189. We are still far from a globalization of the most basic of human rights. That is why world politics needs to make the effective elimination of hunger one of its foremost and imperative goals.
For much of the world, hunger, yes, is an issue at the forefront.
Indeed, “when financial speculation manipulates the price of food, treating it as just another commodity, millions of people suffer and die from hunger. At the same time, tons of food are thrown away. This constitutes a genuine scandal. Hunger is criminal; food is an inalienable right”. [ Address to Participants in the World Meeting of Popular Movements(28 October 2014): AAS 106 (2014), 853]
Food as a commodity is manipulated for the First World. Non-hungry people are at some kind of mercy to those who control supply, quality, etc..
Often, as we carry on our semantic or ideological disputes, we allow our brothers and sisters to die of hunger and thirst, without shelter or access to health care. Alongside these basic needs that remain unmet, trafficking in persons represents another source of shame for humanity, one that international politics, moving beyond fine speeches and good intentions, must no longer tolerate. These things are essential; they can no longer be deferred.
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Catholic Sensibility 