Food - The Fuel of Revolution
February 28, 2014 | Maryann Gearhart
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The earth is literally shaking as earthquakes are dramatically increasing across the globe.
But it’s not just the earth that is rumbling; nations are increasingly experiencing the writhing discomfort of political upheaval and the common denominator is—food.
The complex system of the global food supply is the key that opens the exits as well as the entrance doors for political regimes around the world.
Food shortages spark the fires of protest such the one that resulted in the ouster of Tunisia’s President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and eventually spread like wildfire to Egypt, Libya and Yemen in 2011, and now seem to be engulfing a new list of nations that were predicted by complex systems theorist, Yaneer Bar-Yam of New England Complex Systems Institute, as vulnerable to revolution due to rising food prices.
Brian Merchant reported that Bar-Yam charted the rise in the FAO food price index—a measure the UN uses to map the cost of food over time and found that whenever it rose above 210, riots broke out worldwide. It happened in 2008 after the economic collapse and again in 2011, when a Tunisian street vendor who could no longer feed his family set himself on fire in protest.”
Bar-Yam’s list of nations deemed destined to riots and unrest due to food shortages were
South Africa; Haiti; Argentina; Egypt; Tunisia; Brazil; Turkey; Colombia; Libya; Sweden; India; China; Bulgaria; Chile; Syria; Thailand; Bangladesh; Bahrain; Ukraine; Venezuela; Bosnia.
We have already seen the Arab Spring countries experience riot and overthrow, but now we see mounting turmoil in the other nations on the list.
“There are certainly many other factors fueling mass protests, but hunger---or the desperation caused by its looming specter—is often the tipping point. …Venezuela—where students have taken to the streets and protests have left citizens dead—food prices at a staggering 18-year high,” says Merchant.
But it’s not just food shortages that promote unrest.
Factors which affect food at its source serve as a volatile contender in the ring of political jousting.
In Thailand, amid anti-government protests, the lamenting voice of the farmer can be heard. According to Orthai Sriring and Amy Sawitta Lefevre, “…the Election Commission approved a 712 million Baht ($21.87 million) fund to be drawn from the central budget for rice farmers, many of whom have been waiting for payment and some of whom have committed suicide in desperation.”
“But the sum is a small fraction of the estimated 130 billion baht her [Prime Minister Yingluch Shinawatra] government needs to pay to nearly a million farmers.”
“If we don’t get our money this week, we’ll return to remind the prime minister about it,” said one of the farmers’ leaders after they protested outside an air force base where Yingluck was holding a cabinet meeting.
Americans are used to hearing about food shortages abroad, but what about here, at home?
The following excerpt from a recent Prophecy News Watch article gives a glimpsing view of upcoming trouble.
“The state of California, which produces the most vegetables in the U.S, is going through its worst drought ever, with 91.6% of the state experiencing severe to exceptional drought. 2013 was its worst year ever and there has been no improvement so far in 2014. According to CNBC, it is being projected that California farmers are going to let half a million acres of farmland sit idle this year because of the crippling drought. Much of the western U.S. has been exceedingly dry for an extended period of time, and this is hurting huge numbers of farmers and ranchers all the way from Texas to the west coast.” Read more here
Food production woes coupled with the American farmers’ tremendous dependence on farm subsidies paid at “around $20 billion per year,” according to Wikipedia, from a budget of which is projected to be deficient of $514 billion in fiscal year 2014, the curious question has to be asked, “How long can Americans expect the fuel to remain protected from the spark?”
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/February28/281.html#riecPfwXBfElK8E7.99
February 28, 2014 | Maryann Gearhart
Share this article
The earth is literally shaking as earthquakes are dramatically increasing across the globe.
But it’s not just the earth that is rumbling; nations are increasingly experiencing the writhing discomfort of political upheaval and the common denominator is—food.
The complex system of the global food supply is the key that opens the exits as well as the entrance doors for political regimes around the world.
Food shortages spark the fires of protest such the one that resulted in the ouster of Tunisia’s President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and eventually spread like wildfire to Egypt, Libya and Yemen in 2011, and now seem to be engulfing a new list of nations that were predicted by complex systems theorist, Yaneer Bar-Yam of New England Complex Systems Institute, as vulnerable to revolution due to rising food prices.
Brian Merchant reported that Bar-Yam charted the rise in the FAO food price index—a measure the UN uses to map the cost of food over time and found that whenever it rose above 210, riots broke out worldwide. It happened in 2008 after the economic collapse and again in 2011, when a Tunisian street vendor who could no longer feed his family set himself on fire in protest.”
Bar-Yam’s list of nations deemed destined to riots and unrest due to food shortages were
South Africa; Haiti; Argentina; Egypt; Tunisia; Brazil; Turkey; Colombia; Libya; Sweden; India; China; Bulgaria; Chile; Syria; Thailand; Bangladesh; Bahrain; Ukraine; Venezuela; Bosnia.
We have already seen the Arab Spring countries experience riot and overthrow, but now we see mounting turmoil in the other nations on the list.
“There are certainly many other factors fueling mass protests, but hunger---or the desperation caused by its looming specter—is often the tipping point. …Venezuela—where students have taken to the streets and protests have left citizens dead—food prices at a staggering 18-year high,” says Merchant.
But it’s not just food shortages that promote unrest.
Factors which affect food at its source serve as a volatile contender in the ring of political jousting.
In Thailand, amid anti-government protests, the lamenting voice of the farmer can be heard. According to Orthai Sriring and Amy Sawitta Lefevre, “…the Election Commission approved a 712 million Baht ($21.87 million) fund to be drawn from the central budget for rice farmers, many of whom have been waiting for payment and some of whom have committed suicide in desperation.”
“But the sum is a small fraction of the estimated 130 billion baht her [Prime Minister Yingluch Shinawatra] government needs to pay to nearly a million farmers.”
“If we don’t get our money this week, we’ll return to remind the prime minister about it,” said one of the farmers’ leaders after they protested outside an air force base where Yingluck was holding a cabinet meeting.
Americans are used to hearing about food shortages abroad, but what about here, at home?
The following excerpt from a recent Prophecy News Watch article gives a glimpsing view of upcoming trouble.
“The state of California, which produces the most vegetables in the U.S, is going through its worst drought ever, with 91.6% of the state experiencing severe to exceptional drought. 2013 was its worst year ever and there has been no improvement so far in 2014. According to CNBC, it is being projected that California farmers are going to let half a million acres of farmland sit idle this year because of the crippling drought. Much of the western U.S. has been exceedingly dry for an extended period of time, and this is hurting huge numbers of farmers and ranchers all the way from Texas to the west coast.” Read more here
Food production woes coupled with the American farmers’ tremendous dependence on farm subsidies paid at “around $20 billion per year,” according to Wikipedia, from a budget of which is projected to be deficient of $514 billion in fiscal year 2014, the curious question has to be asked, “How long can Americans expect the fuel to remain protected from the spark?”
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/February28/281.html#riecPfwXBfElK8E7.99
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