'Occupy' movement fizzles on May Day

[Carbon]

I guess I am going to back out of this discussion because I don't want to deal with the anger people direct towards me when I challenge some of their assumptions about their society and the history of western countries. Suffice to say, I agree with the person (I think it was Hannah Arendt) who said that Hitler's crime was to treat europe like a colony and I have no desire to align myself with any of the major powers from the last 60 years.

[peky]

Peky wrote: "About 30,000 children under the age of five died out of starvation, dehydration, or parastic disease, every day. I wish we could solve this injustice first."

Though I agree with you in principle, that number, which has been printed on t-shirts and used for propaganda purposes, actually has no basis in fact.

It is usually credited to UNICEF.  That should be your first clue as to its validity. What is the provenance?

Whether you believe the numbers or not, the point is many, if not most of the despair occurs in countries with civil strife and authoritarian regimes, or outright anarchy.

The charitable western nations of the world feed hundreds of thousands every day.

Not so fast my dear collegue,

If any, my numbers are a monumental understimation....


"Too much could easily be made of this kind of numbers
game, to be sure. Even 12-13 million infant and child deaths
is still an appalling number, especially when it is realized that
well over one-half of them ought to be avoidable in the sense
that they would not occur were the favorable mortality conditions
of the West to prevail in the developing world as
well.tt Also, the important question is not nearly so much
the number of deaths that occur, but rather how that number
can most effectively and most rapidly be reduced.
If effective reduction efforts are to be developed,
FROM: How many die? A set of demographic estimates of the annual number of infant and child deaths in the world.
DR Gwatkin - American journal of public health, 1980 - ajph.aphapublications.org


Yes, we are doing good, but is good good enough? Not if you are one of those 6 million children

[gennee]

Those who did the bombings were most likely provocateurs who want to discredit the movement. They may be law enforcement or some federal agents who may have done this. In my mind Occupy needs to have a central message with leaders who join other groups that will create and effect change. The numbers are there but the organization isn't.  8m

[Jamie D]

Those who did the bombings were most likely provocateurs who want to discredit the movement. They may be law enforcement or some federal agents who may have done this. In my mind Occupy needs to have a central message with leaders who join other groups that will create and effect change. The numbers are there but the organization isn't.  8m

Piffle.

[Jamie D]

Not so fast my dear collegue,

If any, my numbers are a monumental understimation....


"Too much could easily be made of this kind of numbers
game, to be sure. Even 12-13 million infant and child deaths
is still an appalling number, especially when it is realized that
well over one-half of them ought to be avoidable in the sense
that they would not occur were the favorable mortality conditions
of the West to prevail in the developing world as
well.tt Also, the important question is not nearly so much
the number of deaths that occur, but rather how that number
can most effectively and most rapidly be reduced.
If effective reduction efforts are to be developed,
FROM: How many die? A set of demographic estimates of the annual number of infant and child deaths in the world.
DR Gwatkin - American journal of public health, 1980 - ajph.aphapublications.org


Yes, we are doing good, but is good good enough? Not if you are one of those 6 million children

I'd like to read your 30-year old reference.  Do you have an online link?  Given world events in the late 1970s,I wonder how applicable these data really are.