Other Items 2019

Worldwide Economic Collapse and Food Shortages a Real Possibility

Serious consideration is being by given by economists that the world may be approaching an economic collapse due to the prevalent convergence of widespread locust plagues and pestilence such as Swine Fever and Covid-19, now coupled with natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis).

The finely-tuned economy of world agriculture production is at extreme hazard as the world unsuspectingly approaches the final days of so-called “normal” life on earth...

It is a scenario clearly revealed in the word of God, in which the prophets wrote of difficulties of unprecedented importance as many widely different factors converge to produce drastic shortfalls of food production producing widespread famine – only one of the end-time factors striking fear in the hearts of men.

One can read these accounts and readily visualize the intensity of the plagues of locusts, for example, which afflicted Egypt just prior to the Exodus.

Recall that during that series of plagues (cf., Exodus 10), the LORD had sent an enormous hailstorm that had devastated the land. It was immediately followed by a locust swarm such as had never been seen in Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. Exodus 10:12.

The following verses describe the devastation ... fully similar to that of Ethiopia and Sudan of today, but stated in this text to be the worst locust swarm in world history: Exodus 10:13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

This plague upon Egypt brought upon that nation in His Judgment, is entirely similar to the events we see today. The world is steadily descending into even deeper depravity and corruption; it is being judged by the Almighty for this evil. Even the Gogian host will be afflicted by the pestilence: Ezekiel 38:22 - And I will plead against him with pestilence...

The dark horse of starvation and famine even now is rearing its ugly head.

Global food production is being retarded and even halted in some regions by many various factors. Weather patterns have deviated widely from “normal,” while enormous locust swarms in Africa and the Mid-East bring unprecedented challenges to adequate food production.

Due to a huge outbreak of Swine Fever in China, a lot less food is being produced, creating a serious shortfall of edible meats.

China is struggling with the worst outbreak of African Swine Fever in recorded history. The disease, so far, does not infect humans, but it is highly virulent and spreads rapidly among herds of pigs similar to wildfire entirely out of control.

There is no available vaccine and no effective medical remedy for the disease. Once it starts infecting pigs in a given area the only “cure” is to sacrifice the entire pig population and burn their carcasses in a drastic effort to prevent its spread to other areas.

China has suffered an untold loss. The New York Times reports that the number of pigs that have been destroyed in China is “nearly one-quarter of all the world’s pigs....”

The current outbreak was discovered in Liaoning Province in early August 2018. One year later the entire swine population of China had dropped by forty percent!

The gravity of this report is emphasized by the fact that China accounts for more than half of the swine production worldwide.

China is not alone in being impacted by Swine Fever; the disease has cropped up “in fifty countries” and, though to our knowledge not yet seen in North America, American and Canadian farmers fear just what would happen if the epizootic disaster arrives on this continent.

The problem is exacerbated by the reality that even in the best of times the world’s farmers struggle to feed everyone on the planet; there are always pockets of starvation somewhere on the earth. This latest series of compromises will doubtless result in even greater, more critical shortages (and much higher prices) for the remaining food stocks.

The serious threats come at a time in which the USA as well as other key players such as Israel are diverted by their fanatical devotion to politics so that these grave “natural disasters” have been underreported...

Adding to the ruinous events, Australia has experienced extremely hot and dry weather that helped fuel horrific wildfires all over the continent. The key nation’s agricultural production will suffer an immense shortfall (the worst in its history) according to official estimates given out last week. Sorghum, sugar cane, cotton, and rice production will fall to about two thirds the normal this crop year ... serious implications for one of the recognized breadbaskets of the world.

For the first time in history by a “large margin,” Australia will not be able to export wheat (the level of sales in 2018/19 was nine million tons of wheat exported); instead, it has now started to import wheat on a large scale.

If the rest of the world were functioning on a normal level the shortfalls of Australia could be absorbed with insignificant effect ... but such is not the case.

At this moment, billions upon billions of locusts are voraciously decimating the farms of eastern Africa and the Middle East – stretching as far, potentially, as Afghanistan.

As we have reported in a Circular Letter of some weeks ago, these giant swarms of locusts are often the size of large cities, and travel up to 100 miles per day foraging for food.

Incredibly, they can consume the entire crop of a medium-sized farm within 30 seconds. Their prevalent murmuration sends chills down the spines of witnesses to their devastation.

The official opinion is that these plagues will worsen over the next several months; one estimate is that the swarms could become five hundred times larger than at the present time – a condition that is unimaginable.

And now another serious factor – the emergence of an entirely new virulent microorganism – Covid-19 – the corona virus. The disruption of this potential pandemic, if it develops to that extent, adds to the present crisis by disrupting the chain of supply of various goods and services to the world community, including (as we have pointed out recently) the interruption of many vital medicinal compounds which are produced ONLY in China – estimated to be about 340 compounds – that cannot be sourced from any other area on earth. The world medical community is extremely worried about this possibility – and all the rest of us should be, too.

We pray for the outcome that our heavenly Father intends as He guides the affairs of mankind, meting out punishment where He sees fit, and rewards ... which seem to be few at the present time. May His will be done ... quickly ... decisively – fulfilling His righteous will.

<>HEL. Abstract of original article in Economic Collapse Blog. ~1300 words. Published in eTPL, February 24, 2020