Capitalism and kwashiorkor
Children starve as Argentine crisis deepens
By Leslie Feinberg
Undeniably, production under the profit lash of capitalism
creates a glittering mountain of wealth. But under the cruel
rule of capital, the class that created this social surplus
finds itself hungry amidst abundance.
Shockingly painful proof of this can be found today in
Argentina, where actual starvation has emerged in a country
that has more cattle than people, and at a time when
authorities in Buenos Aires boast of a record grain
harvest.
In recent months, 19 Argentinean children have died of an
ailment previously unknown in this part of the world:
kwashiorkor--malnutrition caused by severe protein
deficiency.
Why couldn't these children eat some of this great quantity
of beef and grain? For the same reason that people with
growling bellies stare at heaps of food in supermarkets but do
not dare to eat it. The herds and harvests are privately owned
and only sold when a profit can be reaped.
Argentina had the highest per capita income in Latin America
just a few years ago, before a tidal wave of economic crisis
swept the continent, engulfing the economies of Brazil and
Colombia, as well--South America's three largest. They are
reverberating from the world capitalist crisis.
The boom-and-bust cycles of capitalist overproduction,
particularly in the auto and steel industries, hit Argentina
hard.
But the crisis was deepened by the international banking
empire and the heavy debt burden they place on non-platinum
members of the imperialist club. Under the whip of the
International Monetary Fund, Argentina was "restructured," in
the way the Middle East faces restructuring--or more
accurately, re-colonization.
These austerity demands resulted in selling off the public
sector, throwing millions out of work and slashing social
programs.
It still wasn't enough belt-tightening for the IMF, which
punitively cut off the country's economic line. Fearing a run
on currency, in December 2001 the Argentine government froze
bank accounts and defaulted on most of its debt.
Since then, the economy has shriveled by 12 percent. The
official unemployment rate is 25 percent--unions report it is
closer to 50 percent.
The official poverty rate has doubled. According to January
statistics, at least 60 percent of the population of 37 million
live in poverty--defined as income of less than $220 a month
for a family of four.
More than one-quarter of the population is living on less
than $100 a month for a family of four.
Official statistics record a 41-percent spike in inflation
last year, largely because the peso lost three quarters of its
value against the imperialist dollar. But the price tag on a
basic basket of food products soared by 75 percent.
That's why kwashiorkor is claiming lives in a developed
country. People are trying to trade electronic goods for
potatoes.
The U.S. and British rulers offer no salvation for the
working and middles classes of Argentina. It's their imperious
monetary demands that helped pull the economy under. And
they've never forgiven Argentina for trying to wrest its own
Malvinas Islands back from British claim.
Only the people have the power to transform the economy by
taking over the wealth they have created. They are rising up in
rebellion and have forced two governments out of power since
December 2001.
Reprinted from the March 20, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe to WW by Email: wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Donate to
support pro-labor, anti-war news.
Email
this article
Printable
page