Hunger, and what else?

Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, is “gravely concerned to report to the Human Rights Council that global levels of hunger continue to rise. The number of people suffering from hunger has increased to 854 million people and has been rising every year since 1996. Virtually no progress has been made in reducing hunger, despite the commitments made by Governments in 1996 at the first World Food Summit and again at the Millennium Summit in 2000.”

This is bad old news. Why don’t we eradicate at least those extreme sufferings that we can eradicate? I think we would, if at least we had a plan saying who is we, what is suffering, what are extreme sufferings, and what are extreme sufferings that we can eradicate. Such a plan could only be the result of an algonomic endeavor.

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Suffering death

Some people die peacefully, some even gracefully. But usually death comes with suffering, and they represent together the most dreadful couple of all. Those who are concerned with the private and collective management of suffering will find relevant matters to ponder in the following two very ‘graphic’ texts.

One describes the process of dying from illness. It is on the website of Canadian Virtual Hospice:
When Death Is Near

The other explains various ways of dying from trauma. It is in issue 2625 of New Scientist magazine, 13 October 2007, page 53-57:
Death special: How does it feel to die?