this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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Showerthoughts
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Counter thought: food banks shouldnt be necessary because society should protect its weakest from starvation in an orderly manner and not by volunteer work and donations.
The people I have helped with at food banks were not at risk of literal starving they were at risk of eating the same 3 things all the time. Most of us take it for granted having a mind that works like this. Go buy ingredients and follow a recipe, try new ones, some diversity in diet. Instead of just buying endless jars of peanutbutter and crackers.
My local one is working on more mealkit type solutions. Here is everything you need and a paper recipe.
Kinda makes me sad. More food stamp money is probably not going to fix that problem, not sure what can be done. Maybe social workers setting up basic cooking classes?
"[Solution] shouldn't exist because we should just have a perfect world instead."
Every grocery store running a food bank and distributing food to the hungry is equally unrealistic. If we're throwing out absurd solutions to horrifying problems, it would be better to address the root cause rather than the symptoms.
Having proper social care is not part of a perfect world. it is also quite easily achievable. The US is deliberately starving its poor and adressinf this as the main issue is more effective than creating laws to regularize food banks.
I always wondered about this after an experiment we did in school many many years ago where we were asked how far back we had to go to be able to prevent society's current problems, everything from poverty to class warfare to polarized politics. It always seemed to boil down to an overpopulation problem. Granted, it was just a school experiment, but basically Thanos was right since you can't really double resources but you can have too many people.
People were poorer when they were less of us.
I always am wary of a solution to every problem or a cause behind all effects because I don't see it ever being the case. Civilization is emergent not intentional, it would be shocking if it didn't she problems.