Elon Musk will donate $6 billion, if UN proves it will solve world famine crisis – National & International News – Mon 1Nov2021

Musk will donate $6 billion, if UN proves it will solve world famine. Restaurant pays $20/hour, challenges “labor shortage” narrative. Biden: U.S. will stick to nuke deal if Iran does.

NATIONAL NEWS

Elon Musk will donate $6 billion, if UN proves it will solve world famine crisis

At a current net worth of $311 billion, Tesla and SpaceX founder is likely the richest man in human history. The headline of a CNN story last week claimed that David Beasley, director of the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), stated in an interview that a fraction of Musk’s worth, just $6 billion, would “solve world hunger”. In the interview, Beasley called on Musk and other mega-billionaires to “step up now, on a one-time basis”.

Musk responded on Twitter that if the WFP “can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it”.

Beasley responded on the thread CNN’s headline was misleading. What Beasley actually said was that $6 billion could help solve short-term crisis. “But,” Beasley said, “it WILL prevent geopolitical instability, mass migration and save 42 million people on the brink of starvation. An unprecedented crisis and a perfect storm due to Covid/conflict/climate crises”. 

Musk answered that he would be willing to do it if the WFP used open and transparent accounting methods to show where the money was going. Beasley offered to meet with Musk to discuss the issue, but it’s unclear when/if that meeting will take place.

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Restaurant paying $20/hour challenges “labor shortage” narrative

In late September, Dick’s Drive-In, a family-owned fast food chain with 7 locations in the Seattle, WA, area announced that it would raise its starting wage to $19. Once the employees passed a skills test, that would automatically increase to $20. According to a current employee, the chain also offers its workers “health and dental insurance, paid vacation, 401(k) matches, discounted food, educational scholarships, and they also compensate us for volunteer work”.

Customers also appreciate Dick’s food and service, and its low prices. Even after raising its prices slightly, one customer says she was able to buy “two cheeseburgers, a deluxe cheeseburger, two orders of fries, one milkshake, and a root beer” — for just $20″. 

Dick’s Drive-In president Jasmine Donovan says the chain had to raise prices on some items to afford the pay increase and cope with rising costs from supply chain issues. Some items went up by 25 cents while others went up 5 or 10 cents. Donovan says, “We appreciate that customers don’t mind. We like to be able to pay the highest wages and benefits in the industry, it’s something we’re very proud of. But to do it, we have to sell a lot of burgers and sometimes have to charge a little bit more”.

The “Great Resignation”

The success of Dick’s Drive-in provides an anecdotal counterpoint to widespread media coverage of restaurants struggling keep their doors open. Many restaurant workers have left the industry altogether due to low wages, COVID-19 fears, and long history of exploitative labor practices in the dining industry. It does lend support to one commenter’s view that, “There isn’t a labor shortage. There’s a cheap labor shortage”.

By contrast, in some states, including Wisconsin, lawmakers are debating laws to expand child labor rather than pushing businesses to raise wages. Wisconsin’s proposal as it currently stands would violate federal child labor laws by allowing 14 and 15-year-olds to work until 11 p.m. on some days. Federal law states that workers under 16 can only work from 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day, and from 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. for the rest of the year.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Biden: U.S. will stick to nuke deal as long as Iran does

At this weekend’s G20 summit, President Biden pledged that the U.S. would remain in the Iran deal as long as Tehran doesn’t renege on the terms. The commitment was undersigned by other nations that are part of the Iran nuclear deal (or JCPOA). Biden’s statement seems like an olive branch to Tehran, which has demanded guarantees that the U.S. wouldn’t once again unilaterally scrub the deal if Iran comes back into compliance. 

It’s not clear whether the statement from Biden can allay Tehran’s misgivings. The JCPOA is not a formal treaty and has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. Therefore, Biden’s intention to remain part of the deal is not binding and cannot prevent a subsequent administration from walking out as Trump did in 2018.

Experts worry that the window to reinstate the deal in a meaningful way is closing fast. Since Trump violated the deal, Iran has accelerated its nuclear program, stockpiling ever larger amounts of uranium and steadily improving its refinement. But Iran’s nuclear program has also suffered numerous setbacks, including assassinations of scientists and remote sabotage of its key facilities. Iran blames Israel for these incidents. Israel has stated unambiguously that it will carry out a first strike if it believes Iran is close to creating a nuclear weapon.

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