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Hello, and welcome to my website. RANT is basically where I babble on about whatever I want - mostly punk rock, diy culture, anarcho-socialism, and general politics. There are no chats, no guestbooks, no comments sections - just RANTS.

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RANT #2

food is a right pt. 1: capitalism has failed

Though the right to food has been acknowledged since the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has been reiterated in many forms by many organizations since, the fact is that hundreds of millions face chronic undernourishment today. While figures have gone down over the years, the fact of the matter is that the situation remains intenible - especially as climate change dramatically shifts agricultural zones in the most vulnerable ecosystems and capitalism continues to create a strict dichotomy wherein food is either a product or charity.

When looking at the various definitions of the right to food over the years, three main elements come into focus: availability, adequacy, and accessibility.

Availability refers to food being produced in a way that is both sufficient that all are fed and sustainable for future generations. Adequacy refers to the variety of food being offered - that it is nutritious (dietary adequacy) and that it allows for individuals to tend to their cultural and individual needs when it comes to food. Accessibility refers to food being both physically and economically accessible to all.

And yet, despite these resolutions and definitions, you don't have to be a genius to see how capitalism is fundamentally incompatible with the idea of food as a right - and it is indeed a right. Corporate agriculture focuses on cash crops that sell across the globe rather than on staple crops needed at home. Corporate agriculture buys up large swathes of land in the most agriculturally desirable areas to do so, ensuring that there are no alternatives. When inflation hits, millions already struggling to feed themselves struggle even more, leading to undernourishment out of necessity. The idea of food as a product in fundamentally incompatible with the idea of food as a right - that food should be available, adequate, and accessible to all - and under capitalism the idea that some things should be outside of its system is looked down on as mooching or charity.

Capitalism has failed to make a world in which the right to food is respected anywhere. Something's got to give. The only way to ensure that any physical rights are respected is to find a system beyond selling and buying, beyond products, beyond money, beyond capitalism.

Stay tuned for Food is a Right Pt. 2: A Socialized System.