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n the recent Forum of Davos, attended by 2,500 business leaders, politicians, heads of state and academics from more than 100 countries, expressed what most of the planet’s population is now suffering: inflation, rising energy prices; food shortages, especially in Africa; Climate change is no longer denied by the far-right rulers and the best paid experts by those who cause it with their productive or extractive systems. The United States and European countries are suffering from an increase in the prices of fundamental products that they have not had in decades. Also in Davos it was announced that our continent will enter a stage of political and social instability.
The world upside down: The United States does not have enough of the industrial milk to feed babies and infants under 12 months. The most common ingredients are purified cow’s milk, casein, vegetable oils, lactose, and a mix of vitamins and minerals. There are formulas that use soy instead of cow’s milk.
In military planes they bring it from Europe. Abbott Nutrition, the largest plant producing the food in Michigan, closed last February due to safety concerns. Industrialized milk for babies is produced especially by transnationals, such as Nestlé and Gerber, criticized for making mothers dependent on this product from the moment they give birth. The industrial formula simulates breast milk (which is the best) as its total or partial substitute.
It is estimated that in two months the situation will end when the Abbott Nutrition plant reopens. And to top it off, the ultra-conservative governor of Texas reproached babies in detention centers for receiving industrialized milk when there is a shortage in the country. In Mexico, the presentation of powdered milk registers its maximum increase since 2017. It will cost more in the coming months. In addition, a study carried out by the Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office on twenty products sold as milk found that they are not what is said on the packaging.
The world upside down: the world’s main stock markets had black days in 2020-21 due to fears linked to SARS-CoV-2 and its omicron variant. This year they fall due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the prices of oil and gas increased due to the restrictions on the importation of these two energy sources from Russia.
The prices of raw materials such as aluminum and steel rise. Instead, the list of Forbes shows that the wealthiest people on the planet increased their fortunes scandalously. Likewise the profits of the international banking system. And that of Mexican banking, most of which belongs to foreign groups.
The world upside down: Ukraine will lose half of its wheat harvest this year and its ability to store it due to the destructive invasion it suffers. And although that invasion also affects the Russian agricultural sector, President Putin assures that this year his nation will harvest 130 million tons of grain. A figure never reached.
Whether or not Putin’s forecast is true, the sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine affect African countries, previously hit by the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis. The increase in inflation occurs especially in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone. The entire African continent will experience a decline in economic growth and a lack of staple foods that came from the Ukraine and Russia. In some countries, up to 80 percent of the wheat came from those two nations. This will cause a wave of social unrest and famine in various regions.
The world upside down: on Monday I commented on the serious problem that the United States has due to the uncontrolled sale and widespread use of weapons by the population. Also the massacres that this causes in schools. A day later, in one of Uvalde, Texas, a young man murdered 19 children and two teachers. Around the same time, the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) held its annual convention in Houston. And with a special guest: Donald Trump, ultra defender of the NRA.
Trump assured that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun
. But a citizen replied that you can’t pray and send condolences one day and then go defend the guns the next
.
Yes, the world upside down.
