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There is a battle now going on for bread. Crowds of hungry people are banging on the doors of government offices complaining about high bread prices. The store shelves are packed with bread, but if it costs one dollar to produce a loaf it is impossible to sell it for less. Fortunately most people can afford to buy a loaf of bread despite its high costs. They are the winners in the battle to eat. It is the poor that will go hungry. Politicians are powerless to solve the problem.

Producers of grain are willing to pay high oil prices as long as they can pass off their higher operating costs to grain buyers. There are more than a billion people in china that are now eating grain fed beef and they can afford its higher prices. They are the worlds biggest consumers of beef and their appetite is still growing. Higher grain prices are accepted by most of the world. It is only the poor that have any problem. They need affordable food prices and they are ready to riot unless the prices of grain and bread is lowered.

Governments have gone through a period of transition in the last twenty years. They now rely on market forces to increase their standard of living. The old socialist cry of power to the people and down with the capitalists has proven to be a fantasy. Without an infusion of capital by investors a country will remain in poverty. If a government excessively taxed the rich to feed the poor the rich would invest their money elsewhere and the poor would become poorer.

The United Nations Is coming to the rescue. They are talking about getting money from wealthy countries and distributing bags of rice and grain to the poor. That effort might be better than to let the poor remain hungry, but it won’t solve the problem. Grains will continue to be expensive to produce as long as oil costs are high. And it looks like oil prices will keep climbing. Grain producers will pass off their added costs to a wealthy grain hungry world, and everybody will be happy except the poor.

There is nothing worse than living in poverty. The only way to better yourself is by getting a good paying job. But most third world countries have high unemployment rates and are on the verge of bankruptcy. The unfortunate that live under those conditions can only hope to somehow find work. The poor and hungry will always be with us. But it is still the responsibility of the worlds wealthiest nations to help them by donating as much food as possible.
melpol