Digital Overcast

World Hunger Essay: Solution To A Global Problem

Kien Lai | AG 101 | 05/16/02 | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Topic: What should the U.S government do about the world hunger problem?

According to our online required readings (article II.D1) 13 to 18 million people die as a result of hunger and starvation each year. This overwhelming statistic clearly demonstrates the magnitude of this overshadowing problem. The question, however, is what the U.S. government should do about it. Being the world's leading economic power, does the United States have a moral obligation to the starving people around the world? Being a capitalistic country, I would have to say yes, although not with moral intent because the U.S. would never do anything without some sort of direct long-term benefit.

What the U.S. government should not do is provide food as a solution to the problem because this would only exacerbate the dilemma. By providing food as goodwill and foreign aid, these starving countries will only become more dependant on these types of rations. As a result, the U.S. taxpayer will ultimately carry the financial burden in feeding these starving countries, which many of us would question the validity of such charity if continued over a duration of time.

Instead of giving away food to these starving counties that would only provide a temporary solution, the U.S. government should halt all foreign aid and ask for the starving county's full corporation in modernizing its government. Based on class discussions and notes, social structure is one of the main contributors that inhibit prosperity and productivity. For this reason alone justifies the restructuring of the country's government for the greater good of the people it serves.

Once the starving country agrees to the assistance from the U.S. government and fully cooperates, the U.S. government should work on implementing the necessary foundation for business to take place. Such underpinnings encompass education, telecommunications, transportation, healthcare, central banking, and security to name a few. The U.S. government benefits by having private U.S. companies construct these large projects and as an incentive, the foreign government will grant the participating U.S. companies an exclusive monopoly for a fixed period of forty years or however long it would take for the companies to recuperate their investment and a modest profit. However, such monopolies would only be allowed in specific commercial and industrial sectors outlined by both governments. The purpose of non-applicable monopolies would be to encourage foreign companies and investors to enter, thus creating jobs for the local people.

To ensure that other developed foreign countries take interest, the U.S. government should continue to work with the starving country in eliminating trade barriers by heavily cutting importing and exporting tariffs as well as other forms of taxes that would inhibit trade. The overall goal would be to place the majority of the population in the middle class. The objective would be to provide the local population with jobs so that they will be able to support themselves and slowly increase their standard of living. Over time, as living conditions improve, the growth of the population will hopefully stabilize.