Famine in Third World States - Essay Example

But the countries of Africa are still dying of hunger. Why is that The main myth is that there is insufficient amount of foodstuffs produced in the country. But the fact is that the planet produces enough food to provide every individual with 3,500 calories every day. The problem is that many people are too poor to buy food, though even the poorest countries possess sufficient agricultural lands, and even export their products. In 1974 an outstanding philosopher Robert Nozick has created his theory of 'entitlement', which was outlined in his work 'Anarchy, state, utopia'.

The main point of the theory is that the rights of an individual are sacred, and alienation of the property must be voluntary. He has acknowledged the necessity of the 'minimal state' which would deprive individuals the right of violence, but at the same time it would protect them from tyranny. Nozick was sure that any attempt to regulate the process of the property transfers is doomed to fail. The state must not dictate any redistribution of wealth, which can be presented in tax system. Nozick has absolutely rejected any idea of a 'social state'.

It has always been easy to make nature guilty in people suffering from famine. But it should be remembered that only the poorest layers of the society suffer from hunger, though the nature is the same for everyone. The roots of the problem lie in politics, which makes effectiveness the corner-stone, and not sympathy. People are deprived of the right to earn enough money, they are made starve, thus becoming ready to give away their labor force for the minimal payment. The growth of population is also considered a problem.

But it is interesting that active growth of population has never been a problem to developing countries. Such problem appears only in those countries where ineffective political system deprives people equal access to education, medicine, workplaces and social guarantees. According to Nozick, all actions of individuals must be voluntary, and here we see an absolutely different situation: the politics of the starving countries is consciously directed at depriving people of all possible rights. In the countries of the third world land belongs to large owners, who often appear to be ineffective in terms of business.

The world experience shows, that small farmers receive 4-5 times larger crops than big farmers do. But in poor countries the inner policy is directed at concentrating all the land in the hand of few owners, thus giving people no right for equal access to land and its products. Nozick was the supporter of the idea that all individuals must have free access to all resources and he also bore an idea of the free market with minimal limitations. But I should say, that to my mind, the idea of free market have never solved the problem of famine.

The formula 'free market is good, government is bad' has never helped with eliminating famine in third world states. In every state government is occupied with the redistribution of resources. In this problem authorities must help consumers, especially the poorest ones, with the help of tax preferences, grants, and credits. In such situation the state and the population supplement each other thus creating an