Update from the farm

For those of you who rely solely on this blog for updates on my life, a lot has been happening that you probably don't know much about. After finishing my internship with Samaritan's Purse in Bolivia and spending a few months traveling around South America with friends and family, I have settled down in a small rural town in Michigan. I am currently completing an internship with Tillers International that trains people how to farm using draft animals and other rural developmental tools.

The following is a video of the two young oxen in my care. I should have had them pulling something of a medium weight so that they would learn how to pull as a team. Blue, Caesar and I are learning how to work together and it's taking quite a while to iron the wrinkles out...

Poor College Student, again

While most of my college friends approach their senior graduation from college, I am just starting my summer semester. It's fun being a student again while discovering a new (and exciting) world of economics. I decided that I need to learn about economics and am taking a summer course at the local community college.

It's obvious that my professor is quite the capitalist but I find this a good way to acquire a balanced view of the world. Besides, the capitalists are the folks who make the wealthiest country in the world float and I should try to understand what makes them tick.

Enough is Enough

I am currently reading a book titled Enough by authors Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman, which deals with the issues of hunger in developing (undeveloping?) countries, particularly Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, among others. Human greed is portrayed in vivid detail while this book walks the reader through some of the reasons behind global hunger. We have traditionally blamed famine on the weather and corrupt African political leaders who have not taken care of their people. These may well be factors of hunger, but there are larger powers behind the deaths of millions of people. What is most absurd to me is that rich countries refuse to lend money (as of when the book was written) to countries offering subsidies for agriculture (a Red....RUN!!!!). In turn these rich countries offer HUGE subsidies to their own farmers, driving down prices and making it impossible for farmers in poor countries to even make a living farming. It got so bad in the early 2000s that farmers would lose money by planting their own seeds. The United States and other countries with huge farming operations need international food aid as a place to dump their grain.

I am obviously extremely limited in being able to summarize a book in one paragraph. I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in learning about hunger and the ways that it has been brought about due to economics.