Is denial a form of ethical behavior?
C.T.
assurtions made by your national coordinator - "Whiskey".
The Food Not Bombs movement was started in the United States over 25
years ago. Are you suggesting that the US is not a land of proud people
and is incapable of holding our own anywhere in the world? There ARE
hungry people in the US, thirty million people by some estimates. I am
born and raised in the US. By stating there are hungry people in my
country does not mean I think we are not proud or incapable as a
people. I am simply stating a fact.
Furthermore, if Mr. Whiskey had taken the time to learn about the Food
Not Bombs movement, he would have learned that we are not about charity
and we are not "do-gooders". We are a grassroots movement dedicated to
empowering people to solve the problems facing them themselves and not
appeal to the government or church for handouts. We are about exposing
the root causes of poverty and hunger. We are not about feeding people
or distributing food to "others". We are about teaching nonviolence,
vegetarianism and participatory democracy. I would think an ethical
society would support these worthy goals.
The Food Not Bombs movement has spread to many countries. I see no
reason why it would not spread to Nigeria. It is a movement about
average people, local people, organizing and empowering themselves to
work cooperatively amongst themselves and with other local activist
around the world. If Food Not Bombs were to take root in Nigeria, it
will be because Nigerians are doing it. However, Nigerians (just like
every other place FNB operates) must first learn about our work and
organizing strategy from the people who are already doing it. Once they
learn for themselves, they will either choose to continue or stop or
change it to meet their local needs. We are about teaching people how
to fish, not giving them a fish to eat and making them dependent on us.
Mr. Whisky does the people of Nigeria a great disservice by his
isolationist comments. We are all in this together. Cooperation is the
future or we shall all perish. This macho posturing "we can take care
of ourselves" is backwards thinking and unture. We are all
interdependent, whether we like it or not, and this is becoming more
the case with each passing year. Even this email is an example of the
truth of my statements.
If you would like to learn for yourself what Food Not Bombs is all
about, you can Google us or go to our website: www.foodnotbombs.net
Sincerely,
C.T. Butler