Page 779 – Toward Freedom

Behind Latin America’s Food Crisis

Laura Carlsen June 4, 2008 Laura Carlsen

Even a year ago, few people would have predicted that a global food crisis would make headlines as one of the major concerns for the future of the world. Yes, critics of agrofuels warned that food shortages and price hikes would result from the headlong rush to divert land from food to fuel production. And climate change experts predicted that global warming would hit small farmers-who even in today's world of industrialized agribusiness still produce much of what we eat-the hardest. Agricultural economists alerted the world to the dangers of leaving the food supply to a highly concentrated international market.

Rabindranath Tagore: Balancing the Local and the Universal

Rene Wadlow June 3, 2008 Rene Wadlow

Rabindranath Tagore

In a period of rapid change as we face today, it is often difficult to find the right balance between the cultural contributions and needs of the local, the national, and the universal. One way of finding this balance is to look at the life and work of others, who earlier confronted the same challenges. One such person was the poet, writer and cultural reformer Rabindranath Tagore.

Radical Clarity to the Concept of Real “Change”

Karl Kardy June 2, 2008 Karl Kardy

The American presidential election season has pundits and pollsters proclaiming "change" a primary factor in the minds of many voters. It's little wonder that this stark period - marked by the so-called "War on Terror," the extension of neoliberalism across the globe, and the urgency of global warming - has motivated such vague desires among the citizenry. Undefined, undifferentiated and ultimately relegated to mere platitudes, "change" here means little; it is cosmetic, commodified, and reinforces the status quo.

Profit Over Food: The Root Causes of the Global Food Crisis

Al Huebner May 29, 2008 Al Huebner

Food Aid Arrives in Haiti

The story of rising food prices around the world, and the hunger and unrest it is producing, has been widely reported in the mainstream media. Yet rarely is there any serious analysis to find the cause of the crisis. At best it's assumed, based on past experience, that the cause is temporary, the crisis can be eased by increasing food aid and by taking steps to restore production. However, the causes of the present crisis are not temporary.

Politics in Kenya: A Look at Prime Minister Raila Odinga

Tabitha Nderitu May 28, 2008 Tabitha Nderitu

Raila Odinga

Nairobi,

Kenya

-Supporters cast Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a noble warrior fighting for democracy, transparency and accountability. Opponents portray him as a desperate adversary who would stop at nothing to achieve his political ends. Odinga himself acknowledges he has been criticized for changing political parties at will, but maintains that he has never compromised his principles. "Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others change their principles for the sake of their party," he said, quoting Winston Churchill.

Zimbabwe in Context

Grace Kwinjeh May 27, 2008 Grace Kwinjeh

The post election crisis in Zimbabwe is a manifestation of much deeper, complex issues to do with global capitalism and its vampire-like tendencies. At the root of the problems is the failure of our nationalist governments to deal with these dimensions of the global crisis: food shortages and price hikes; oil speculation; financial meltdowns and higher interest rates. It is only by addressing these issues that we can meet the aspirations of the masses for freedom and decent lives.