What If 99% Of The People Of An African Country Said "NO!"

Let's take Nigeria, for example. There's a lot of corruption and a lot of problems. However, I talk specifically of large multinationals and the US government (not the American people). They simply act in self-interest taking the resources of the land and whilst the Nigerian state will get paid, the revenue rarely gets down to the people who most need it.

So, consider this situation:

What if the vast majority of the population, roused by a popular leader (who wasn't currently the Nigerian President), said "NO!" and demanded multinationals vacate their country and stop working altogether. They have the full support of all military factions. The country comes to a halt. The current President is powerless. Will China and the US and their big multinationals with them leave? They can't resist an entire population of up to 140+ million people... (providing most of the population staged a "revolution")..

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens


What is the resource?

The reaction will completely depend on that.

reply to post by Bleeeeep


It's a whole range of stuff isn't it - especially a lot of oil. Multinational oil companies (European and American) are particularly shoddy in their safety standards to the local area (they couldn't care less, is their approach).

It's happened over and over, time after time, in many African countries. The result is struggle for dominance, murder, rape, theft --- until finally a strongman emerges and consolidates power, and works deals with the advanced nations. Start all over.

reply to post by MuzzleBreak


But what if this time a benevolent, intelligent and highly skilled dictator comes into power? Kind of like a charismatic polymath inventor rolled into one? Would it be enough for the people to refuse continuation of operations by multinationals - surely the US and Britain etc can't invade?

Originally posted by MuzzleBreak
It's happened over and over, time after time, in many African countries. The result is struggle for dominance, murder, rape, theft --- until finally a strongman emerges and consolidates power, and works deals with the advanced nations. Start all over.

^^^^^
This

But what if the dictator is nice?

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens


This is all hypothetical, of course.

What you're thinking of in this thread, and the other thread you recently posted, is wrong.

All the movements, that have ever worked, did not work because they had a huge following - they worked because the huge following changed the minds of the oppressors.

In this day and age, a huge following isn't changing anyone's mind. Don't you watch the news?

My advice is to just leave this alone.

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens


Any leader who would rise up to selflessly lead a country in the direction of prosperity and independence would be taken out by entities whose interests are threatened by a modernized Africa.

It's also my belief those that are the most genuine and effective in their attempts to affect real change in this broken world are marginalized, silenced or, in the worst case, killed before their influence can spread too far.

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens
reply to post by MuzzleBreak

 

But what if this time a benevolent, intelligent and highly skilled dictator comes into power? Kind of like a charismatic polymath inventor rolled into one? Would it be enough for the people to refuse continuation of operations by multinationals - surely the US and Britain etc can't invade?

Of course they can. Where have you been the last years? What do you think the Arab spring movement is. Just look at Syria. They are using differences in population to manipulate and further their cause. If the movement is fundamentalistic or barbaric does not make a difference. I do not like Bashar al-Assad but I definitely do not like the Salafist or Wahhabi either whatever you wanna call them.

en.wikipedia.org...

They could have been sufists instead that I would describe as the mystical part of Islam in it preaching of tolerance, peace and pacifism.
en.wikipedia.org...

The corperate machine will always find some folks in these countries that can act as the voice of the people and then the propaganda machine continue and the sheep say good that you are keeping us safe (while manipulating consent from the sheep with lies).