The Starving Time
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The Starving Time
The full scope of the disaster that is unfolding continues to be deliberately hidden from us...
We were told that Joe Biden in the White House meant a return to normal. CNN assured us an adult was now in charge and celebrated Donald Trump’s departure. That rhetoric has largely died away amidst the wreckage of the Biden administration, and yet the full scope of the disaster that is unfolding continues to be deliberately hidden from us.
We are not simply suffering some setbacks. We are in free fall and headed for catastrophe. Nowhere is that more evident than in regard to food supplies. Biden’s war on fossil fuels, his out-of-control spending, and his reaction to the war in Ukraine have resulted in dramatic increases in food prices and will in the near term mean much less food produced everywhere in the world. We are not just looking at higher prices. We are looking at food shortages and hunger.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged the severity of the crisis in a recent statement.
"Initial estimates suggest that at least 10 million people could be pushed into poverty just by higher food prices."
“Dramatic situation continues to deteriorate.”
"We are faced with a widening global food crisis."
Then of course she went on to blame this all on the Russians. So much for adult behavior.
Prices are rising first and foremost because the cost of producing food and getting it to consumers has risen dramatically. This is a direct product of Joe Biden’s decision to wage war on American oil and gas. The annual inflation rate in the U.S. rose to 8.5% in March of 2022, the highest since December 1981. Energy prices increased 32%. Gasoline increased 48%. Fuel oil rose 70.1 %. Food prices jumped 8.8% – the most since May 1981.
Inflation is not confined to the United States. Germany is reporting the highest inflation in generations. Prices in German retail chains including grocery stores have jumped 25-50% this month alone. This inflationary spike began well before the Russians invaded Ukraine.
It’s not just energy prices, though. The confrontation with Russia over Ukraine has meant the end of fertilizer exports from Russia. Many nations including our own are dependent on these supplies and are now left scrambling as planting season begins. In China, huge numbers of farmers are simply not planting at all. That means no harvest in the fall.
Huge swaths of Ukrainian farmland are not being planted as well due to the war. That means nations dependent on Ukrainian corn and wheat will be hard-pressed to feed their populations as current stockpiles dwindle and fresh supplies cannot be found. Those nations that can buy wheat and corn will pay much more for it.
The nation of Sri Lanka offers a stark warning to those who think a lack of fertilizer is a minor thing. The nation just went through an experiment in which it tried to abandon fertilizer and “go green.” The results were catastrophic.
Foreign Policy reported that “Against claims that organic methods can produce comparable yields to conventional farming, domestic rice production fell 20 percent in just the first six months. Sri Lanka, long self-sufficient in rice production, has been forced to import $450 million worth of rice even as domestic prices for this staple of the national diet surged by around 50 percent. The ban also devastated the nation’s tea crop, its primary export, and source of foreign exchange.”
FP continued: “Human costs have been even greater. Prior to the pandemic’s outbreak, the country had proudly achieved upper-middle-income status. Today, half a million people have sunk back into poverty.”
Already industry analysts in the United States are predicting a long list of items, which they expect to be in short supply in America’s grocery stores this year.”
- Meat
- Dairy
- Eggs
- Fruits and vegetables
- Canned food
- Imported food
- Pet food
- Bottled water and soda
- Toilet paper, paper towels, and other paper goods
- Pasta
- Liquor
If you are playing along at home you will have already understood that basically, everything will be in short supply. Shelves will be bare. You won’t be paying more for something. You will be doing without.
Speaking after meetings in Europe recently, Joe Biden acknowledged that there would be food shortages and they would be “real.” He then had the opportunity to announce what he was going to do about it. He could have taken steps to stimulate domestic oil and natural gas production to bring down transportation costs, the cost of running farm equipment, and producing fertilizer domestically. He could have announced cuts to government spending to limit inflation. He could have taken the lead to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, ending the war in Ukraine and ameliorating all the negative impacts of that conflict on the world.
Biden, of course, did none of these things. He blamed everything on Russia and then walked away.
No one is at the helm. We are headed into a very difficult period. We are headed into the starving time.
The Starving Time
The Holodomor (courtesy of Stalin). Mao's famine(s). Whoever is running the faux-President Biden is executing from a well-established Communist playbook.