holocaust every year in Africa, and turn our back to it.

[cornermouse]

5. We're headed that way and Bush has put the pedal to the metal.

Seriously we aren't as far from that as you appear to think that we are.

[imenja]

6. this conversation encapsulates my frustration with the so-called left

there is none anymore. We've become a self absorbed right wing nation obsessed with petty political disputes and entirely unconcerned with social justice. Karl Rove and Bob Novak consume people but no one cares about human life.

The Bush administration does play a role in global poverty, as do you and I. We are responsible, and the attitude you display here is exactly why people are dying in the millions. Bush and other US presidents (Bush has actually increased aid to Africa) can ignore famine in Africa because people like you and other Americans don't care about anyone but themselves. Our hands our drenched in blood. No wonder the rest of the world depises us so.

Next time a program on African poverty run on televising, on Nightline or PBS, watch it instead of Channing the channel.

[cornermouse]

7. That's changing, not Channing...

Capitalization of changing in mid sentence is also wrong. Also "our hands are not our".

I've seen lot of pictures of children starving in Africa. I listened to all the news stories I could find during various wars and massacres. Does it make me feel awful? Yes. But you seem to think we have unlimited resources. That's simply not true. The fact is that Bush has just about bankrupted this nation. We can not save Africa at this point in time. I have some doubts that we can even save ourselves and live to rescue future starving people.

Do you know that the middle of our country is having its own drought? You will when you go to the grocery store this winter. The poor children and adults, elderly, disabled; all of them are under attack by the republican party. Do they have to be suffering from severe malnutrition and starvation before you notice that they exist?

[sandnsea]

9. FAMINE

4 countries. 4 million in Niger. 800,000 children. A few hundred million would fix it. Not billion. $1 billion. The amount we raised within days of 9/11. We have the money to keep these people from starving. We don't have the desire.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=1303

The real problem with your argument is that Republicans don't help the people in the US anyway, it's an empty excuse to let people die.

[imenja]

10. I'm stunned

that your reaction is to comment on typos. Your pettiness is particularly shocking given the content of this discussion. Clearly you and I have very different priorities. Lack of opportunity in the US is a problem, but the US also spends the lowest percentage of GDP on foreign relief than any industrialized nation. It is possible to concentrate on both domestic and international inequality, as they are part of the same problem. To do so, however, requires that we as a people need to care about human dignity and social justice. Very few do, as your post indicates. Despite the economic challenges at home, our poverty doesn't begin to compare with Africa's. That you would continue to argue it does indicates that you are horrendously and willfully uninformed.

If we don't stand for basic human decency, we are no better than Republicans. And for most of the world we are all the same, Dem and Republican. Why? Because of attitudes like yours. I am tremendously saddened and ashamed that so-called leftists have so little compassion and sense of responsibility for our place in the world. The problem is not only that we have the ability to curb African poverty, but we are responsible for it. Our privilege is built on global exploitation. Read Andre Gunner Frank or Emanuel Wallerstein. We sit at the core of a global capitalist system that
exploits peoples around the world. Poverty in Africa is the result of a legacy of slavery, colonialism, and more recently corporate capitalism, which all Americans benefit from. When you and I buy products at the store, we benefit from global exploitation and contribute to the horrific labor exploitation around the world. The poor in this country are prosperous by global standards. Surely that fact can't have escaped you. You obviously place a priority on American life over black Africans. And in doing so you are identical to the Republicans you imagine you are so different from.

FYI: If we spent one month's worth of funding from Iraq on Africa, famine would be a thing of the past. Even one week's funding would go a long way. But that requires someone actually gives a damn. All it takes for evil to triumph is for ordinary people to do nothing. And the American position, that you exemplify here, is indeed evil. You bring to mind a comment Isabel Allende made about the karma that surrounds the American people because of our actions abroad and the date of September 11 in particular. Reading your posts makes me think she may have a point.

When being a so-called liberal means little more than hating Bush, the distinction between political parties is meaningless. No wonder Democratic administrations like Clinton's and Kennedy's did so little to combat inequality at home and abroad. Most Americans don't care about anything but their own pocket books. The same callowness that allows us to turn our backs on poverty in Africa contributes to the problem at home. I'm not sure what's worse: the terrible poverty that afflicts the globe or cold-hearted people that profit from it and allow it to proliferate. One cannot exist without the other.

[cornermouse]

13. So sue me. Typos/spelling errors irritate me. Even my own.

They also provide a distraction from the point being made and, not infrequently, can change the meaning of the point that the poster intends to make. If you want to consider that petty, then go right ahead.

I repeat. The part of the country which grows the food for your table is in the middle of a serious drought. Thanks to Bush's policies and the weather, we are NOT as far from the same fate as you seem to think.

Are you aware that the elderly have been having real trouble paying their utility bills (heat in the winter, air in the summer) for the past several years? They are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia and heat related illnesses.

At this point I could engage in hyperbole and make the type of false accusations that you have made, but I choose not to. I'll just say that you're wrong.

[imenja]

16. murder irritates me

and those who allow it. Either one cares about poverty and human life or he/she doesn't. Either one values social justice or one doesn't. Economic justice at home and abroad are not separate issues. Unless of course your concern for drought is even more subsidies for big agribusiness, which seems in keeping with the attitude you've displayed so far.

Given your obsession with trivialities over substance, spell check changed the word without my being aware. Now does commenting on a typo help you distract from the fact you knowingly and willingly contribute to mass starvation around the world?

[Sapphire Blue]

8. "... but no one cares about human life."

I've been watching this thread, along with a couple of others discussing poverty issues... watching for interest... which doesn't seem to be there. One thread asked why a thread about a DOG gets more replies than a thread about poverty... not ONE reply to that thread... that is, not one reply from anyone other than the original poster.

Here we have a 'Proposal for DU Activist Corps: hunger in Niger' ... and the only response is essentially that poverty & hunger here in the US is important, so perhaps focusing on the US would mean more. Well, are we doing either?

I was born in the 50's... grew up in a diverse neighborhood where the color of my playmates' skin wasn't of any more importance than the color of their hair... it was a relatively poor neighborhood where neighbors were there for each either when in need... and sharing was a way of life.

Then came the 60's... civil rights movement, the anti-poverty movement, the women's liberation movement, the anti-war movement... blood was shed in this country and overseas. We made great strides...

Fast-forward to the dawn of the YUPPIES... oh, we had it so good... the ever expanding 'middle-class', incomes grew, two (or three or more) cars in every garage, creature comforts abounded... for many. Those who were left behind became invisible to the successful... 'the haves', if you will... and remain invisible.

Cities pass laws to keep homeless people out of their neighborhoods, can't be offended by 'their kind'. Thanksgiving & Christmas bring drives to stock the food banks w/donations for the poor... and the people who don't want those poor in their neighborhoods donate a box of macaroni & cheese, a few packages of Top Ramen, a can of generic green beans to the food bank drive... aren't they so kind & generous?

Africa... people on another continent, malnourished, starving, diseased, and DYING... do they matter?

Does this precious baby matter??? For God's sake, does this precious child matter???


May God / Allah / Jehovah / YHWH / the Creator / Waheguru / the One have mercy on us, awaken our souls and restore humanity.

Malnutrition Is Ravaging Niger's Children

By MICHAEL WINES
Published: August 5, 2005

ELKOKIYA, Niger, Aug. 3 - At sunset Wednesday, in an unmarked grave in a cemetery rimmed by millet fields, the men of this mud-walled village buried Baby Boy Saminou, the latest casualty of the hunger ravaging 3.6 million farmers and herders in this destitute nation.

At 16 months, he was little bigger than some newborns, with the matchstick limbs and skeletal ribs of the severely malnourished. He had died three hours earlier in the intensive care unit of a field hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, where 30 others like him still lie with their mothers on metal cots.

One in five is dying - the result, many say, of a belated response by the outside world to a disaster predicted in detail nine months ago.

Niger's latest hunger problem, like Baby Boy Saminou's tragedy, is more complex than it first appears. As aid begins to trickle into some of the nearly 4,000 villages across southern Niger that need help - the vanguard of a flood of food brought forth by television images of shrunken babies - the rich world's response to Niger's worst nutrition crisis since the 1985 famine is, in fact, proving too late for many.

Unseen on television, however, are the shrunken infants who die all but unnoticed even in so-called normal years. Of each 1,000 children born alive in this, the world's second-poorest nation, a staggering 262 fail to reach their fifth birthdays.

Continued @ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/international/africa/05niger.html?pagewanted=1

Niger's Dying Children

How to Help

[imenja]

11. It is heart breaking

that so few on DU care. Poverty in Africa and at home are not separate issues. The same callousness that allows us to turn our backs on famine in Africa leads us to do little to nothing about it at home. I agree with you that it is terribly troubling, especially on a website where people pretend to represent an alternative viewpoint.

[Sapphire Blue]

14. It IS heartbreaking, and it's a reflection on society.

We, here on DU, are only a segment of society, only a segment of the Democratic Party... a party that has historically represented the poor. Where is that representation today? John Edwards made poverty an issue during his presidential/vice-presidential campaign, but did we hear him? Did we, as a party, follow through on what our vice-presidential candidate advocated? Will we, as a party, stand up for our beliefs... will we get up off of our collective frustrated, despairing, and apathetic asses and demand justice... social and economic justice... for our country and for the world?

We have a Republican-controlled Congress that consistently rubber stamps legislation detrimental to its constituents... favoring corporatists & the wealthy to the detriment of everyone else has become standard operating procedure in this Congress... we have an Administration that resembles the Mafia more than a presidential administration... a Mafia that gleefully entices & accepts Nazis into the family... we see a cruelty emanating from this White House that is worthy of Hitler’s Nazi’s. This ‘Christian’ Republican Party has bent their ‘Christian’ cross into a Nazi swastika.

Will we unbend that cross?

A message from Jim Wallis, who says it so much better than I...

The Message Thing
By Jim Wallis

(an excerpt)

Language is clearly important in politics, but the message remains more important than the messaging. In the interests of full disclosure, let me note that I have been talking to the Democrats about both. But I believe that first, you must get your message straight. What are your best ideas, and what are you for-as opposed to what you're against in the other party's message? Only when you answer those questions can you figure out how to present your message to the American people.

<snip>

To be specific, I offer five areas in which the Democrats should change their message and then their messaging.

First, somebody must lead on the issue of poverty, and right now neither party is doing so. The Democrats assume the poverty issue belongs to them, but with the exception of John Edwards in his 2004 campaign, they haven't mustered the gumption to oppose a government that habitually favors the wealthy over everyone else. Democrats need new policies to offer the 36 million Americans, including 13 million children, who live below the poverty line, as well as the 9.8 million families one recent study identified as "working hard but falling short."

In fact, the Democrats should draw a line in the sand when it comes to wartime tax cuts for the wealthy, rising deficits, and the slashing of programs for low-income families and children. They need proposals that combine to create a "living family income" for wage-earners, as well as a platform of "fair trade," as opposed to just free trade, in the global economy. Such proposals would cause a break with many of the Democrats' powerful corporate sponsors, but they would open the way for a truly progressive economic agenda. Many Americans, including religious voters who see poverty as a compelling issue of conscience, desire such a platform.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/opinion/04wallis.html?

[cornermouse]

12. They do matter.

I'm just reminding people that we also matter. A fact that this thread appears to be disregarding completely. I suspect we're much closer to wearing those shoes (Africa's) than either of you appear to be aware of.

[Sapphire Blue]

15. Yes, we also matter, something that this thread is not disregarding.

Rather than arguing about whether Americans or Africans are of greater importance, I’ll present this scenario...

Imagine parents with three children... one by birth, two by adoption. One of the adopted children is a nephew by birth, the other unrelated. One child is dying of starvation, one is malnourished, and the third is healthy and well fed. How should the parents respond in caring for these three children... according to individual need or according to birth connection? Shouldn’t the parents use the family resources to care for all the children as needed?

Will we ever be a human family, using our resources to care for all of our children, all of our brothers and sisters, as needed?

[mom cat]

17. Could you format an action that could be taken....or provide a link to

one that is up and running? It is a good Idea, but an effective letter writing campaign needs to supply writers with
1. factual info that can be included in a letter
2. Legislator contact info
3. a link for petition signing.

There are a lot of crucial issues that require our response everyday. I am personally more inclined to respond when I am presented with something that is ready for action. Please work on this ...Thanks!

[cloudythescribbler]

18. Need for the action to have an ORGANIZATIONAL focus

The key to the politics of absolute poverty is that there is no massive citizens' organization mobilizing sentiment and concern about it. On issues of animals' rights and vegetarianism (perfectly worthy also) there is less urgent mass concern but it is MUCH better mobilized, so there is more activism and consciousness around those issues. That is the kind of POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONAL mobilization that EVERY letter should mention. Since the organization's efforts would be broader than only Niger, it could INCLUDE Niger, but focus generally on the global issue of absolute poverty, the need for and lack of adequate political mobilization, and the lack of such an effort stemming from Live 8 (or the money raised in LIVE AID, for that matter). It is crucial that those concerned about the issue mobilize EFFECTIVELY the sentiment that DOES exist about the issue. That must be one touchstone of any really meaningful letter etc that we send.

The letters could be addressed to the organizers of Live 8, to Members of the General Assembly, to NGOs working on the issue, to the Secretary General, to the Foreign Ministers AND heads of state of the G8, etc. It could focus on BOTH specific policy changes, using Niger as an example of changes needed, but also in each case focus on the need for political mobilization on the issue of the politics of absolute poverty to get these institutions moving.

I have written at length on the issue, as well as organized. See:

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/6/20/123736/665

for a lengthy discussion of the POLITICS of organizing around absolute poverty ("world hunger").