In the 26-episode series titled Numbers Don’t Lie, the costs of the US presidential election is compared to US administration budget for the services sector and for general welfare of American people, in addition to the budget needed for resolution of global problems, such as the necessary budget for reduction of hunger, reduction of child mortalities, a fall in illiteracy, and a decline in greenhouse gas emissions.

Once every four years, the global media cover the US presidential race for a few months. Within the framework of this large-scale news coverage, the US presidential election turns into a global topic and the news coverage of the US presidential race turns into a publicity campaign for the US. One of the negative aspects of the long US presidential campaigns is their skyrocketing costs. A simple comparison of these costs with the budgets earmarked for resolution of American people’s problems and/or resolution of global concerns manifests the ceremonial nature of the US presidential vote more than ever.

Hunger and the restricted access of individuals to food is one of the major global concerns. According to the figures released by the World Food Program, one ninth of the global population, standing at 795 million people, face food shortages.

Based on global standards, roughly 13% of the populations of developing countries are short of food. Two thirds of people who are short of food live in Asia. However, the state of hunger in southern Africa is much worse. In this region, one fourth of people face malnutrition. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the product of the international community’s efforts to end malnutrition in human communities. The budget of this organization is provided by its member states, and has totaled $2.6bn for 2016-2017.

In the meantime, the money which the US presidential hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have spent to win the support of the American voters stands at more than half of the budget that the international community has granted to FAO to dispel hunger, worldwide.

MR/SS