the response was a combination of impotent sputtering and backpedaling
npr.org/…/how-6-billion-from-elon-musk-could-feed…
Literally an NPR article on the subject, outlining how that sum could solve world hunger.
In response to Musk’s request for details, Beasley (head of the World Food Program) tweeted him the math: “$.43 x 42,000,000 x 365 days = $6.6 billion.”
That’s how much it would cost to provide one meal a day for one year to this population in need, says WFP. The agency would deliver this “meal” in the form of food aid, cash or vouchers.
The food aid, says WFP, consists of commodities such as rice, maize and high-energy biscuits.
Then Musk claimed to have donated $5.7B several weeks later. However, this money was not directed to the WFP
Musk estimated in December that he would pay “over $11 billion” in 2021 taxes. A large donation could help to offset that price tag.
So it looks like Musk was looking for a large tax write-off, not a cure-all for world hunger. And when he found a viable place to dump his money, he took it. This wasn’t about food aid at all. It was about Musk figuring out what he could buy for the price of a tax cut.
Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
It’s about what that amount of money would go towards: education, healthcare, housing, food security, environmental protection, wildlife preservation, social programs, etc.
We can solve these problems with targeted funding that gets to the root of the problem. For example, rather than simply distributing food, you educate and equip communities with the ability to grow their own. Even low-cost water purification in some parts of the world can make a massive difference to literally millions of people.
Lifting people out of poverty, even by having a universal basic income, would solve a ton of issues facing those populations: low education, poor health, food security, programs for kids/teens, more equitable transportation, etc.
We’re not talking about sending off grands for a few thousand dollars or even several million. We would have TRILLIONS to use towards implementing solutions. And that money would continue to come, because these rich assholes collect and hoard money faster than anyone can spend it.
damnedfurry@lemmy.world 2 months ago
We literally have enough food to feed everyone. But there are people who will prevent everyone from being fed because having control over the food gives them power (e.g. warlords in Africa).
The bottom line is, you can’t solve world hunger until you solve world peace, and the fact is that you can’t buy peace.
Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Food distribution (and the costs associated with it) have always been the root cause of food poverty, but that’s only if you stay in such a rigid, master/slave dynamic.
Empowering communities to be self-sufficient in their food production and energy production can very effectively end the supply problem.
Peace can only come when there is no need to be greedy, especially among a handful of billionaires.
When people’s needs are met, and there’s no reward to take more than you could ever need, there’s peace. When you have fewer people with more power than they should ever have, there’s next to no chance for war, either.
In an equitable society, peace is pretty much the default. Using money wisely can give you a societal return on investment that can come through no other means; it pays for resources, education, and technology to get us there.
But at the very least, use the current state of the world and the recent examples of wealth hoarding as an example of how NOT to do things.
damnedfurry@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The implication that all conflict originates in resource scarcity is incredibly naive.
You subtly dropped your mask, there, but I know enough to recognize your ideology. We’re just a few exchanges from “all struggles are power struggles where one is the oppressor and the other is the oppressed, and will inevitably culminate in violence”.
Save it for someone more gullible. I’m exiting this thread.
Bottom line: billionaires are not the cause of poverty. Ironically, the increase in billionaires is correlated with a decrease in poverty. You would not be any less poor if Amazon never existed.