Economics of Ramadan and the Church: A Whole Month of Thanksgiving
“The issue is vital but the cure is seasonal. With the freedom of greed that sets food prices afire in Ramadan, governments need to declare more than a war on greed…..”
Ramadan, the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, defies conventional economics.
Normally when people fast, they consume less food, and this should lead to reduced prices. They pressure the sellers (remember Gandhi’s salt boycott and MLK’s bus boycott? That is how they worked. Apparently food doesn’t work the same way, not in the Arab world). Sort of like the petroleum market, n’est-ce pas? But no: the petroleum market works according to ideas articulated by Western thinkers from Adam Smith to John Maynard Keynes, and you can even insert Karl Marx in there somewhere, as well as the speculators and hedge funds who can be fitted within the mainstream market economic theory.
Food is a very Islamic thing. It is more Islamic than either Christian or Jewish. Never mind the stuff about “turning water into vino”, “feeding many with a fish or two”, or the Seder. Eating is one of the few ‘pleasures’ that are not banned or at least frowned upon in the Middle East. In fact it is encouraged in media ads about as much as that American brand-name product with the drinkability issue we see during sports games.
With Ramadan approaching, the thoughts of most people in the Middle East and the Muslim world turn toward…no, you got it wrong, it is not just Allah: sometimes it looks like He comes second. It is food first.
It may seem ironic to some of you Western kaffirs that minds focus so sharply on food with the approach of a month of fasting from dawn to dusk; fasting from food, drink, smoking, and “other pleasures and diversions” of life. But that is the way an outsider looks at it. A Westerner sees a month of hardship and deprivation. But I got news for you.
That used to be the case long ago, but no more. Ramadan, the month of fasting, is also the month of plenty when merchants stock up on food, as do households. It is a competition between merchants and consumers to see who can outdo the other. The more they stock, the more is purchased. Food demand is the highest during the month, with occasional shortages of some choice items. It is the month that breaks some family banks, in the same way that Christmas shopping wrecks an American’s credit rating.
If they run out of a major staple like rice or wheat, or even a favorite sweet like zalabia, lqeimat, or mahalbia flour, it will be like Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans all over again, with no “you’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie” nonsense. It is the only time of year when there are some food fights. There are occasional food murders, mostly of women by their irate and hungry husbands (here were at least two such incidents in Algeria last year, and at least one in Jordan, and I have no idea what happens in Bangladesh).
A Ramadan curve relating caloric intake to the level of activity for each age group, and throwing in divine orders, or guidelines, from the Good Book (ours) would baffle any analyst. Food intake goes steeply up, while activity drops like a dead weight.
Consumption is the highest for the year, with caloric intake exceeding any other month- forget the recommended daily intake for an adult with little or no physical activity (that would be us on the Gulf). Diets are eaten practically non-stop from sunset to sunrise, most of it sweets with healthy doses of sheep lard. This is the month of prayer, obesity, diabetes and other ailments. On the positive it is also a month when dead cities come to life at night. Even Riyadh during a Ramadan night seems only half as boring as usual, which still leaves it a very long way from being fun. I wouldn’t vouch for Kabul, though, Ramadan or not.
Okay, it is partly sour grapes: I am jealous because I will not back in my native Gulf area enjoying the goodies.
But to put it in Americanese: look at Ramadan as a whole month of Thanksgiving. Thirty days of Turkey Day! And you won’t need a designated driver either, unless you fear having an infarct. Except that Thanksgiving is a not a religious holiday.
Now, before you get smug and wax righteous: the West also abounds in ironies. For one: it is very likely that to Jesus Christ, who always reminded me of people I used to see around Telegraph Avenue, that to him all the fancy churches, opulent lifestyles, and drawling wealthy pastors with gold Rolexes would be considered an abomination of his teachings. His teachings, not those of an intolerant hierarchy that evolved later and that He would probably have found abominable as well.
(Pssst: Speaking of Ramadan, I suspect that greed is not Christian either, I know it is not; they just tell us that on CNBC and Fox).
Cheers and Ramadan Kareem
mhg
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