vision2020
Re: Amazing website
Bill and Ken...thanks to both of you.
Life boat ethics can be a tough issue to sort out.
If we can feed hungry people,lets do it but in the long run it is more
important to help them feed themselves, in ways they can get a grip on and
in ways that the greedy don't as easily take advantage of.
Sometimes our offerings of technology are so new that it appeals to black
marketers and also so new no one is educated enough to use them anyway.
I gather that John Deere once sent a whole bunch of tractors to an area in
africa that was used to farming by hand. Small farmers were given incentives
to become more responsible for more ground and became indebted to long term
payments of the tractors, there was also a trade in program to gather their
old equipment for scrap.Soon after that the units ran down because they
didn't know how or couldn't afford the maintenance/parts (oil change..whats
that?). The poor farmers were left with a lot of land,without their old
equipment and to poor to buy enough seed to go back to the old way anyway.
And so here we all are.
Some day we'll get it right...keep pushing those buttons if they will truly
help for now.
Whats the most valuable natural resource on the Palouse?....DIRT...and from
that food...lets not take it for granted.
David Sarff
>From: Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>
>To: "bill london" <bill_london@hotmail.com>, "Moscow Vision 2020"
><vision2020@moscow.com>
>Subject: Re: Amazing website
>Date: Tue, 30 Nov 99 00:06:10 -0800
>
> >the HUNGER SITE.
>Such compassion is a great asset to world stability and I support the
>connection. At the same time, my own observations, work experience and
>knowledge about what goes on in many countries having severe malnutrition
>problems tell me that political and economic reforms are desperately
>needed in most nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America (e.g., Rio de
>Janeiro's awful slums) in order to redress the balance of income
>distribution which is one major cause of hunger. We can provide "food
>baskets" forever and never remove the cause of their suffering. The
>problem also extends to international trade where: 1) we extract
>resources and goods produced by 'slave' labor, resell them in US and
>Europe at 5-10 times original cost. 2) corrupt importers "re-export"
>goods purchased thru foreign aid at large personal profits (a former
>Nigerian Minister of Public Health systematically confiscated medical
>equipment and sold them on the world market to line his and his
>associates' pockets -- same thing in Kenya, where street people told me
>all about Pres. Moi's personal empire of wealth). 3) foreign aid
>sometimes forestalls needed agrarian reforms that could solve the food
>production and supply problems there. Ho, hum! What else is new?
>
>------------------------
>William K. Medlin
>Dev-plan associates
>930 Kenneth Street
>Moscow ID 83843
>208/892-0148
>dev-plan@moscow.com
>
>
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