aquascoot wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 2:27pm:


Well, if you're suffering from the consequences of obesity, then I'd argue that you're probably not doing too badly financially.

Auggie wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 6:16pm:




In his 1968 book The Population Bomb, Stanford University biologist and “overpopulation” alarmist Paul Ehrlich famously predicted that “The battle to feed all of humanity is over … hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.” Between 1968 and 2017, the world’s population increased by 113 percent from 3.55 billion to 7.55 billion. Over the same time period, the average global food supply per person per day rose from 2,334 calories to 2,962 – a 27 percent increase.




Even in sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s poorest region, food supply per person per day rose from 1,852 in 1961 to 2,449 in 2017 – a 32 percent increase. According to one report, “There is a silent epidemic sweeping through Africa and it’s worse than HIV. Out of the 20 fastest rising countries with obesity, nearly half of them are in Africa. The health burden on the continent is rising.”

According to the most recent estimates of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food supply in only two out of 173 countries surveyed stood below 2,000 calories per person per day in 2017 – the Central African Republic (1,758) and Madagascar (1,903). In Afghanistan it stood at 2,000. Everywhere else, it stood above 2,000 calories. Belgium and the United States topped the survey with 3,768 and 3,766 calories respectively.



Unfortunately, not everyone seems to be aware of the data. Consider the recent exchange between the immensely popular U.S. comedian Bill Maher who hosts Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO and U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill who represents New Jersey’s 11th district.



BM: What is your minimum wage in New Jersey?
MS: We’re slowly getting it up to fifteen [U.S. dollars per hour].
BM: Still not enough to live.
MS: Well, this is the thing … nobody thinks to themselves “gosh, one day if I work hard, I can get a minimum wage job and I’m gonna be set” right? That’s not speaking to the middle class … I don’t think.
BM: And the other people don’t count? The people below the middle class?
MS: But the people below the middle class want to be in the middle class. So, the people below the middle class also say, “no, we want a minimum wage, we’re voting for it…”
BM: But in the meantime, don’t they want to eat?
MS: They want to do it, they want to eat, but that’s not what’s gonna move the hearts and minds of America because what everybody wants is a good, secure middle-class job with benefits, right? So, you don’t say, “oh, you can have a minimum wage and I don’t know how you’re gonna pay for healthcare, I don’t know how you’re gonna retire, I don’t know how you’re gonna take maternity leave if anyone gets sick…”
BM: Didn’t FDR say, “People don’t eat in the long run – they eat every day.”

Maher is a notoriously tough nut to crack, since his line of argument, like the weather, changes all the time. Just last month, for example, he complained about Americans being fat and dying from obesity in record numbers. Still, let’s take his argument seriously and look at food supply relative to the wages of American workers earning the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, though almost 90 percent of U.S. minimum wage workers earn more than that. In fact, the effective minimum wage in the United States came to almost $12 an hour in 2019.



An entire Costco rotisserie chicken, which contains 1,037 calories, costs $4.99. So, almost all Americans can access over 2,000 calories for less than on hour of labor. Instead of toiling an entire day to feed themselves, Americans spend most of their time at work earning money for mortgages, health insurance, education, leisure, etc.



I suspect that with increased wealth and access to information, Africans, like most people, will eventually find a happy medium between food consumption and healthy living. In the meantime, we cannot but conclude that the battle to feed all of humanity is indeed over and humanity has won.

Auggie wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 11:25am:




Bernie Sanders is 78 years old -
after an 8 year term he'd be 86 years old!

He's too old - he should be in a retirement home.

Bobby. wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 7:43pm:


I'd certainly prefer him as President to you.

What does that say about you given that your probably several decades younger than Bernie??

aquascoot wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 1:14pm:


Indeed. They'd prefer to work for $8 an hour and maybe, one day, if they work hard enough and put aside a few billion, be able to afford a gold toilet.

You?

Bobby. wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 7:43pm:


Mahatir in Malaysia just stood down at 94, and he's still good.

Bernie's got more chutzpah than Biden, but you're right. He's a mere four years older than Trump.

President Elect, The Mechanic wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 7:54pm:


Crazy Bernie calls Trump a RACIST! 

You know when a candidate has no effective policies when they call their opposition a RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBE...........

So how's Bernie going to pay for all the free stuff he's promising? He'll have to increase taxation, maybe 95% taxation - that'll do it. But the people will stop working as there is no incentive or go OS. And the great experiment that is the USA will finish.

Karnal wrote on Feb 24^th, 2020 at 7:51pm:



Yeah I think that is probably the legitimate pathway forward

If you're at the bottom than work hard for your $8 an hour
Hit the books in the library and one day like the many Chinese and Indian teenagers in Australia you'll become a highly paid medical specialist lawyer or account ant.

So good on you Carmel for recognising that this is the narrow road to success

If you are at the bottom
Living a life of pure coping
If you just wake up in the morning and need a cigarette to cope with the stress
Then you need alcohol after work to cope with the stress
Then you have to play computer games or watch pornography to cope with the stress
And if a socialist like Bernie says
You're fine the way you are
The government just needs to give you more cash so you can continue following the path of least resistance
Well that's just not fruitful
Bernie is virtually insuring that no one will ever end up with a gold toilet

Failure is the default
Garbage is the norm

Mr Trump failed at many businesses
Failure is the default
But he kept striving elbows deep in the mud

How many businesses has Bernie run
I would take a guess it is probably 0
Bernie is too cowardly to even fail
He has not even taken one step along the narrow road to success
How on earth can such a person be a role model for the United states of America
Whose sole reason for being
Is to allow people to courageously start businesses and climb the ladder