In its most simple form, a social contract is an agreement between the people in a society and the society that they are a part of, to provide an environment conductive to – at a minimum – survival.
This is a fundamental human expectation which exists within a 20 person tribe in the Amazon jungle, to a city populated by millions, and outward to a country populated by hundreds of millions.
Then there’s Somalia – a fractured state – where the social contract has been shredded by the elites, politicians, warring factions, and the political and functional ineptness of intervening outside agencies and governments.
Since certain Western governments seem to find it more politically appealing to blow the hell out of people, in support of oligarchs, rather than provide adequate assistance to those truly in need of survival intervention, the famine victims in Somalia are virtually on their own.
If you’ve read this far and you’re wondering why I would take a position on a food crisis in Africa, in a technical blog – here’s why.
First – the consensus of opinion I’m reading in popular media seems to be focused more on “here we go again”, and the usual – we need to stop giving taxpayer money to feed people in Africa who contribute to terrorism, piracy, environmental destruction and world overpopulation – rather than on a realistic humanitarian perspective.
Second – the following comment from regular reader “Hipockets”, whose concern for the innocent victims, in what is proving to be an escalating tragedy, is evident.
Bill, the following request is way, way, way off topic, but the famine in Kenya and Somalia is so severe that many families there are having to choose which of their children to feed, and which to bury.
There are many worthy causes that need our help, but I can think on nothing more important than helping starving children.
So please think about some way to tell your readers about how they can contribute funds to help these children.
Contributions can be made via the following websites:
http://www.usaid.gov/
and
http://www.unicefusa.org/
Admittedly, the World is in unprecedented turmoil. A time in which we’re faced with issues that appear to offer diminishing prospects of a satisfactory resolution. Even so, the very idea of not providing adequate assistance in order to prevent a generational tragedy in Somalia, is abhorrent to me.
I’m hopeful that you will join with me, Hipockets, and other concerned individuals, in offering what help you can to those in Somalia who are faced with circumstances – not of their own making – in which their survival is under attack.
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