Americas Articles

Corn grain is one of the major foods of the world. Grains in general provide about 80 percent of the world food calories. Today there is a per capita shortage of grains and other foods, exacerbating the serious global malnourishment problem. The World Health Organization reports that 3.7 billion people are malnourished today—nearly 60 percent of the world population. This is the largest number of malnourished ever in history. In addition to food shortages, there are shortages of cropland and freshwater as well as fossil fuel—particularly oil—shortages. The oil shortage in the United States has prompted politicians and others to propose the use of corn and other food crops as sources of fuel, especially for ethanol production.

My struggle with weeds over the years has made me aware of the damage they can inflict in gardens, farms, and native ecosystems. I have learned to be vigilant and untrusting of even the smallest, innocent-looking weed seedling and yank it out upon first sight. I have grown curious as to why many weeds spread invasively whereas most crops and native species do not. Both crops and weeds have pollen that can spread widely, right? So why the difference in invasiveness? To answer this question, we need to consider where weeds originate, why they persist and reproduce, and how domesticated crop plants differ from weeds. These issues have become important in the debate about the potential impact of genetically engineered (GE) crops.

July 5th marked a milestone in Mexican politics. The nation replaced the entire lower house of Congress, governors in six states, and scores of other positions at the state and local levels. The indisputable winner was the Institutional Party of the Revolution (PRI), which, by earning 37 percent of the votes, vaulted from third-tier status in the Chamber of Deputies to a near-majority of the 500 representatives. (Mexico uses a combined direct and proportional system that can skew the relationship between voter support and subsequent representation.) Additionally, the PRI took five of the six governorships and a handful of important local races.

Historical parallels capture the collective imagination, and for good reason. They offer an intelligible way to understand present events and avoid past mistakes. The Vietnam War, for instance, continues to inform American decisions in Iraq and Afghanistan; it warns us of the perils of lengthy occupations, of public sensitivity to mounting casualties, and of the importance of exit strategies. But there is always the hidden danger of taking such parallels at face value. This is happening now, with the widespread comparison of the current economic crisis to the Great Depression.