Around 1.3 million families across Britain had no savings before the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation struck, Resolution Foundation, a think tank, has said.

In the period running up to the coronavirus pandemic (2018 to 2020), nearly half of families across Britain had savings worth less than a month’s income.

While around 4% – 1.3 million families in total – had no savings at all, the Foundation said. More than a quarter (28%) of families with no savings said they simply would be unable to cope with an unexpected expense, while nearly a third (32%) said they would need to turn to friends and family if faced with an unexpected expense,

The report found the poorest tenth of families were four times as likely to report having no savings as the richest tenth of households, at 8% versus 2%.

This savings divide will only have been reinforced during the pandemic, according to the Foundation, as the richest fifth of families were around four times as likely to say they were able to increase their savings during lockdowns as the poorest fifth (47% compared with 12%).

“With many of those families unable to save during lockdowns, they are now approaching the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation with no financial buffer.” Molly Broome, economist at the Resolution Foundation, said.

‘1.3 million families facing cost-of-living crisis with no savings buffer’ | The Independent

Every government will give a pretext based on personalities, incidents or ideologies to justify fighting wars; but when examined closely this can be seen as camouflage. The true motivations are economic — protection of the interests of their capitalist class. 

Environmental protection groups called the UN ocean conference a missed opportunity to promise real action in an ecosystem struggling with overfishing, warming temperatures, pollution and acidification.

Numerous NGOs criticized the conference’s closing declaration as non-committal and therefore meaningless. The five-day conference did not even present a report on the progress of the goals set out at the last UN oceans summit, which took place in 2017.

“We have seen many declarations before, we have heard many promises, pledges and voluntary commitments,” said Laura Meller of Greenpeace. “But if declarations could save the oceans they wouldn’t be on the brink of collapse.”

Marco Lambertini, director-general of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said, “The ocean, climate and coastal communities worldwide need real progress, not promises.”

Environmentalists slam UN inaction at ocean conference | News | DW | 01.07.2022

 As many countries face the difficulties of food shortages and higher prices, according to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), are being forced to cut back on their food production.

 Record-breaking floods in the north-eastern region of the country of Bangladesh have wreaked havoc as an estimated 7.2 million people have been affected and are in desperate need of shelter and emergency relief.

The highest amount of rainfall in decades has led to the overflowing of large river systems running between India and Bangladesh and completely swallowing surrounding areas.

Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Secretary General Kazi Shofiqul Azam said: “We have never seen this sort of flooding in our living memories in that region.”

 Many blame climate change for the floods affecting several million across the country.

Millions in Bangladesh impacted by one of the worst floodings ever seen – Bangladesh | ReliefWeb

  306,887 civilians are estimated to have been killed in Syria between March 1, 2011 and March 31, 2021 because of the conflict.

The figures released by the UN do not include soldiers and fighters killed in the conflict; their numbers are believed to be in the tens of thousands. The numbers also do not include people who were killed and buried by their families without notifying authorities.

More than 300,000 civilians killed in Syrian conflict: UN report | News | Al Jazeera

 Asparagus in winter, pears from Argentina, Peruvian blueberries and Californian almonds — these are just a few of the several thousand products shoppers can buy when they enter a supermarket.  

It’s something our ancestors a century ago likely never imagined, but we’ve become used to this bounty of choice when we select our food.  

“It is truly peculiar to walk into a Carrefour Marche in France or Wal Mart here in the United States and see what’s on offer,” says Janet Chrzan, a nutritional anthropologist from the University of Pennsylvania. “We are living in a food environment which is unlike anything our species has ever encountered.” 

German supermarkets carry more than 10,000 products on their shelves. In the US, it is more than 30,000. Climate scientists say change, including moderating our diets, is exactly what’s needed to bring down greenhouse gas emissions from food. That means eating less red meat and more plant-based foods. Opting for seasonal produce rather than buying, say, strawberries in winter can also make a difference.

Food production accounts for around a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Most of that comes from meat and dairy, which contribute almost 15% of global emissions. Producing food also causes other problems, such as pollution, biodiversity loss, contamination of soils and water shortages.  

Food consumption has been increasing worldwide for decades. High-income countries, including the US and Germany, take in the most calories per capita. At the same time, the UN estimates that households globally throw away 11% of the total food available for consumption, although this statistic does not include low-income countries. 

When faced with an abundance of choice in the grocery store, consumers tend to make decisions that are quick and based on habit. Our consumer behavior is notoriously difficult to change because food choices and eating patterns are so embedded in the way we live.

Stefan Wahlen, a food sociologist at the University of Giessen in Germany, says despite small blips, people tend to eat the same food 95% of the time.  

“You live in your routines, and even though you might be trying some new foodstuff, there’s little variation in what we actually eat,” he says, adding that these routines help us in “coping with the complexity of our daily lives.” 

Two-thirds of consumers in the study by the Brussels-based European Consumer Organization said they were open to changing their eating habits for environmental reasons, with many willing to reduce food waste at home, buy more seasonal fruit and veggies and eat more plant-based foods. But only one in five were willing to spend more money for sustainable food.

It can also be complicated for consumers to know which foods are ecologically sustainable, given that most products don’t display their carbon footprints or how much land and water went into producing them.

Food consumerism: What′s stopping the switch to a climate-friendly diet? | Environment | All topics from climate change to conservation | DW | 29.06.2022

 The G-7 leaders have promised Ukraine over $31.6 billion in budgetary and humanitarian support. 

Yet despite the ever-growing global hunger crisis, intensified by fallout from the war, the G7  said it would provide only an additional $4.5 billion, amounting to a total of over $14bn for hunger relief. 

 $2 billion will be to directed toward emergency interventions, $760 million will be used for sustainable near-term food assistance to help mitigate poverty, hunger and malnutrition in vulnerable countries that are affected by high food prices, fertilizer and fuel. The investments aim to support efforts in more than 47 countries and regional organizations by tackling fertilizer shortages and purchasing resilient seeds.

NGOs have described the results of a summit of G7 as inadequate, with Oxfam Germany explaining the  summit declarations are “intended to distract from the historic failure of the G7,” to prevent growing food insecurity.

“The $4.5 billion pledged is far too little to end the global food crisis and prevent people from continuing to go hungry,” Charlotte Becker, advocacy and campaign director at Oxfam, said in a statement. “At least an additional $28 billion is needed to end hunger and fund the United Nations’ appeals for help.”

It failed to include any debt relief for affected low- and middle-income countries. For every dollar of aid money, two dollars would have to be paid to creditors.

 G7 disappoints on energy and food crises | Business | Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 28.06.2022

The concentration of vast capital into the hands of a continually decreasing number of capitalists, accompanied by more efficient methods of production, swells to an enormous extent the wealth of this class. While, on the other hand, this development brings with it a more intense form of exploitation, greater insecurity, unemployment, and poverty of the wealth producers. The result is that, as capitalist society develops, the distinction between the two classes becomes wider and clearer; and the opposition of interest more intense. These facts are having a powerful influence on the minds of the workers, and are slowly but surely preparing them to accept the principles of socialism. Having progressed so far towards an understanding of their class position, they become less easy to deceive. Consequently the older political parties, who openly defend the present system of society, and claim that there is no alternative, can no longer command the support of an overwhelming majority of the workers as they did in the past. Hence the need, to the capitalist class, of a political party that can secure the support of this discontented section, by criticising the system, and when necessary expressing sympathy towards socialism, and that can, at the same time, be relied upon to maintain capitalist society. In face of the trials the workers experience in their struggle to live, such attempts to mislead them must fail. And as the system develops, the need for a change in the basis of society from the private ownership in the means of life to common ownership becomes more evident. When the majority of our class realise this simple fact, they will join with us in the fight to secure control of the political machinery and armed forces for the purpose of establishing what must be the one and only object of a working-class political party—socialism.

Global capitalism’s reaction to so-called natural disasters shows the system in its true colours—greedy gold and bloody red.  The profit system proves woefully inadequate to deal humanely and effectively with such situations. These misfortunes are presented as unavoidable natural disasters. To some extent, this is true. But it ignores the difficult-to-quantify consequences of the deliberate pursuit of profit at the expense of environmental protection and conservation—the emission of poisonous gases, the destruction of forests and so on. The severity of the disasters is compounded by the fact that capitalism’s priority is to preserve and enhance the profit system, not to preserve and enhance human life. How would the consequences of natural disasters be dealt with in a socialist world? The frequency and severity of such events would be minimised by not damaging the environment in the pursuit of profit and not forcing people to live in areas that are prone to really unavoidable natural disasters. When a hurricane, earthquake or whatever did occur, help would be organised directly and immediately to meet the needs of the victims. No waiting around for funds to be set up, relief costs to be authorised, etc. No question of debt moratorium or cancellation to be considered—not debts would be created. Just the simple meeting of human needs. Is that too complex and unthinkable an idea to understand and act on?

The problem of evil in the world, the existence of wars, poverty, unemployment, crime, crises, etc., made it clear that no Supreme Being existed. Nor could it be claimed that evil, cruelty and barbarity are just man made, for barbarity exists among the animals. The cat plays with a mouse until it has been slowly tortured to death and the jungles are filled with ferocious beasts who live by tearing to pieces smaller and weaker animals. If God could make herbivore animals why not make them all like that instead of creating carnivorous ones. Everywhere the law of the jungle dominated human life under capitalism. It is possible to trace the evolution of the idea of God in primitive society, and now that we know the origin of the God idea, this cuts the ground from under the feet of the theist. The heavens no longer proclaim the glory Of God, nor does the firmament show his handiwork. God who could reveal himself at any moment has now to be searched for. The time has come to conduct God to the frontiers, thank him for his services, and ask him not to call again and trouble us with his diversions, as we wish to change the economic basis of society, and for this purpose do not need spirits, spooks or spectres (whether holy or otherwise). Instead of God creating man in his image, man had created his God or gods and always in his own image. The gods of the African tribes were black, with short black curly hair, and the gods of the Eskimos were fat and covered with thick furs.

 The population of England and Wales has hit a historic high of 59,597,300, an 6.3% increase on the 2011 figure of 56,075,912 – an extra 3.5 million people. It means the wider UK population is almost 67 million, once census results published last month for Northern Ireland, showing a population of 1.9 million, and the latest estimate for Scotland, of 5.47 million, are added in. 

The total is on course to break the 70 million mark in the next five years, but population growth has decreased slightly over the last decade. Under-15s make up a declining proportion of the population, and at 10.4 million have been overtaken in numbers by the over-65s in the last decade.

With 434 residents per square kilometre, England now ranks as the second-most densely populated country in Europe after the Netherlands (507 persons per sq km).

Present and projected increases in the population only pose a problem under the conditions imposed by capitalist society—the laws of profit first and can’t pay, can’t have. 

Capitalism is not only a system of artificial scarcity, it is also a system of organised waste. Countless millions of workers are to be found in the armed forces, many more in the security and law and order business, with many times that number employed in the field of commerce and finance.

The problem becomes not one of feeding the growing population, but of organising production and distribution on a rational basis. While we can expect the Malthusian prophets of doom to remind us that every new child means an extra mouth to feed, they will neglect to add that it also means an extra pair of hands, an extra brain, capable of contributing to the common good. It is no state secret that production is not primarily produced to satisfy needs. It is produced for the market and with a view to making profits.

Socialist society will ensure that the resources of the Earth are used in a manner that ensures every man, woman and child is adequately fed, cared for and housed—something capitalism has never been capable of overseeing.