Over what I believe I can call my "long" life, (83, in a couple of weeks), I have heard and seen all the political parties draw up plans for the future, lay out their illusions of that better world - - - tomorrow, we sacrifice our today for the imaginary, unknown, pie-in-the-sky. We are to offer up our today and lay it at the altar of posterity. Through all that time the ordinary people have lived in the world of "pleasure postponed" while our lords and masters have lived the in the world of "pleasure now". Over the years the political ballerinas have promised this and that, a wonderful tomorrow,- - - if you will just knuckle down for one last sacrifice, then we can enter that utopia, I'm still waiting.
Some 25 years or so ago, I wrote this little poem, I would like you to read it, then tell me, what has changed. It may fluctuate from year to year but the horror and cruel injustice remains.
- 6.3 million children under age five died in 2013, nearly 17,000 every day. The risk of a child dying before completing five years of age is highest in Africa (90 per 1000 live births), about 7 times higher than in Europe (12 per 1000 live births).
- Approximately 3.1 million children die from hunger each year. Poor nutrition caused nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five in 2011.
- Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year. Undernutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. The estimated proportions of deaths in which undernutrition is an underlying cause are roughly similar for diarrhea (61%), malaria (57%), pneumonia (52%), and measles (45%) Malnutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as the diseases that cause diarrhea, by reducing the body’s ability to convert food into usable nutrients.
- 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone, which greatly impacts their ability to learn.
All this when we know their is enough food to feed everybody on the planet, it is our man made system of capitalist greed and inequality that is responsible, and as long as we accept this, we are complicit.
How much longer will we accept their lying promises, how much longer will we wait for that prosperous tomorrow, how much longer will we accept their cruel, vicious, deliberate illusions?
Eighteen Hungry Children
Eighteen hungry children die
every minute of every day
eighteen of tomorrow’s people
cruelly thrown away.
When pandering to a fashion
gratifying our greed,
think, theirs is no desire
but a basic need.
Envisage a familiar face
a child that calls your name,
try to be the parent
try to place the blame.
Eighteen hungry children die
every minute of every day,
eighteen little faces
that never learnt to play.
Walk past your local school
listen to the shrill,
stand and count to sixty
imagine hunger start to kill.
Fingers must be pointed
at decisions made on high,
questions must be asked
loudly asked by you and I.
Eighteen hungry children die
every minute of every day,
eighteen precious lives
the claws of hunger slay.
WHY?
