[vtsnowedin]

A cynic would think that they have chosen to starve the Arab world out by cutting off their food supply just as they starved out the plains Indians by wiping out the buffalo.

Destabilizing friendly regimes like Mubarak, reducing global economic activity, throwing sparks into the worlds oil producing regions?

Governments like stability. People like stability. There is a time and a place for instability but I do not see now and the Arab world as being that time and place for US interests. It would be some plot for the Bush administration to convince congress to pass laws that would 'starve' countries in decades to come and only with the consent of other future administrations.

Occams razor says there is a shed load of votes to be had bunging swing state farmers fat pay cheques.

I didn't say that I was cynical. I think we can let go of G Bush as a villain now. After all there have been two Congresses and four years of opposite party administration so if he had done something bad they have had plenty of time to repeal it. If it's still in place it is because those in charge today want it to be. Some farmers and big Agribusiness firms are doing alright with high grain prices but those farm state votes didn't carry the last election and high food prices are beginning to bite into the pockets of blue state voters. They might have some instability here if it gets much worse.

[Rod_Cloutier]

You predicted right- store shelves bare in Atlanta tonight:

http://www.infowars.com/panicked-shoppe ... pocalypse/

Atlanta residents ransacked neighborhood grocery stores in frantic preparation for their second major snowstorm of the year, waging fights over food items and leaving destruction and empty shelves in their wake, a stunning precursor to what will ensue once a major crisis impacts the U.S.

After three inches of snow shut the city down two weeks ago, causing major havoc and leaving miles of cars stranded on immobile roadways, the residents of Atlanta took heed and shopped early.

According to people who Tweeted photos of barren store shelves, residents went crazy over essentials like milk, water and eggs, and in some cases “people were fighting. Yes fighting,” alleges one user.

[radon1]

The article basically says that an advanced analysis of global unrest links it to...... (drum roll please) food prices.

But it misses our old friend peaking round the corner.... oil depletion.

Looks like a good correlation to S&P 500 over the period:

[sparky]

.
The food price crisis is not only related to famine condition

Food in the rich countries is 15% of the budget , power/gasoline is another big ticket

for poor countries food is 60% of the budget , power/gasoline is a much smaller part

when food price double , the poor riot ,the people in rich countries spend less

P.S there were food riot in Chicago in the 1870ies
there was a subscription by the rich to buy cannon for the police department
there also was some food riot in Richmond during the war between the States

[Newfie]

.
The food price crisis is not only related to famine condition

Food in the rich countries is 15% of the budget , power/gasoline is another big ticket

for poor countries food is 60% of the budget , power/gasoline is a much smaller part

when food price double , the poor riot ,the people in rich countries spend less

P.S there were food riot in Chicago in the 1870ies
there was a subscription by the rich to buy cannon for the police department
there also was some food riot in Richmond during the war between the States

What is the food budget of the lowest 40% of Americans? With and without food stamps and other assistance?

I think that is a very critical factoid. My belief is that if we were to end/curtail these subsidies all hell would break loose, soon.

[Newfie]

These guys were hungry and broke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

Bonus Army

Bonus Army marchers (left) confront the police.
Date July 28, 1932

Location Washington D.C., United States
Result: Bonus Army dispersed, demands rejected
Belligerents: Bonus Army United States United States Army
Commanders and leaders
Walter W. Waters
William Hushka †
Eric Carlson † Herbert Hoover
Douglas MacArthur
George S. Patton

Strength
17,000 veterans
26,000 others 500 infantry
500 cavalry
6 Renault FT tanks
800 police

Casualties and losses
4 dead; 1,017 injured At least 69 police injured

The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. Its organizers called it the Bonus Expeditionary Force to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Force, while the media called it the Bonus March. It was led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant.
Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Each service certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier's promised payment plus compound interest. The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their certificates.

Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most popular military figures of the time, visited their camp to back the effort and encourage them.[1] On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. Veterans were also shot dead at other locations during the demonstration. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

A second, smaller Bonus March in 1933 at the start of the Roosevelt Administration was defused in May with an offer of jobs for the Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Hunt, Virginia, which most of the group accepted. Those who chose not to work for the CCC by the May 22 deadline were given transportation home.[2] In 1936, Congress overrode President Franklin D. Roosevelt's veto and paid the veterans their bonus years early.

[Newfie]

Quick stat, in the US 47,000,000 are enrolled in the SNAP program getting on average $133/month.

That's about 15% of our population.

It's not that we can't produce the food. It is whether or not we care to SHARE the food.

Ibon, that 47 million folks on SNAP represent a pretty good sized third world nation. IOW, we have a bifucated society where we have some folks living in third world standards.

OR, if not 3rd world standards by global definitions, then by OUR experience.

[PrestonSturges]

Some of the first anti-British riots were the Puritans in the Boston area. This wasn't even about their current politics but because the Puritans were the losing side of the English Civil War. The monarchy was restored to much rejoicing under Charles II (IIRC) because the UK was sick to death of Cromwell and the literally Taliban like rule of the Puritans. So the Puritans (who were regarded as the Worlds Biggest Assholes) fled to America so they could oppress people on a new continent. These were the people who banned Christmas because Christmas wasn't conservative enough for them.

So the first anti-British riots in America were actually a grudge match for the Puritans over losing the English Civil War part two.

[Strummer]

We will riot because we will be stuck in suburban consuming ghettos with little to do, and only junk food to eat.

The population density of suburbs is too low for rioting. That's actually one of the main reasons why you have so few riots and protests on various issues in the US, compared to other countries. It's technically impossible for a suburban sprawl population to stage a large riot/protest.

[Pops]

Poor people are way too profitable to let riot.

Payday loans earn someone 400% interest, "Buy Here Pay Here" car lots charge 20-30%, check cashers get up to 5% and who knows what rent to own places net, the list goes on and on. And talk about profit, Big Food has spent millions to prevent limits being placed on what you can buy with your SNAP card.

[Newfie]

Poor people are way too profitable to let riot.

Payday loans earn someone 400% interest, "Buy Here Pay Here" car lots charge 20-30%, check cashers get up to 5% and who knows what rent to own places net, the list goes on and on. And talk about profit, Big Food has spent millions to prevent limits being placed on what you can buy with your SNAP card.

Here's hoping you are right. The alternative ain't pretty.

I'm old enough to remember the '60's race riots, and the Cuban missile crisis. Both scared the stuff outa me.

[Lore]

I predict instances of mass confusion and a global Chinese fire drill in spots and places. That may all resemble a riot, but most of the huddled masses will go quietly into the night.

[ralfy]

Related:

"5 Reasons Why American Riots Will Be The Worst In The World"

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/5 ... d_08102011

Probably not riots but people attacking each other as the JIT system falls apart.

A repost of the news shared earlier:

"The Cause Of Riots And The Price of Food"

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/42 ... e-of-food/