The Fat Of The Land Is Sinking The Land

One third of the world's population goes to bed hungry. Drugs are saving the disease-prone, and many who have not considered the consequences are having large families, often without attending males and with increasing statistics on AIDS. Natural resources are exported or used for products that are exported, with the benefits going to non-residents, mostly corporations, mostly foreign. However, in the rest of the world, people are getting fat, disastrously fat.

Everywhere, we are urged to eat carbohydrates which turn to fat, or fried foods, or meat whose production involves great use of land, water and food. In short, we are all, worldwide, either starving or getting fat.

Even in rich countries, "health" services, meaning services for the sick and unhealthy, are stretched to limits and face impossible demands in the all-too-near future. It is clear that young fat kids are almost certain to become obese adults; fat adults represent increasing percentages of diabetic and coronary cases; and as the "baby boomers" become older, and ultimately old, numbers will soar. All this is for sure, and may be a lot worse than we think.

So, food industries with very efficient promotion through the media are, although maybe unintentionally, but hardly in ignorance, producing sickness and early death.

Yesterday, we killed off passenger pigeons and most species of bison. Today we are fattening ourselves for the kill, while starvation and AIDS stalk the less "fortunate". Individually, we may be intelligent, but collectively, this seems stupid.