War Famine Poverty & Elegance in the Congo

a reply to: angeldoll
Both of you are so full of yourselves its unreal. The fact that they have little to nothing and spend their money on looking fly actually makes it a far worse and ignorant situation. You are literally cheering ignorance.

Its like the welfare brigades who sell their food stamps for cash to save for Jordans sneakers or those expensive mall clothes they can get for less than half at an indoor flea market, but let their lights go out. Yall should be cheering that on if you like ignorant consumerism.

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport


Again, Thank you for providing an inspiring OP!

Lately it is rare here.

Africa is my heart. I hope and pray it gets better everyday.

I totally understand this.

I grew up relatively poor…

Somehow, though, we started to dress like almost pimps when I was in my teens.

The girls loved it. For young poor kids it provided what was necessary at the time.

It gave us great dignity until I understood it was only a temporary device and ultimately dignity is what’s inside.

Until then people in distress are allowed any device outside of oppression to others, to gain that inner feeling of dignity and self-respect.

Africa will rise again to greet heights!

a reply to: Willtell

a girl i fell in love with was in Lesotho with the peace corp for a year.

I miss her..

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: angeldoll
Both of you are so full of yourselves its unreal. The fact that they have little to nothing and spend their money on looking fly actually makes it a far worse and ignorant situation. You are literally cheering ignorance.

Its like the welfare brigades who sell their food stamps for cash to save for Jordans sneakers or those expensive mall clothes they can get for less than half at an indoor flea market, but let their lights go out. Yall should be cheering that on if you like ignorant consumerism.

Even the poor have a right to do with their money what they deem fit for themselves.

And there are not all poor in Africa, they have a middle class

Also, the situation over there is not the responsibility of any one group

Also, you don’t know where or how they get the means to dress like that. Who knows maybe they make their own clothes.


There an old saying


Judgment defeats you

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: angeldoll
Both of you are so full of yourselves its unreal. The fact that they have little to nothing and spend their money on looking fly actually makes it a far worse and ignorant situation. You are literally cheering ignorance.

Its like the welfare brigades who sell their food stamps for cash to save for Jordans sneakers or those expensive mall clothes they can get for less than half at an indoor flea market, but let their lights go out. Yall should be cheering that on if you like ignorant consumerism.

Oh give it rest. You want to be DA JUDGE of what everybody in every country does? You are qualified in your smug sanctimonious little self image to do this? If you think so, then you are way, way, way off base. I promise you, you absolutely are NOT.

If you want to know who is a judgmental little twit, passing judgments on those you know absolutely nothing about, lifestyles of people you have NO knowledge of WHATSOEVER, then re read this thread in a few days. I think it will be clear to you.

By the way, stop the BS. If you know somebody who cashes in their food stamps for "expensive mall clothes" lol,
REPORT THEM. But you won't, and you know why? Because you don't know any. That's BS somebody's greatgrandmother used to say because she resented helping the needy. Just like you. You people zero in on that like flies on honey because you find your own greed justified and self satisfying.

So buzz off. You are out of your league.

originally posted by: Willtell

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: angeldoll
Both of you are so full of yourselves its unreal. The fact that they have little to nothing and spend their money on looking fly actually makes it a far worse and ignorant situation. You are literally cheering ignorance.

Its like the welfare brigades who sell their food stamps for cash to save for Jordans sneakers or those expensive mall clothes they can get for less than half at an indoor flea market, but let their lights go out. Yall should be cheering that on if you like ignorant consumerism.

Even the poor have a right to do with their money what they deem fit for themselves.

And there are not all poor in Africa, they have a middle class

Also, the situation over there is not the responsibility of any one group

Also, you don’t know where or how they get the means to dress like that. Who knows maybe they make their own clothes.


There an old saying


Judgment defeats you

But we have people who believe they "Buy your food"!! So they should be able to tell you what to buy! No sodas, no meat, maybe the person above (can't remember the name) will get a job at the grocery store checking the bags of everything they bought, and make them put back what he disapproves of. You know "DA JUDGE".

(Freakin' little busybodies. Can't stand 'em.)

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

What do you think they could do with the little money they have that would make such a damn difference to an entire country in poverty? Should they and others like them deny themselves a semblence of happiness and dignity simply because others are poor?

I hope you don't equate a 'semblance of happiness' with how expensive your clothes are. Or 'dignified' with looks.

Looking thru our western shades thoug, we tend to see the finest as the best.

a reply to: angeldoll
haha, nobody on the internet ever admits to being a hypocrite lol!

Do I personally know a few? Not since high-school no. Does not take much to figure out when you see somebody leave with a cart full of groceries, hand it to the person outside and receive money in exchange. I worked in a grocer retailer for years, this was a common sight.

If you support these idiots and cheer them on while their relatives complain about their selfish apparel habits in documentary interviews, then I imagine you just admire those individuals with subsidized incomes that have closets full of $200+ sneakers known for getting teenager killed in pursuit of them. Even the poor deserve $400 limited edition jordans, whether or not they have to kill or die for them even.

Its the exact same mindset.

Why you have chosen to come on this good-spirited thread and be so oppositional and obnoxious is beyond me. I've never been on a thread with you before that I recall, and yet you come on here and insult me, as well as the OP.

Why don't you go make your own thread about how much you resent paying taxes for food stamps? Ninety percent of the current population on this site will give you stars and flags, if that's what you're after. It's clearly not the topic here.

I'm actually quite bored with you already. You see, I've had this conversation a hundred times. It typically doesn't change people. That is something that must be done by a person, on the inside. I hope you have all the expensive "mall clothes" and food you ever need. I truly do. I would wish that for everyone.

But it does makes me very satisfied to know when it comes to how other people spend their money, you are quite impotent.

Good Night, and hopefully, goodbye.

a reply to: angeldoll
you seem... some type of upset. I started my post with correcting the author because his writing almost appeared as an attempt to downplay the crimes of Belgium, which I think he was not even aware of. I then replied how it is really just ignorant consumerism no different than the struggle for Jordans here in America. Its a valid opinion and am free to have it.

I know some only want to hear what they want to hear, but clearly thats not how reality works is it?

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Firstly, I'm a she
Secondly, I downplayed nothing I just wasn't prepared to go into colonial rights & wrongs on this thread
and thirdly, I'm African myself having lived in various parts of the continent since a child (although now in the UK) so I do have some experience of the African way of life hardships and mentality

To say that the Sapeurs are ignorant is ridiculous, you clearly cannot see the bigger picture that they are trying to portray, but hey ho you're an American so must be right...right?

Their reality is far far different to yours and probably anyone else's in America or UK or Europe generally. We are not generally starving to death, living a daily nightmare of war famine and disease. Their choices are extremely limited ours are not. If you want these Jordans you speak of you can get them in a multitude of ways i.e. work, loans, credit etc. The Sapeurs choose to spend THEIR money on looking and feeling good despite the desperate situations most of them live in

originally posted by: SR1TX
a reply to: Willtell

a girl i fell in love with was in Lesotho with the peace corp for a year.

I miss her..

I'm sure she misses you

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

It's terrible how somber ATS seems these days.I cannot even make a thread in the food+cooking forum without being lectured about apartheid.WTH happened to looking for and celebrating the positive aspects of life,especially in dire places and times?

a reply to: Raxoxane

Hahaha sorry had to laugh.....apartheid cooking lol
Have you noticed though that those that yell and lecture the loudest are the ones without any actual first hand knowledge or experience except for what they've read on the net? Or those that are a million miles away and unaffected by whatever ? So annoying

The image many have of Africa is often ridiculous and more often insulting. I was going to do another thread on the Himba tribe but dunno now

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

you're an American so must be right

Yes, that is correct. Thank you. What is my image of Africa just out of curiosity. It was your op that routinely and repeatedly made sure we knew they are poor and in poverty.
a reply to: Raxoxane
Well then its a good thing I am on topic in the Social Issues and Civil Unrest forum. My opinion may not support the OP, but unfortunately it is on topic whether either one of you like it or not.

Hey look, they may dress nice and they look good doing it, but I won't agree with it if they are driving themselves to go hungry to do so, as was also stated in the OP. The brands they are after are hardly within an affordable price range in the US or UK middle Americans without a loan, and somehow its more noble when people with even less wealth sacrifice everything to achieve that look??? Nope, sorry. The only ones I can admire are the ones mentioned that may be tailors and will seek out their own fabrics to create their own brands. Those individuals are noble because they actually have a sustainable plan to doing so without going hungry.

The rest of them are just ignorant consumerists, no different than those in poverty in the developed world on subsidized assistance who make sure to stay ins style with all the most expensive mall clothes. I grew up going to school with kids from the projects throughout my youth. It always pissed me off when the kids talked about how broke they are, an then discuss the latest $200 sneakers they WILL have when they are released. Food stamps, Section 8 housing, subsidized health care, daycare assistance, cash assistance, but they can afford $200 sneakers every quarter .

Its all relative, this is the same mindset, just in a less developed society.

originally posted by: PhyllidaDavenport
a reply to: Raxoxane

Hahaha sorry had to laugh.....apartheid cooking lol
Have you noticed though that those that yell and lecture the loudest are the ones without any actual first hand knowledge or experience except for what they've read on the net? Or those that are a million miles away and unaffected by whatever ? So annoying

The image many have of Africa is often ridiculous and more often insulting. I was going to do another thread on the Himba tribe but dunno now

Oh please do a thread on the Himba Tribe. They really are a fascinating group. Photographers around the world have given them recognition due to the red skin and hair, but the women truly have an amazing beauty regimen! I imagine you could do them more justice in creating a thread than I could.

Many are too far away and biased due to only hearing the negatives. Keep up with enlightening us with a more positive perspective.

I don't believe it is relative at all. Did you miss this excerpt within the OPs initial post?

They are all devout Christians rarely drink NEVER do drugs and have a strict code of conduct the primary rule being one of being a true gentleman/woman.

In America, it is simple materialism run amok....their code of conduct is far from relative to what is being shared in this thread. Can you not see that?


Edit add: a reply to: worldstarcountry

a reply to: CynConcepts
How they behave does not negate the fact they are chasing expensive European designer fashions that are barely attainable in the Western world by regular working folks, let alone in a society where the income levels are significantly lower and life apparently even more difficult from day to day to the point they go hungry to do so. That is literally defining reckless consumerism.

Are you going to applaud a homeless guy in North America for spending all his begging money on an Armani suit so he can look good while begging for more money?? Or better yet, he does not beg for money. He collects cans, scrap metal and pallets on his trike, sells flowers made from palm fronds and then buys his Armani suit so he can stand in front of a store getting the door for all the ladies and speaking civilly like a normal human would anyways while being proactive about substance abuse. I bet your just going to congratulate him and make a documentary on why its so empowering to look like a pimp but live like a hyena.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I actually was homeless, didn't beg and didn't want anyone to know my family was homeless. Here in America, one can go to a thrift store and actually find name brand clothes much cheaper than retail. It is amazing how much an esteem builder and mood enhancer it is to look at your reflection and see style rather than dowdy. Your perspective of yourself and others changes. Often, it does create opportunities for bettering yourself that would not occur otherwise.

You see it simply from a material aspect, but it is just as much connected to an emotional and psychological aspect. If it is the personal choice of an individual with dignity and harms no one else, yes I will give them a thumbs up. It is not up to me to tell another what should or not make them happy.

a reply to: CynConcepts
Ok no problem, but your not homeless anymore are you? You actually pulled yourself up from poverty it sounds like. Good for you. Did you continue wasting every penny you had in the pursuit of what are normally multi thousand dollar designer clothing?