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Today’s crisis of spiking prices, shortages of food, fuel, agro-industrial inputs, water, and basic necessities manifests the ongoing world economic breakdown, following on the shockwaves last Spring after the United States and Israel launched war on Iran. This comes on top of Europe’s continued backing of Ukraine to assault Russia. Currently, total world grain production this crop year is projected down by at least 2.5% from last year, and set to drop more as the planting/harvest seasons come and go. World fertilizer trade volumes have dropped 20-25% this year, causing farmers in Africa and elsewhere to downshift production to less land, lower yields, and other measures. Before this trend, already 2 billion people were food insecure. World fuel inventories have been steadily drawn down over the past six months, and are decreasing daily. Diesel prices are sky-rocketing, forcing a crisis for the productive sectors of every nation in the world. In the last week, governors of 10 U.S. farm states issued emergency diesel pricing orders, in hopes of just getting through the Fall harvest season. The price of sulfur—a mainstay of manufacturing and fertilizer processing—is up 190% from last year.
Any exceptions to this down-spiral? In Eurasia, bilateral contingency commitments were rushed in place, for example, to secure fertilizer to India from Russia, to supply aviation fuel to Southeast Asia from China, and for Russian grain to reach world points of need by going out of ports in the Far East, and even out of the Arctic port of Murmansk, traveling thousands of miles by rail, now that the Black Sea grain corridor is shut.
But major Western capitals are as incompetent as they are immoral—they refuse to stop the warfare and militarization. The European Union now plans a 20% cut in aide to farmers in 27 nations, for “green” reasons, and in order to shift EU funds to re-armament against a claimed Russian threat. Farmers’ tractorcades have started again in protest in several European countries. In Washington, President Trump is pot-shotting in all directions. He claims he is benefiting the world by exporting oil from Venezuela, now that he took over that nation and kidnapped its president. He may cut U.S. diesel exports as a ploy before the November elections, causing havoc in the Trans-Atlantic. Claiming support for U.S. cattlemen, Trump nevertheless ordered beef imports from Brazil. His ICE (immigration) hit squad last week slammed Kansas and Oklahoma ranchers, suddenly shutting down 20% of U.S. beef processing capacity for many work shifts at four plants in southwest Kansas. Meantime, the Trump Administration gloats over hunger, electricity black-outs, and suffering for multi-millions of people just offshore in Cuba and Haiti.
In the spirit of the international mobilization for an emergency world peace summit, we are all called upon to stop the madness and instead set the agenda for emergency multi-nation economic action to benefit all nations. Collaboration can overcome the crash underway. This potential is implied in the summit last week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, who are pledged to meet again twice before year-end. It is time for a world of “partners not rivals.”
Join the International Peace Coalition #174 for a full dialogue and mobilization with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder, International Peace Coalition initiator; Fr. John Heagle, Director, Priests Against Genocide (USA); Member, Association of U.S. Catholic Priests; Marcia Merry Baker, EIR Co-Editor for Economics; Mike Calicrate, Kansas cattle rancher, Farm and Ranch policy leader, founder and owner of Ranch Foods Direct; Jesus Holguin Cazares, Kansas Cattlemen's Association President; Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS); E. Martin Schotz, MD, Coordinator for the JFK Peace Speech Committee (MAPA--Massachusetts Peace Action); Author, "History Will Not Absolve Us: Orwellian Control, Public Denial, and the Murder of President Kennedy; Jacques Cheminade, head of the Solidarity and Progress (SP) party of France.
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