South America, Africa, and the Middle East have always existed in a state of abject poverty. To compare US/Canada/Europe to them is flawed when it comes to economics. They do not have hundreds of millions fully dependent on industrialized food production to survive. But here, when the economy truly implodes, the electricity shuts off, the pumped water stops, the mega farms shut down, the trucks no longer roll, and people will fight over the last pack of ramen.