Let us discuss post colonial sub-Saharan Africa, why it is a failure, and the pathetic states of its countries, South Africa included. Personally I blame savagery, tribalism, corruption, bad leadership, mismanagement and stupdity for the gargantuan amount of problems facing this area.
Leadership is a huge problem, especially with all the corruption. Uganda has suffered horribly because of this.
They are not alone. Every African, sub-Saharan country, apart from Botswana and pre Apartheid South Africa, have been ruined by corruption. In Nigeria the filth is so deeply ingrained I doubt it will ever come out. Sad.
It is sad, I only mentioned Uganda because, I have been there and have been with the local community in and around the town of Jinja for 2 weeks. Which as it seems has had a similar effect on me as spending your time in South Africa has done to you, I found it an eye opener and something I'll never forget.
many many many problems a lot of which are historic and the fault of Europe. Firstly we divided Africa by geography and convenience which in an area which is strongly tribal was disasterous. Secondly to those in power comes great wealth and with great wealth come corruption and tyrany. Rarely does a leader ever rule without creaming a little, or a lot, for themselves. However the west has largly ignored this as long as the corrupt leaders cooperated. thirdly, we sell them guns to shoot each other. It makes us a lot of money and we don't need to worry about the consequencies. fourthly resources. Africa is rich beyond europes dreams for natural resources. If you think it is bad now, wait to see what it is like in 20 years time. Of course the place will be raped and the remains left to rot by the western corporations fithly disease. millions die of dieseases in africa that in europe are unheard of. so the pharmaceutical companies don't bother researching and making drugs for them. Heart disease, heart burn and obesity? They are falling over themselves for the next big western drug. Like the average African has impotensy, high blood presure and weight to worry about FNG
Arab and European colonialism have taken it's toll, but have also provided social structures which at least some of the African nations benefit from. The artificial borders which don't fit the cultural and tribal borders are obviously a huge problem. I believe the tribalism is the core problem in most instances, and a direct cause to corruption and economical ineffeciency. But do not underestimate the huge impact multinational companies have on keeping Africa in the backwaters. I think tribalism allows this to happen, but this is no excuse for explotation.
Yes, the whole "all of Africas problems can be traced back to the yoke of colonialism". Many countries which were previously colonized have been massively succesful, like India, which is now self sufficient and growing. How much foreign aid did they need to achieve this? One of the problems of black Africans is blaming their problems on other people and waiting for "someone else" to save them. Tough luck. The world doesn't owe you anything. Many groups have recovered from wrongs done to them and gone on to dominate and prosper in many fields of life. The Jews, for example, or the Indians. The Africans failed spectacularly. True, but this is still no reason (or excuse) for the current state of affairs. True, but you are ignoring several things here. Leaders like Mengistu in Ethiopa and Mugabe in Zimbabwe do this on a staggering scale. I can, if you wish, name many African leaders who were either appointed, grasped power by coup, or were elected, and went on to proclaim the "end of corruption, nepotism, tribalism" etc. but went on ruling in a fashion that benefitted themselves and their immediate family ONLY. In Malawi, for example (and I have more examples if anyone wants to), over HALF of the national budget went to ministerial salaries and the like. That is not creaming, that is disgusting greed on behalf of the people and the state. Africans set the benchmark for this behaviour in pretty much any context, favoring their own tribe over another tribe, their own family over another... It's sickening, and the people who suffer the most are the people. As for Western governments supporting crooked, bent and corrupt African leaders, France sets the benchmark, sponsoring, for example, Jean-Bedel Bokassa's crowning as "Emperor" of his 2 million subjects, a ceremony that cost 22 million dollars. They would kill each other with other means if we didn't. Take the Zulu trek southwards into South Africa (interesting point, the Dutch arrived in South Africa before most of the black tribes did) they exterminated the Khoi San in acts of genocide. I hate it when black Africans talk to me about violence, looting, rape, war, and genocide as if it is a white invention. They have been fighting and subjugating each other in horrible ways since before we came. We merely had the brains to exploit them. Yet the resources are horribly mismanaged. What happened to the hundreds of billions US dollars that Nigeria made during the oil boom years? A lot of it is in private, offshore bank accounts. A lot of it was wasted. A lot of it has mysteriously dissapeared. Little of it benefitted Nigerians. Sure, but it is also their responsebility to take care of themselves. When AIDS appeared in the 80s, only one (will return with name later, have source) African leader campaigned against it. In Zimbabwe, the government refused the hospitals to classify it as cause of death. Like with anything else, their own horrible inefficiency at dealing with diseases is holding them back. The spread of AIDS in South Africa NOW, among the black population, can be blamed on their own immoral lifestyle and stupidity. If you protract AIDS in South Africa now, you are stupid. There are ads everywhere, on streetpoles, on the radio, on TV. There are free governmental issue condoms. But what does that help, when you have african religous superstition and their incredible ability for stupidity pulling in the other direction! Thabo Mbeki, the current president, worked against AIDS prevention during the late 90s and early 00s, saying it was "imaginary", that a "virus could not cause a syndrome, only a disease, and thus AIDS was logically impossible", and that it was invented by white westerners to make Africans look immoral. (Not that they need any help, from what I have seen. :roll: ) When an anti AIDS campaign proposed new anti-retroviral medicines be distributed to hospitals, he said: "our people are being used as guinea pigs for dangerous toxins and drugs" and likened it to biological warfare. In 2000, the South African minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, claimed that the best cure for AIDS was eating garlic, beetroot, and olive oil, which she claimed had produced "extraordinary results". When Jacob Zuma, the DEPUTY PRESIDENT, was on trial for corruption and rape, he conceded to having sex with a woman who was confirmed to be HIV positive. When asked why he would have sex with a HIV positive woman without wearing a condom, he replied that he was not worried since he took a shower after having sex, and thus the risk for AIDS was gone. This is not some misinformed villager. In Soweto, I witnessed this attitude on a larger scale. Raping virgins to get rid of AIDS was considered a normal practice. Consider that for a moment. Even if it was true (which it is most surely not), what kind of man forcefully ravages the vagina of an infant? Well, Sowetans do it on a daily basis. Actually, a recent study done here showed that 40% of blackSouth African women are overweight, with all the complications that brings. pharmaceutical companies will do whats profitable, that's the bottom line for them. I get sick and tired of excuses for Africa. Africa won't become a better place untill Africans stop blaming others and get their shit together.
You need two to tango. African leaders sell out their populations for exploitation as much as the African people of a whole have failed to better their own situation
ouch Panzerman why you take my thread apart like that? It was pretty harsh I was not using it as excuses and my list is neither exhuastist nor the only major points. But you admit that the faults I list form part of the problem, but now we are just haggling over percentages. BTW, I was not justifing anything, only listing the problems as I see it. FNG
Those are the problems, the reason Africans can not deal with the problems, or even make problems worse (as other groups have) is bad leadership. The reason for bad leadership is cultural. In the end, it is up to Africans to sort their own continent out, and they are unable to do so. A reflective moment for me in Soweto was when a man of about 30 years of age told me: "Things were much better in the old days. I had a job then. I was not afraid of the tsotsis (criminals). Now there is nothing." Indeed, since Blacks in South Africa got their freedom, about 5-10% of them become richer, while the income gap became larger and the rest become poorer and with less oppurtunities than before. ANC! :angry:
The African National Congress, the political party that inherited a perfectly functioning nation and is in the process of running it down and turning it into another Zimbabwe.
Bad leadership, I can relate to that. The reason for bad leadership is cultural? A bit vague, but OK. But why are the Africans unable to sort themselves out? I'm eagerly waiting for an explanation. There are allways people who had it better. You'll equally find thousands of people in the old Soviet Union or Warsaw Pact countries who'll tell you how much better things used to be. And in many cases it's true as well, for those individuals. And one thing undemocratic countries are good at is crime control, they don't have to bother with all the legal details or worry about the public opinion.
So the pressure from multinational companies, which by the way have a lot of property, have nothing to do with it? As you wrote yourself, it takes two to tango.
I was referring to infrastructure, which, after the end of Apartheid, was free for all. And, regardless of race, South Africa has become much less safe.
Bad leadership, I can relate to that. The reason for bad leadership is cultural? A bit vague, but OK. But why are the Africans unable to sort themselves out? I'm eagerly waiting for an explanation. quote] Africans, who label themselves "communal", work for their own good or the good of their tribe. The cycle is something like this: - Military figure takes power - Military figure holds speeches and makes promises of improvement - Military figure declares martial law to gain control over "opponents of the revolution" or similar - Military figure puts his family and members of his tribe into positions of power - Military figure becomes increasingly corrupt, shamelessly taking what funds there are and using them for himself and his inner circle - Military figure eventually becomes unpopular - To consolidate his power, military figure uses secret police, death squads, et cetera, adding to the grief of the population - Popular figure, writer, doctor, activist, opposing politican, mysteriously dissapears - Civil war erupts and or another military figure takes power - Repeat. The African culture is like a genesis pit for corruption, selfishness, laziness and they prove it in so many ways, from the behaviour of their heads of state to the guy in the street. Exceptions are usually branded as "sell-outs" or "un-African".
They are benefitting from it, so good for them. For the people who aren't benefitting from it (all but a select few of Africa's population), wake up and do something constructive about it and stop complaining. You're country is being raped and you're to busy using your newly acquired business loan to get a German luxury car. (As of 2005, 3/5 cars in Nigeria are Mercedes Benz. Talk about bad priorities)
I was under the impression that in the townships where black people were forced to live there wasn't any infrastructure worthy of the name. I wonder how much of this, is due to the government now actually bothering to take note of the crime rate in the townships.
