There many forms of poverty that corrupts a nation. Among the widely recognize form of poverty is the scarcity of food. In an article written by Dr. Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, he narrates that the poverty is a man-made catastrophe . This statement is quite intriguing and at the same time rational in a sense that while there seemingly exist the availability of resources for mass enjoyment, it is surprising that there are a lot people suffering from an impoverish state. The author made a good analysis of the status of many countries belonging the Third World nation. These include countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. While many could argue that it is but natural for Africa to suffer the scarcity of food considering the limited agricultural resources that can be sustained in the country, it is still without an excuse because Africa is still abundant in other resources like manpower. On the other hand, Asia who is believed to benefit from the most arable land and the abundant irrigation resource still suffers a great deal from poverty. In essence, there seems to be the inconsistency in argument that hunger results from a limited agricultural capacity which generally contributes to poverty.
Given this inconsistency, Dr. Chowdhuri asserts that the scarcity of food has very little to do with the availability of natural resources to support the argument that poverty is wholly agricultural in nature. In fact, the author made mention that food is a political commodity that requires political treatment. In essence, the author was arguing that the government can rightfully intervene in the issues and affairs concerning the availability and distribution of food given that it is within the mandate of the government. In argument proposed by German Socialist Katharina Focke, there is a surplus in production that every manufacturer makes as part of a business practice to ensure profitability and for the purpose of inventory. However, amidst the surplus the status quo of scarcity prevails. Hence, the government needs political will to be able to balance and distribute this surplus without generally putting private businesses in a state of bankruptcy.
The proposal seems like an implementation of Communism but the author simply argues that it is in the government’s approach as to how they can prevent themselves from falling into that pit while still ensuring that they can exercise their political mandate to distribute and allocate the available resources to their constituents. The problem with the contemporary society according to the author is that capitalism and consumerism has dominated the social system. This shows a great disregard for securing equilibrium within the society and prioritizing the need for self-aggrandizement.
The article gave a very compelling analysis of poverty as a result of hunger. The use of analogy comparing two regions—Asia and Africa, who shows a different appropriation of resources but remains to have the same incidence of poverty and hunger documented within the nations under its territory was highly effective. It was able to show that it has nothing to do with resources but more on the political will to enforce every citizen to take active responsibility to alleviate the effect of poverty. The author simply argues that to resolve the issue on world hunger, a stronger and more determined political structure must be founded. It is a first step towards managing the effects of poverty.
Works Cited
Chowdhuri, Satyabrata Rai. "Hunger in the Third World." 11 June 2012. Third World Network Website. Web. 15 October 2014.
