A month has passed since the start of the war in Ukraine, and economists say the world is facing unprecedented food shortages. The conflict reduces exports of essential goods from Russia and Ukraine – wheat, corn and sunflower oil. At the same time, the prices of seedlings and transportation have risen, and they have greatly affected world agricultural production.
The FAO estimates that food prices could jump significantly in the coming months and increase global food insecurity, creating crisis and turmoil.
If the predictions come true, the world, like in the last century, will plunge into famine. And humanity knows from the past that such a strong blow can lead to tensions and acts of extremism. Can the situation come to this? It all depends on us.
Will falling supply really lead the world to a real famine? With a 20% reduction in the product that reaches the average person’s table, it will definitely be less palatable and tasty, but the person will not die of hunger. There are people who, because of layoffs and various reasons, lose much more than twenty percent, and still live.
In general, there is no problem with food shortages these days. Our problem is social, not technical. If the world had approached the crisis in the right way, perhaps we would not be in danger of starvation.
We could discuss a sober and healthy approach: how much do we have and how much do we need? Who’s short and who’s redundant? If someone in the family stops working, we all think about the new situation and calculate the household accordingly. First, making sure that the kids will have everything they need. Then we take into account the needs of teenagers. And the strongest adults can reduce their intake a bit. It’s okay, you can get through a rough patch and go back to thriving again.
That is, our problem is that the world is not structured like a family, where there is a relationship of intimacy and mutual caring. There is no interconnection in this world, no one thinks of another, and so there will be places where the grain will burn for nothing, and places where there will be real hunger.
The fact that supply problems are causing a domino chain that is knocking every country down the road proves that everyone in the world needs to get their act together. The situation is inclusive and affects everyone, so you have to decide what to do by sharing. This is the main thing that depends on us: to think as one family.
Our connection can heal anything, make up for any deficiency. Within the human bond is reflected the power of one nature, the higher power of the bond of the equal and the different, the equality between contradictions. This spiritual power is revealed when we communicate and become like Nature.
The danger of world hunger shows how alienated we are from this natural force. It helps us observe reality, hold on to it, and learn which laws of the one world we exist in, and which laws our one world moves under. And learn to live and behave according to the laws of nature.
The state of emergency warned of by economists is indeed a serious warning coming from nature. Connect or it’s over. Fight alienation from your neighbor, against the selfishness that makes us feel that everyone is divided, ask to feel that human civilization is at one with nature, and win. Then there will be no hunger, and great abundance will pour into the world.
