The year has been ripe with riots and revolutions throughout the globe. A handful of Arab countries, after generations of living in fear and dictatorship, have finally risen up and cannot take anymore. Some were fortunate and have earned their new independence, some are still struggling and some are being obliterated. These people have been under the rule of despots for generations, yet now, like some global collective moment of having enough of the crap they all rise up one after the other-all sharing the same sentiments of anger at their leaders.
I have always encountered literature saying that they reached their turning points when they no longer could afford food for their families. Think about it : they endured decades of abuse, corruption, theft and injustice under the same rulers, but nobody revolted. What set them off - finally- was when they could no longer feed their sons and daughters, their families. Human beings will go to great lengths, will do anything, to provide for their loved ones. It is just human nature. Your mind opens up to so many possibilities you are willing to do just to fill the need for your family when you see them so helplessly starving.
I tried to look up how much the price increase was when things turned for the worse and how they are now. On an
article dated Oct 2010, it said that a 100 gram loaf of bread costs $.02 in Libya. And this was after a government imposed increase. The prices before then was much lower. A more recent update post-revolution says that now a 500 gram white loaf costs $2.25 (that would be $0.45 for every 100 lbs). So if you imagine, the cost from 2 cents going up to 45 cents...How do you adjust to that? You would drown in worry knowing that no matter how hard you worked you still could not catch up with that price. And this is from a very quick search on prices in Libya alone, all this with just inflation brought on by a crisis. I worry that the rest of the picture would be even more bleak.
Here is a link about an article with someone in Libya saying rice costs $40 for 10 lbs. inside Tripoli. This is during the revolution.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/28/libya-protests-food-price_n_829026.html
There are some numbers floating around from the NIA that assume the would be costs of some basic staples in an inflationary situation. Just to visualize the drastic change the new prices would cause, let me list them for you:
Coffee 11 oz - $77
Milk 32 oz - $24
Bread 24 oz - $23
Juice 64 oz - $45
Sugar 32 oz $62
At prices like these, there is now way we can eat anywhere near our current provisions. I cannot forecast what my salary would be like at the time, but they always lag behind the price increase anyway-what's the point. Our monthly groceries would be up to almost $2000. Consider what happens to other costs, like rent and fuel, utilities...
When the time comes that prices surge and people can no longer afford food, you can bet on it people will be out on the streets. It does not matter what standard of living one is used to, if he finally realizes he has been manipulated, cheated and ultimately now cannot have the most basic of needs, they will lose it. I have been contemplating on allocating more of our cash to acquire some more food to up our food pantry. Perhaps allow for some comfort food, stuff my wife would love and keep our spirits up.
On second thought, with the current outlook of things, maybe I should go for longevity. The way things are, it will take years for them to improve.
