{"id":2060,"date":"2011-05-25T16:17:37","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T21:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/?p=2060"},"modified":"2011-05-25T16:17:37","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T21:17:37","slug":"turning-yachts-to-bread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/turning-yachts-to-bread\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning yachts to bread"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On Thursday mornings I often meet with the men in my church for breakfast and a Bible study.\u00a0 It is a time of good fun and healthy conversation.\u00a0 Last week one of the regulars forwarded this post by Tony Schwartz<\/a> on the Harvard Business Review blog page.\u00a0 The upshot of the argument is that if the richest 1% in the United States gave more of their money (see the post for the dollar and percentage increments) to aid instead of, say, purchasing a 200 million dollar yacht, we would exceed 115-189 billion dollars that the UN estimates is needed annually to meet the Millennium Development Goals<\/a>.\u00a0 The post elicited a good deal of reaction and spirited debate, much of which was in disagreement with the gist of Schwartz\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n

I can sympathize with the gut level injustice of so much money spent on something that feels so unnecessary while millions die each year (to say nothing of those who continue to live in devastating poverty) because they lack of basic necessities like food and water.\u00a0 That said, I must say that I too find the argument (and Peter Singer\u2019s thinking<\/a> as well) not altogether compelling.\u00a0 I wish that ending poverty were as simple as taking a yacht and turning it into food.<\/p>\n

I offer the following thoughts in outline.\u00a0 If something grabs your interest, feel free to comment.\u00a0 If there is a bullet you would like to see further developed, let me know!<\/p>\n