Politicians are the same all over the world.

There was an article in the New York Times today, regarding the reaction by Indian economists and politicians to comments made by President Bush about the increase in global food prices. In a news conference in Missouri on May 2, part of the President's answer to one question was the following, referring to the growing middle class in India:

“When you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.”

This has apparently ignited a storm of criticism in India. You can read the article here. The comments cited by the Times ranged from insulting President Bush's intelligence (nothing new there) to claims that Americans are causing food shortages in Africa by overeating. This puts me in mind of those dinner time conversations growing up. You know the one:

"Billy, you clean your plate. Think of the starving children in Africa." "But ma, I already weigh 190 pounds, and I'm only 12."

That the Indians have taken umbrage with the President's remarks shows that they have collapsed the distinction between explaining an event, and placing blame for the same event. Globally, grain prices have risen significantly in the last year or so. Why?

Part of the answer is that demand for grain is up. Not from Americans. We're huge overeaters, but we've been the most obese people in the world for at least a decade now. Well, with the rapid development in China and India over the last decade, meat consumption in those countries has gone up, right along with rising incomes. Not to American levels, but higher than it has been. The increase in meat consumption helps explain why global demand for grain has increased.

The situation in India and China has changed, and knowing that helps our understanding of the situation. That's a long way from blaming them. Americans are the last people in the world to blame anyone for wanting to eat better. If anything, we're more likely to start sharing recipes. Still, the Indians are insulted, and their politicians have turned around and started blaming us for the rise in food prices.

And in an odd way, that gives me some hope for a better world. Their politicians are just as capable of knee jerk reactions that make them sound like idiots as ours are. Maybe by focusing on our similarities (even the embarassing ones) instead of our differences, we can build bridges of understanding to other parts of the world. This incident may help us to realize that despite our surface differences, we're really all the same inside.

Nah!