Being eager to "save the planet" in its Copenhagen form is noble and necessary and all, but it remains more than a bit relevant to ask: who are you saving it for? The single most stunning piece of news this decade is, for me, that one billion people in the world are hungry. One billion, roughly one in six: think of your favorite five people in the world and, with yourself, one of them is hungry with little to hope for but still too weak to do anything else.
That the news came out halfway through 2009 only makes clear to what extent the situation has been building for years, if not decades. In Peace: A World History
That hunger should persist as a worldwide problem is as atrocious as state-sanctioned slavery lasting till the late 19th century, and in other forms today. As is well known, the world's hungry are kept that way for lack of proper distribution, not production. Americans, we found out recently, waste about forty percent of their high-calorie diets on average. That's enough for about half the world's hungry, with the rest coming from removing the red tape and skimming in food aid, and sustainable local farming. Easier said than done, of course, but worldwide hunger is worth more concerted effort and news coverage as a current event creating the absence of a future.
This decade's closing in two short weeks gives occaision to reflect upon it as well that which is about to open. In honor of this arbitrariness, One World, Many Peaces will run a four-part weekly series on Thursdays, "The Decade in Review," to offer provocative closing and opening. thoughts.
