Moral Dilemma: Coronavirus vs. Possible Famines, UN forecasts

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Victoria33

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Okay, I get it, stay home and save lives. That’s what I’ve largely done, social distancing, masks, a number of safeguards and precautions… but what about the bigger picture? Below, I quote one article and post a few other links because this has been in the news but has not really been discussed much.

So, the simple essence of the question, what if economies crash and people go hungry? How bad could it get? How is the balancing act?

Now, it’s nothing but a bit of a possibility but COVID-19 also, was largely just a possibility as well in mid-January (the 16th) when it was striking mainly in Asia but not elsewhere that much.

Food Shortages Because of Lockdown Might Kill More People Than Coronavirus​

About 300,000 people could die of starvation every day, according to the executive director of the UN World Food Programme.​

An impending “hunger pandemic” will bring “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II,” World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley warned the United Nations Security Council.

The number of starving people could exceed the number of deaths from coronaviruses at 300,000 per day within three months. “I must warn you that if we don’t prepare and act now — to secure access, avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade — we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months,” Beasley, who recently recovered from COVID-19, said.
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https://panampost.com/mamela-fiallo/2020/04/27/food-shortages-lockdown-covid-19/


UN: COVID Pandemic May Trigger Global Famine of ‘Biblical Proportions’​

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Honestly? I think this issue is to complex and nuanced to denounce one side or the other as “anti-life.” There are going to be winners and losers, and we must act with extreme caution to avoid sick or hungry people.
 
blackforest said:
Honestly? I think this issue is to complex and nuanced to denounce one side or the other as “anti-life.” There are going to be winners and losers, and we must act with extreme caution to avoid sick or hungry people.
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I did not see someone denounce anyone as anti-life. . . .

There is another thread on here talking about a pro-life response to opening the economy:
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Pro life reponse to opening economy Moral Theology
Yes, commercial op ed style news (basically if it is on cable TV 24/7) they need grabby headlines. This article is speculation, not a report. I personally know exactly two people who have lost the paying job since this began, both are independent contractors. Everyone else I know (online or in real life) is working from home, not working but still being paid or simply still working same as before. Businesses here all have “now hiring” signs, they cannot get people to apply! You know people…
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This is very related to that, one could almost make your comments on that one as well.

I do think there is a moral imperative to this, we could face some real crises, perhaps even bigger than the COVID-19 to have such a dismissive attitude to what I said “honestly”. There are real concerns.
 
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Victoria33 said:
I did not see someone denounce anyone as anti-life. “Honestly”? Wow, we are full of compliments for others.
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That wasn’t meant as a slam, insult, or flame-fanning attempt. I’ll delete it if you doubt my intent. I just see a lot of people on both sides trying to frame this as a “life issue” when it’s more complex than that.
 
And again, the very true possibility of widespread famine is what this thread is about, it could conceivably easily dwarf the death toll of coronavirus which is a crisis of utmost importance too.

We could need to say, transport large amounts of food to afflicted areas. It could really be troublesome.

I did take the “pro-life” part out of the title and call it a “moral dilemma” which may be more apt… but it seemed to somewhat go along with that other thread I thought.
 
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Where covid-19 is not a material problem, I don’t see any reason why small towns in California, New York, Michigan, etc. should be shut down. There are only a few areas in the country where any legitimate argument could be made to shut down (and the effectiveness of shutdowns is debatable).
Before closing things down, we need to have compassion for people whose lives would be destroyed if they lost their jobs or businesses.
Serious breaks in the food distribution chain would cause a food shortage and hunger.
 
1cthlctrth said:
Where covid-19 is not a material problem, I don’t see any reason why small towns in California, New York, Michigan, etc. should be shut down.
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They weren’t shut down. My uncle has a farm in Michigan and he and his workers got slips saying they were essential workers.
 
That’s good to hear.

I’d like to see the politicians and journalists, whose paychecks are unaffected by the Governors’ business shutdowns, try to go without eating or driving for a while. Then, they might realize where they get their food and other goods from. And they might not be so eager to cheer on the shutdowns.
 
Gah! Yes, I worded that terribly. Thanks for catching it! (Forehead slap!)

We need to avoid creating sick and hungry people. Hungry people themselves we Catholics are commanded to feed. Sick people we are commanded to visit.
 
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StudentMI said:
They weren’t shut down. My uncle has a farm in Michigan and he and his workers got slips saying they were essential workers.
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I don’t think that’s where the shortages will arise, though. Ranchers’ cattle will still eat grass whether the rancher gets sick for awhile or not. (and ranchers’ exposure isn’t very much) The rancher typically has relatives who can manage for him for awhile. The grain will still grow, and even if the farmer himself gets sick there are others who can harvest grain and do.

If there are shortages coming in this country, it’s going to be in the processing. It won’t be too serious in rural areas because rural people have local resources for food processing and know how to prepare food “from scratch”. City people are reliant on the big producers, and that means factories. If too many of those close down due to some of the workers getting Covid, there will be shortages in the cities, and no question about it.

In non first-world countries? I’m not sure Covid will affect food supplies very much because those supplies are far less industrialized and centralized.
 

“The coronavirus pandemic has brought hunger to millions of people around the world. National lockdowns and social distancing measures are drying up work and incomes, and are likely to disrupt agricultural production and supply routes — leaving millions to worry how they will get enough to eat,” The New York Times reported this week. “The coronavirus has sometimes been called an equalizer because it has sickened both rich and poor, but when it comes to food, the commonality ends. It is poor people, including large segments of poorer nations, who are now going hungry and facing the prospect of starving.”
 
Thank you for your post. I had not remembered how large some of the third world cities are and how many people have left subsistence farming for work in those cities. I think distribution of food sure could be a problem in those cities. The illness itself could turn out to be a much bigger problem than here as well.
 
I think in many third world countries its already noticeable, criminological situation there is on the rise.
More prosperous people can survive from former savings.
Some were saving for a flat, some planned to buy a car, so now these people use those money to survive,but those who had no savings are in despair.
There is no much hope for state support there.
Also, I think in authoritarian countries, with ethnic minorities, media do not says the truth about the situation, because of the fears of national uprising of the ethnic groups and impoverished local population.
 
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Ridgerunner said:
If there are shortages coming in this country, it’s going to be in the processing
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distribution, as well–this is already happening for, at least, chickens and milk, which are getting slaughtered and dumped because there is no place to put them.

my daughter’s father in law picked up a couple of pigs to slaughter himself, I understand—but I sure don’t have the facilities to do that (no doubt to my wife’s eternal relief! :crazy_face:)
 
There have been articles on suicides too… I’m watching this situation as well. I did not see anything conclusive enough to want to post something on this. Perhaps someone in the forum already did.
 
I haven’t read a coronoavirus story in at least 6 weeks. These articles are just doom and gloom guesswork and catchy headlines.
 
and add poverty to the list.

And reports already of cancers not getting diagnosed from people not coming in.

It’s not cut and dry either direction: it’s not a question of will people die for any given choice, but how many die with each course.

And, of course, the scary possibility that we can’t do anything but briefly slow it, and that every effort and the consequences thereof has been a waste.

Not knowing the unknown, we just have to make estimates and accept the consequences of the choices we make from the estimates.

There’s a reason there haven’t been many notable outbreaks of bubonic plague in the west these last few centuries–the 14th century selected the European population for those with resistance!
 
The Arkansas Governor said something about how we may be dealing with this as in the way we use seat belts in cars. It doesn’t mean it will protect you from injuries or deaths in a car accident but that the seat belts help.

I’ve had a pretty open mind on all of this. We just need to deal with this intelligently and of course, with caution.

And, it’s not Christian to want revenge… but China must be responded to in some sort of just fashion imho. And that’s obvious to me.
 
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