What's wrong with Africa?!

I have always wondered why despite the abundance of natural resources, Africa remains such a cesspool. Why is their so much suffering, killing, social strife, lack of infrastructure and displacement of people? I always wanted to blame these problems on poverty and lack of funding to these nations but I am starting to doubt that is the real problem. I was thinking maybe it was all the corrupt government that seems to flourish, but am now thinking that may not be the problem. How can such a resource rich continent not make advancements? Have all the people been socially engineered to just accept the atrocities committed against them? Are the super powers trying to keep African nations from turning profit in order to essentially steal the resources? I thought the first humans came from Africa, why are they still behind? What's going on over there?

-One more thing, I hope people can avoid turning this into a racial thing, that's not at all what I'm going for.

[edit on 27-12-2008 by Raustin]

reply to post by Raustin


I would expect that 100's of years of colonization had something to do with it.

I have a theory but it is so politically incorrect it would probably get me banned for bringing it up.

It's a continent that is both blessed and cursed. Only time can heal it's wounds.

reply to post by mrwupy


Well don't go saying anything that will get you banned, I have a feeling I know what you're thinking and respectfully disagree. As for the other poster you really think that's the only reason? Colonization? I can see how it's been very detrimental but I still don't think it's a good enough reason for the place to still be so awful.

Originally posted by troos1
reply to post by Raustin

 

I would expect that 100's of years of colonization had something to do with it.

Obvious question: Why weren't the African peoples the one doing the colonizing of Europe?

There was, and is, a huge technological gap between those outside Africa and those within. So what gives, why were they so far behind?

It's a little dishonest to say 'Oh, it's because they were colonized.' Why so far behind to allow them to be conquered and colonized?

Don't you think that they should have learned something from the hundreds of years of colonization?
When foreign governments were in charge things went quite well. When they pulled out everything fell apart. Infrastructure was not maintained, it deteriorated.
I think we are expecting too much of them. They are not psychologicly equipped to deal with our techno society. They were happy primitives before we went in and mucked them up. We couldn't just barter with them for their resources, we had to try to make them fit our social mold.
It didn't work.
Now they have a real mess, and no one knows how to fix it. Everything we do only makes it worse.
Sorry to say, but I think the only way to help them would be to just let them be no matter what happens. In the end they will become balanced again.

reply to post by GreenGlassDoor


I was just about to post that when I saw you typed it. Why were other places so powerful and industrialized even thousands of years ago? I think I would rather live in Rome a few thousand years ago than anyplace in Africa now.

Two words sums it up:

Greed & Corruption

reply to post by infolurker


That doesn't sum it up for me. Look anywhere else in the world and people are just as greedy and corrupt.

reply to post by Raustin


It is a difficult and complicated question to answer. After all we are talking about a continent. With many cultures, religions, languages, skin tones, etc...

One of the fundamental issues is a residual consequence of imperialism and colonization.
That is to say that the maps were drawn by foreign nations with little or no regard to historical, cultural, and linguistic delineations. The result was that many African nations were split across countries. This has led to a lot of the existing strife in Africa.

There are many other issues that plague Africa, such as poverty, corruption, lack of education, etc, which are more par for the course for 3rd world economies in general and not specific to Africa.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


Good point about the maps being drawn with no thought to different groups. I realize that many of the problems are the same that other third world countries face, but as you said this is an entire continent that seems to be incapable of progress. Every time I hear something about African countries in the news it's always an atrocity.

Keep in mind that they have "poverty" because the imperialists mucked up their way of living.
We (Europe & the US) are still messing with their affairs and just continue making it worse.
We should get out of there and stop trying to make them all like us.
It won't work.
They are not ready to be "developed".

reply to post by OhZone


Bull.

reply to post by Raustin


Well, for the sake of trying to define the subject a little more clearly, allow me to narrow what we are talking about, which is really Sub-Saharan Africa.

You said that they possess a great deal of natural resources. It is true for some but not all sub-saharan countries. The ones that do have natural resources such as Nigeria or South Africa, those resources are most often owned by multinational corporations with agreements with corrupt heads of state. Very little of that money trickles down to the general population, and very little of it is invested in education, health, infrastructure, etc. It essentially a different type of colonization.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


Sub Saharan Africa was what I was going for, thank you. What you said is what I was digging at, Corporations in conjunction with corrupt heads of state having a stranglehold on the resources in these countries. I think if there was better education, the people wouldn't stand for it but of course the money doesn't go to education.

Originally posted by OhZone
We couldn't just barter with them for their resources, we had to try to make them fit our social mold.

No, not really. Mining for diamonds, oil, etc...requires skill. There is no way they could have managed something like that, even today they can't manage it without outside help.

Tapping the resources would have required sending in foreigners to mine, and that means fighting over territory, or hiring locals that come in droves and then eventually complain because they aren't running/owning the mines/farms/businesses. Of course if/when they DO manage to take over and kick all the foreigners out they are stuck once again because they still can't run them.

You really didn't think I was worried about being banned did you?

Mankind was born in Africa. The fossil records (most anyway) show that as a species, Homo Sapient was born on the African continent. We grew up and began to develop the rudiments of a society. As that society developed the strong began to realize that the more wealth they possessed and the finer things they had, the more women they would get and the further their own seed would be spread.

The stronger males and females began to destroy or drive out the weaker ones, so that they would be the dominant seed.

Those that were driven out had little choice but to head north into the harsher climates of Europe, where survival was much more dependent on brains and not brawn. The weaker members of the human race had to learn to think to survive. They had to create tools, conserve resources and be willing to kill ruthlessly in order to survive and protect their own.

Eventually those that had been driven out became the most dominant species. They gave up the brawn and began using their brains. They created worlds that Africa to this day could not comprehend. Ancient Greece with its Gods and poetry, Italy with its canals and art, In time America with its machines of war.

Those who moved to the west and east had to learn how to think to survive.

It is the ultimate revenge of the nerds.

After a few hundred generations of developing the mind the nerds returned to Africa and raped it. The strong who had driven them out stood no chance against the ones who had learned to create weapons, trickery and sleight of hand.

Africa is quite possibly the most bountiful continent on the face of this world today, but the strong who stayed behind never learned how to use the resources at its disposal. All they ever wanted or needed was to be strong so that they could be comfortable.

Africa is where mankind learned that the strong will always be comfortable and the weak will always suffer. It is the cradle of civilization and those who are in power there are nothing more than infants who care not but for their own needs and wants. Every one else there suffers and they care not.

In Africa, Strength is the law. It has always been that way. Only with time will they eventually learn to think for themselves, and only if we go away and leave them alone.

We of the west have taken our revenge. We enslaved them, we stole their riches and property. We tried to teach them what only time and understanding can. We failed miserably.

It’s time we left Africa and let it grow up on it’s own. How ever that may play out.

You cannot teach a man to think. All you can do is think for yourself and set an example.

It’s time for Africa to be left alone to be Africa.

Just my thoughts.

reply to post by mrwupy


You made some pretty interesting points. I always wondered if all the smart people just left Africa waaay back in the day to try and start up their own civilizations.

reply to post by mrwupy

Very interesting theory, and make sense in some ways, BUT, the technological advancements of Egypt, Nubia and other Ancient African cultures could through a little wrench in there.

Now people who say colonization is the issue, then why isn't India wrought with Aids and Genocide? I am not say it doesn't not happen to other countries who used to be under the rule of one of the great powers, but not at the level it happens in Africa and not in this day an age.

There is something deeper going on here and I have no idea what, but clearly some places and people in Africa are the most evil on this planet IMHO

Originally posted by Raustin
reply to post by mrwupy

 

You made some pretty interesting points. I always wondered if all the smart people just left Africa waaay back in the day to try and start up their own civilizations.

I agree with mr wuppy in that it's more probable that they were forced out, as in, weren't smart yet.