Reflections: Chapter 4 + 5

Ka'ua Kaholokula

"The law doth punish man or woman

That steals the goose from off the common,

But lets the greater felon loose

That steals the common from the goose,"

thus begins Chapter 4. The impression I am left with this quote alone is two impoverished youths playing an endless game of theft. They both steal from one another until they are left with their own bodies, nothing else. 

Throughout the entire selected chapters, we are given scenarios of people fighting to eat in order to survive. Some in literal wars, some however, try to resist a war. The cost of availability and affordability never seem to match up. Feeding the poor is never easy, too. There are many people living in poverty, so few people actually have the cash to give. A rise in the workers' movement have been impressively difficult too. Unlike in the passive past, the workers were forceful and opinionated which spew things like the Communist Manifesto. In Britain, Chartists were beginning to ask for their own rights and laws. 

By resisting "the poverty of life", it was about time slaves to start resist and revolutionize instead. The Haitian slave uprising ,led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, were off to seize their country as inspired by America's own revolution (87). Although by having slaves helped with making food prices lower, it obviously was not fun for the slaves. The slaves wanted humanity and some equality as expected.

One solution to worker dissatisfaction in Europe was a social contract.In said  contract, it would make sure the levels of hunger and deprivation are met within manageable limits by assuring enough totals of cheap food was accessible. "Without slaves, no sugar, and therefore no food to quiet the industrial worker." (87) It was indeed sort of cheap and an underlying nature at play, but desperation normally calls for desperate measures.

Food distribution is never fully fair as explained in previous chapters of the book. No one has it absolutely better off. Some people yes, may have more options if their wallets are fuller but still due to season and in general availability, we still cannot any single product we desire. Our amounts of choices is the only thing that might vary for each individual. If someone is rich, they might have a choice between 3 apples to afford compared to the poor person, who can afford the bare minimal or if any at all.