Elon Musk bought Twitter on Oct. 27 for $44 billion. According to the World Food Programme, it’ll take $40 billion a year to end world hunger by 2030. Musk could have sent money to help starving people around the world, but instead, he bought Twitter and continued to try to profit from it. Keep in mind that Musk is already worth $197.4 billion and could very well stay rich while helping people in need. In 2021, Musk tweeted: “If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.” Guess what he didn’t follow through with? In fact, the reason why philanthropist and country icon Dolly Parton isn’t a billionaire is because she gives money away to different charities. Be like her, not Elon Musk.
World hunger has been a prevalent issue for many years. There have been measures taken to try to prevent it, such as local campaigns like Fill the Dome, and international organizations like Feed My Starving Children that help kids in third-world countries. Although this helps, it’s not making enough of a difference.
We’re definitely making strides toward feeding the people that need to be fed, but the reality is that it will take a lot of money to really end world hunger. $40 billion a year, to be exact; a price the richest people in the world could easily pay.
On a more local scale, countless politicians have avoided the issue. I don’t remember the last time anyone in power talked about feeding people in need. Right now, people are too concerned about the economy or if they’ll lose their rights, which is extremely important as well, but there are just more pressing issues that have been ignored and pushed to the side for so many years. The news doesn’t seem worried about this either, but they’re pretty interested in what Musk is doing with Twitter.
Well, why is it ignored? Why isn’t this an issue that politicians try to figure out? Two answers come to mind: either they don’t have a solution and don’t want to come up with one, or they don’t like homeless people. It’s a broad statement; you’re sure not every rich person hates people who struggle financially. To that, I would argue there are countless instances in which someone financially stable would say they just need to “get a job” and “save money.” So many homeless people are affected by the trauma, mental illness, and prejudice that run rampant in our country. So many homeless people don’t have the resources to get a job or won’t get hired because they don’t have the right clothes or even a place to shower. So many homeless people have no way to climb up the ladder that is capitalism because they are extremely physically or mentally disadvantaged.
So, why is this important to me? My best friend and favorite person in the whole world is chronically ill with fibromyalgia, so much so that they can’t attend school. Not once have they been to a full year of school, so they have been homeschooled their entire life. They’ve experienced poverty and have thankfully since recovered, but they spend most of their time working. Fibromyalgia is a nervous system disorder in which one feels constant chronic pain. Specifically for them, this makes it hard to handle stress and to go through long days at work, and therefore it is extremely difficult for them to thrive in a capitalist society. As someone that loves them, I want the best for them and I worry a lot about how they’re going to survive. Are they supposed to “work harder” through the pain?
Regardless of my personal relationships, this is an extremely important issue that needs to be fixed rather than ignored. At the point this country is in, the best way to help is to volunteer if you’re able and donate food to your local food pantry or food raisers. If you want to take it a step further, you could email our senators, representatives, and lawmakers. There’s a lot to be done about this issue but there is such little awareness spread about it compared to other issues in our country.