Greed and Global Artificial Scarcity

Engineered Scarcity: How Artificial Shortages Shape Global Control

By Own Meta News | June 4, 2025

In an era of unprecedented technological advancement and resource abundance, millions still go hungry, clean water remains inaccessible to billions, and essential commodities like energy and precious metals continue to be rationed by market forces. Increasingly, experts and whistleblowers are pointing to a disturbing trend: global artificial scarcity is being used as a systemic mechanism to control populations and manipulate economies.

A Hunger Crisis by Design?

Despite the planet producing more than enough food to nourish every human being, world hunger persists. According to the UN, over 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2023—a staggering figure when weighed against current food production capabilities.

In 2021, Elon Musk famously challenged the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), saying he would donate $6 billion to end world hunger if the WFP could show a transparent, actionable plan. The WFP responded, outlining how $6.6 billion could feed over 40 million people on the brink of famine. Musk never made the donation, but the exchange spotlighted a painful truth: hunger isn’t caused by lack of food—it’s driven by politics, logistics, and market forces. Food banks in wealthy nations regularly destroy surplus food due to expiry regulations or branding policies, even as people starve globally.

Water: Controlled by Corporations

Water, arguably the most basic human right, has also been commodified. In 2020, Wall Street began trading water futures like oil or gold, essentially betting on the scarcity of a life-essential resource. Companies like Nestlé and Coca-Cola have drawn billions of gallons from aquifers in drought-stricken regions, packaging and selling it back to the public. Meanwhile, entire communities from Flint, Michigan to rural India suffer with toxic or absent water infrastructure.

Energy and Oil: Artificial Constraints in an Age of Abundance

The energy crisis of the 1970s set a precedent: control the flow of oil, and you control nations. Today, even as renewable technologies become cheaper and more efficient, legacy systems and corporate interests continue to throttle progress. OPEC+ production cuts, strategic oil reserves, and price manipulations have led to inflated fuel prices, even when supply is not truly constrained. In 2024, several energy insiders revealed that renewable energy grids in multiple countries were being deliberately underfunded or throttled by fossil fuel lobbying to maintain market dominance.

Diamonds and Precious Metals: Manufactured Luxury

The illusion of rarity fuels entire markets. Diamonds, long touted as scarce and inherently valuable, are now widely acknowledged to be artificially scarce thanks to De Beers’ century-long control of global supply chains. Despite the discovery of massive new reserves and lab-grown alternatives, natural diamonds are still marketed as rare symbols of status, allowing companies to dictate prices.

Precious metals like gold, platinum, and lithium (vital for batteries and electric vehicles) are also subject to tight export restrictions and strategic hoarding. This keeps prices high, markets volatile, and developing nations dependent on Western tech and infrastructure.

Luxury Brands: Scarcity as Identity

Scarcity isn’t limited to essentials. In the world of high fashion and consumer electronics, “limited releases” and “waitlists” are deliberate strategies. Brands like Rolex, Hermès, and Apple thrive on exclusivity, sometimes destroying unsold stock rather than discounting it—preserving perceived value by ensuring that not everyone can have it. Scarcity becomes a tool of cultural division.

A Global Strategy of Control?

When looked at in isolation, these examples may seem like market inefficiencies or corporate greed. But when taken together, a clearer picture emerges—a world where scarcity is no longer a natural occurrence but a constructed weapon. A tool to keep populations compliant, economies unstable, and power consolidated.

Artificial scarcity serves multiple functions:

• Economic leverage through price inflation and market manipulation.
• Social control by keeping the masses focused on survival, not revolution.
• Geopolitical dominance by weaponizing exports and access.

As more activists, economists, and independent media begin to expose these systems, the question remains: Will humanity reclaim abundance from those who profit from its denial? Leave your thoughts below!