Hunger

According to the "news", and I use the term loosely, hunger in America has increased 50% in the last year. Yeah, I know - more BS from the liberals who want an excuse to take our money and redistribute it to those who won't go out and earn their own.

But I am not knocking that some folks may, indeed, go hungry. What I AM saying is that it is completely unnecessary - if a person in America goes hungry, it is by choice. Let me explain.

In 1989 and 1990 I was homeless. For awhile, I lived in the woods. Yet, in spite of being penniless, I did not starve. Certainly, I missed some meals, but that does not constitute "hunger". You see, in third world countries hunger is when you haven't had much sustenance in days, with little else in sight. In America, hunger is when you are late for work and miss breakfast.

In every community throughout America there are soup kitchens, public food panties and church pantries that all give out food. And then there are food stamps, WIC and assorted other programs. So, no matter what your circumstances, there is no need of anyone actually going HUNGRY in America.

But what really gets my goat are the people who claim to be hungry, living in poverty. As an example, I was on an Internet board that was discussing hunger in America. A Whopping 21% of them claimed to be without enough food to feed their poor little urchins. And so I noted - and mentioned - that it was strange they cannot afford to feed their kids, but they can afford a computer plus $40 a month for Internet service so they could waste hours on end posting on these blog sites, instead of getting out there to earn money. Can't feed their kids, but by God they can spend a small fortune playing on the Internet!

And while I was the manager of New Hampshire's largest homeless shelter and food pantry in Manchester, it never ceased to amaze me that the same faces I saw in the food bank line I would also see in Pizza parlors, movie theaters and even at concerts. Can't feed their kids, but they sure can afford to go to a Kenny Rogers concert!

As a side note, it is nature for everything that lives to go hungry every so often. Famines, droughts, winters...hunger is supposed to be a part of life. Today in America, we are "fortunate" that we have been able to avoid nature. An abundance of everything, not minutes away. But hunger is a necessary part of survival. Hunger drives us. Periodic hunger makes us stronger, tougher. Hunger, known as "fasting", used to be a required tradition in most cultures, because it detoxifies the body, to help maintain health.

More folks should go "hungry" more often. I don't mean starve. I mean go without any substantial food for a day or so each month, so the body can "unclog". Some religions require one day of complete fasting each week. It is difficult to find any obese people among them, and they seem trim and fit.

Imagine a fat 20-something laying around playing computer games. Suddenly, the world is hit with a global disaster, making food scarce. Now, as a rule, there would be one of three outcomes for that fellow:

1) He could just give up, and therefore die

2) He could be unqualified in the game of "survival of the fittest" and go down struggling, and still die.

3) OR, he would struggle and survive. He would fight. He would scrounge for food, and battle for it, if necessary. He would know hunger, and it would drive him. And in short order, that fat kid would be a lean, mean fighting machine.

As a modern American with little direct knowledge of real hunger, he is unfit. As a hungry man seeking food, he becomes fit. Hunger makes that happen.

Many of those who claim "hunger" say they are obese and unhealthy because they are forced to eat "cheap foods" like fast food. Pardon me, but fast foods are not cheap - if you made the same thing at home, it would cost half as much and be twice as healthy. More important, good, nutritious foods often cost the least. Take eggs, for example. One of the most nutritious foods, they are high in protein, which means an ounce of eggs fills you up as much as two ounces of carbohydrates, such as bread, chips etc. And you can get a dozen eggs for less than the cost of a Big Mac.

So I don't buy into the "I'm obese because I'm poor" crap, either. They're obese because they don't WANT to eat right. They prefer the junk, because it is tastier. They just don't have the will to eat right.

Hunger in America? No, not real hunger. In fact, America needs a lot more hunger if we are to be fit enough to survive in the world of Natural Selection. If history shows us little else, it shows that cultures that become fat and happy end up going down the tubes. The Greek Empire, The Egyptian Empire. The Roman Empire. Then the British Empire. In France, the common folks rebelled and beheaded every one of the rich, fat elites of the aristocracy. Russia did the same.

Wake up, America, and feel the hunger...

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