20080810 Feed the World

20080810 Feed the World

http://www.stmichaeluoc.org/
http://www.orthoanalytika.org/

1 Corinthians 1: 10-18
St. Matthew 14: 14-22

Before 9/11, I was a full-time staff worker and instructor at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. I had been attracted to the discipline of political science, and in particular to comparative politics, because I was interested in the big questions (vichniye pytanyii); questions like totalitarianism and democracy, war and peace, starvation and plenty, freedom and oppression. I wanted to understand the processes that led to variations in these phenomena with the vague hope that I could help alleviate the suffering in which parts of our world is undeniably immersed. After many years of graduate school, I gained an understanding of these things and the processes that encouraged them, but became increasingly disillusioned with our ability to do more than tinker at the margins of human suffering, at least in the short to medium term (and as Keynes said, “in the long term, we will all be dead”).

This is not to say that these margins are unimportant, or that progress in the goal of alleviating suffering has not been made. It is obvious that progress has been made. For example, the collapse of the Soviet Union did much to improve the conditions of those living under its wicked oppression. But even this example shows the depth of the problem: the structural conditions and imperial/totalitarian impulses that led to the formation of the Soviet Union in the first place continue, leading Moscow to pursue policies that differ little from those it pursued during the Cold War. For example, Georgia may have received its independence in 1991, but recently, when Tbilisi actually attempted to exert control over its allegedly sovereign territory in South Ossetia, the result is war with Moscow. The situation is, of course, complicated. Moscow prepared for Georgia’s assertion and reacted with violence in part because it does not trust Georgia to protect the rights of ethnic Russians living there. [Footnote: as a former sovietologist, I cannot help but notice how the news coverage of this war differs little from that which sought to justify similar excursions and occupations under the Soviet Communists. Decades of propaganda create mindsets that reify previous conditions – it is all but impossible for all but the most courageous dissidents and prophets (men like the recently departed A.S. – may his memory be eternal!) to “think outside the box”.]

It is little different when it comes to the basic question of hunger. The coexistence of plenty here and deprivation elsewhere is a paradox that seems, at least on the face of it, easy to solve. But our personal history [i.e. the history of the Ukrainian people] attests to the fact that easy solutions to big problems can lead to disaster: collectivization was originally designed to bring cheap food to the masses, but it led to starvation and became a tool of oppression and genocide in the Holodomyr. Nor is this inability to solve hunger simply a problem with communism. Capitalism does a better job, but despite the innovations and improved efficiencies it has brought it we still cannot feed the world. One of my favorite social scientists, Adam Przeworski, has dedicated his life to the “eternal questions”. In his work (and folks like him), he describes how unintended consequences will undermine any effort to “feed the world” (at least in the short to medium term). The obvious solutions, such as food shipments, price fixing, and agricultural subsidies, create imbalances that can actually make things worse. So, in the end, what you are left with in the policy world is either risky solutions that often cause more pain, or a lifetime of incremental improvements.

Incremental improvements can and should be made. My personal belief is that we should make whatever political and economic changes are necessary to increase levels of freedom, security, and prosperity here and around the world whenever prudence and conditions allow. But if we really want to change the world for the better, we cannot look to politics or economics. We have to look elsewhere. We have to look to the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the God-man Jesus Christ. He loves us, is all-powerful, and He has a plan.

What did Christ do for those who were hungry? When I was young, well-intentioned people taught me that today’s Gospel lesson was a lesson about the need for community – that when Christ had His disciples gather everyone’s food together, that there was enough for all. But now I know that this is not the real message of today’s lesson. Nor is the main lesson a reminder that the God-man is master over nature, and can actually create an abundance of food out of mere scraps. While this is true, God did not empower His Disciples and the Church to continue His work through the multiplication of leftovers. Nor is it His plan to save the world by putting manna on every plate. The lesson on the miracle of the multiplication of loaves was understood from day-one as the miracle of the Eucharist.

Christ himself made this clear the next day when he said to those whom he had fed;

Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him… I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst… And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (St. John 22-40).

During these campaign seasons, it is easy to get wrapped up in what the government can or cannot do for us and those whom we love, but we cannot forget the more fundamental truth that the fight to vanquish what really ails the world is not against oppression, or war, or even hunger, but the sin that gives rise to them. God has promised to remake this fallen world so that there will be no more suffering. If You want to enjoy the fruits of this new world, then accept Christ’s offering: believe in Him and partake of His Body and Blood. If you want to save the world, then share the Love of Christ and the Good News of His plan with a starving world, so that it, too, may be fed.