Post by gretchenm on Sept 15, 2008 17:06:44 GMT -5
Mike Ramirez
"Investor's Business Daily"
9/16/08
The cartoon shows a small, black boy apparently naked. He is holding a metal plate with one husk of corn. He is surrounded by a few buckets that are empty, probably of rain water, so it is suggested that he lives in a dry, less developed nation. This corn is being grabbed at by a white man in a suit and tie who said he needed it for his car. Corn is a food staple grown originally in America, the man in the suit is white, he has a car, is probably well stocked (with money), is from a developed nation like the U.S., and in a role such as a politician. The author uses pathos, the image of a small, helpless child, to invoke pity from their audience, and in doing this brings the message that bio-fuel is wrong and wasteful when people in other places are hungry. The author might also be commenting on a common view that politicians are overly concerned with oil and money than poor nations in need of help, and supporting energy sources that are not food staples to be used.
Prices of food have increased recently, and I have been shocked at the prices of groceries, like milk being four dollars and fifty cents a gallon. This nation has one of the most fertile lands and plenty of food to feed us and poor nations like in Africa or Haiti. Cars running on bio-fuel are not the cars we need even though using bio-fuel could help us and the environment. Not to say that oil is any better. I mow the lawn, and I dislike inhaling the stinky and dangerous fumes. It would be hypocritical of a great nation- the United States- to ignore the needs of other nations. Renewable energy resources that cannot feed the hungry, mainly solar, wind, and water can be developed and expanded. There are scientists who predict that things like drought are due to global warming, which might be what happened in this cartoon, or a reason for alternative fuels. Alternative fuels and an organized system could help the environment and feed the hungry.
