1 child every 10 seconds

What really gets me is seeing the headlines with famously rich people at the BAFTAs and then news about war torn countries and starvation all at once. It's disgusting.

I agree it's incredibly sad, but the solution seems impossible. First World countries keep giving money, which ends up in the pockets of corrupt leaders, gives them more money to buy arms/fund armies to oppress people. What's the solution? We do what we did in Iraq and invade to try to free people from the corrupt government, and kills many many people in the process, and actually make things worse?

We can't solve this, but we can contribute on a small individual level - have you thought about volunteering in one if countries which you feel particularly strongly about? I did ( in Nepal, as a health professional, training their health professionals to provide high quality care to children with disabilities), and the effect is exponential. Giving money doesn't always reach the people most in need (although I do sponsor a child via Mary's Meals), but give you time, your passion and your skill and it will make a difference

Other countries have been sending generous aid to Africa for decades. None of it has made any difference, or at least not the difference we want to see. You’ll have to petition their leaders rather than ours 🤷🏼‍♀️

Here's a starter on philanthropy and why it's not what it seems

There are more philanthropists than ever before. Each year they give tens of billions to charitable causes. So how come inequality keeps rising?

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/08/how-philanthropy-benefits-the-super-rich

You do realise that the majority of the money that is given to charity is siphoned to feed the greed of the CEO’s and their annual bonuses? The pittance by comparison that’s left is often used to have to bribe drug barons and other gangs that have control of the areas to get them to allow aid through. You think your donations are making a difference but sadly they’re a drop in ocean to what’s actually needed. This is why a lot of people who are able to don’t, and that’s not the majority of the population. There are so many starving and homeless children here that need taking care of as well. Most people are fighting an uphill battle just to feed and house their own children. If moral superiority such as yours could feed the world, no child would be starving. There’s a difference between not caring and realising that the average person can’t change the will of the people who hold all of the cards. Your ignorance and lack of education shines through your post by the way - it just makes you look foolish as opposed to caring.

I care, but I can't fix it. What would you have us do?

Hah @BurbageBrook you should look into the whole "philanthropist" thing, in the vast majority of cases its nothing of the sort.

The TL:DR is that most of it helps nobody, the rules only require a tiny percentage of the foundation money to do so. Single digit percentage on memory. It ends up being a tax efficient thing to do, creating a vehicle for welding personnel influence and power for personal gain 🤷‍♂️ The article I read was a real eye opener!

@Scalottia (and anyone else who knows)

Is it true though that no one should ever have 3+ children?

As I understood it it wasn't every country contributing to overpopulation and the issue arises when it's poorer countries having more kids and rich countries having fewer - as in a few generations there will be fewer people earning enough to send aid.

Surely we want to encourage more tax payers to be born in wealthy countries?

I will also add because sometimes our individual contributions feel useless.

I use a paper straw while companies pump and dump shit in the ocean and the rich use private jets like taxis.

I understand OP. I donate to several charities monthly but there's only so much we can do as individuals. I do look at the billionaires of the world and think that they could be doing so much more. Bill Gates is probably an exception, as he's donated a huge amount.

Perhaps ask the questions what happens to all the foreign aid?

I agree, it is a desperately sad situation and I didn't realise it was as high as that! Those poor children.

I don't know what the solution is though due to the corruption of governments and some aid organisations.

The factors that are affecting Somalia particularly are:

• drought (climate change)
• crop failures (see above)
• pests (locusts)
• conflict / civil war between the govt / US and the Islamic State militias - the government is not actually in control of large swathes of the country and obviously this has huge logistical repercussions.
• huge numbers of displaced people (see: conflict and drought)
• import restrictions, meaning price of food is higher

This is notwithstanding the wider economic impacts of COVID-19, which are still being felt around the world.

The solution really is not as simple as Jeff Bezos bunging them a couple of billion.

My news feed today -
Dozens shot dead in Papua new guinea ambush.
Torrential rain kills dozens in Bolivia.
Despair in Ukraine front line towns.
"Without painkillers we leave patients to scream for hours"
Gaza likened to holocaust.

Tell me what we're supposed to do.

They can't particularly, though.

In many of these regions, the leaders are not helping their own people, they are exploiting them in one way or another. They have authoritarian and corrupt political systems where an elite dominate.

What are governments and aid agencies going to do about this? They can try and apply some pressure but mostly it is not very effective.

Take out the political leaders? Ethically questionable in many ways, and almost always not very effective. In fact often leading to even worse people taking over.

In general a fairly stable economy is needed to prevent this kind of mass starvation, depending on influxes of aid is never going to really solve the issue. Solutions need to be largely domestic. But much of Africa is hobbled economically due to over-regulation and corruption, as well as war and tribal conflict.

It's difficult, but I don't think outside aid has ever really resulted in a lasting, stable way out of these kinds of problems. And while I don't think I would be happy with the results of not helping, I also have a suspicion that the kind of outside aid that comes from the west can create a situation which ultimately props up the political regimes that are keeping the situation so dire.

You may think that's a cruel horrible way to think, op, but I think insisting on measures that make us in the west feel better and more virtuous, if they are actually exacerbating the underlying problems, is pretty selfish too.

Exactly. I actually don't understand why people still insist on having 3-4 children, or more. I see it on here all them time - posts like 'should I have a third child, a fourth?' No, you shouldn't. We really don't need so many humans! That goes for everyone everywhere, regardless of which country they live in. Stop having so many kids!

Unfortunately they can't, despite this sort of thing being oft-repeated.

These famines are not caused solely by lack of wealth, or corruption, or poor harvests, or overpopulation, or over zealous exports etc. There are complex and multi-faceted issues, not all of which can be solved by spending money.

I am going to be really brutal and portably shot down (rightly so).

I think a lot of people find coping hard... so caring about everything is impossible.

It's the same for climate change - it's just too big to put on peoples plates.

oh that told us then, didn't it.

What do you want from a) this thread and b) world governments / NGOs?

I would prefer that nobody died unnecessarily (starvation, war, senseless murder, accident) and i would prefer that everyone can live their best lives.

My circle of things i care about centres on my DCs, widens to my DH and my parents & siblings, widens to my more distant relations and friends, to people in my community that i live in, country, etc etc.

I pay my taxes in the hope that my government won't squander them (!) and i donate to organisations that either catch my eye (something i care about) or there is a specific appeal in reaction to a war/natural disaster.

But do i sit at home wailing and gnashing my teeth because there is famine in Sudan? Frankly, no. Why would i?

And how would they do that exactly?

Well people like Jeff Bezos could end this problem with no consequence to themselves. They actively choose not to, which in my eyes is manslaughter.

We never cared. Not for long. Thats the problem.

Every now and then something big happens, and we all get upset about it, sign some petitions, post on instagram, until we move onto the next thing.

Also because cognitive dissonance.

And because selfish. There was a thread here the other week about the horrendous working conditions women face to produce flowers to be shipped to the UK, especially for valentines day. There was a fucking pile on that people were still going to buy flowers, because fuck those women, I deserve my shit roses from Tesco from my husband.

Ultimately, these countries need to do more for their own countries. The amount of money and resources that are sent to these counties is huge. It is corruption in these Govs that are causing this.