“Lucky And Selfish”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 20

“Lucky And Selfish”

Sir, —I would not deny Mr O’Grady’s soft impeachment that we are both lucky and selfish, but I think it is rather too much to expect us to practise punitive selfdenial to alleviate suffering of sub-continental proportions. Temperament and religion alike prompt India to enlarge its starving population by another million or so every year. Though prodigally supplied with politicians, it is not equally rich in good administrators, and by reducing our own standard of living we could do nothing to relieve Indian famine, whether it be caused by drought or political inefficiency or mandatory abstentions from certain foods. President Sukarno thought it more important to finance Indonesian prestige projects than to nourish Indonesian bodies. Must we try to correct his errors? We can and do subscribe fairly generously to private organisations which aim to benefit groups of individuals, especially children, and I think this should be our main function in famine relief.—Yours, etc., I.S.T. December 6, 1966.