Here, is me keeping the promise I made to get to you.
Many of you are well meaning and donate money for aid agencies in Africa but do you ever ask about the trade wars that your nations fight against Africa and other least developed countries?
Do you question, for example, the dalliance your governments have with despots as long as business of extraction is good? The masses can starve as long as multinationals make money.
Many of your countries talk about liberalisation of markets and free market while, for example, the USA built its economy through protectionist policies and subsidies that continue to date.
I keep reading comments by people who say by colonizing Africa, Europe brought civilization to Africa. What civilization if I may?
Britain built its economy on the back of her colonies from Africa and India .
We, the youth of the present generation should be better informed and work towards a better world by fighting imperialism in all its expressions. Fight racism. Fight the military complexes. Fight overt surveillance in the name of security and fight against terror. Let’s work towards a peaceful future for all of us where each nation or nation state depending on how you see it have a right to self determination. People have agency and they know what is best for them.
Random thoughts 
‘We, the youth of the present generation’
That is very generous of you. In 1983 when I was a young person I attended a church youth gathering and managed to get a motion passed about freeing up trade. I argued at the time that the poorest nations were helped more by fair market access than aid.
LikeLike
in 1983 I was not even a young person. I was a person at the end of that year.
That argument you had then still holds
LikeLike
This is a blisteringly brilliant analysis. I’ve seen it before, but good to see it again. Thanks, Mak.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Welcome.
Africa doesn’t need aid. It didn’t need aid from the word go. It would have done well by itself.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hear, hear! Outside interest (pillage) has systematically impoverished the continent – directly and indirectly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Powerful
LikeLike
Thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicely said.
LikeLike
Thanks Jeff
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do think some misguided opinions have improved in since the 70s-80’s. I remember my school teachers saying how important it was for “democracy” to be brought to the world, and the US should be the ones to bring it (referring to Vietnam, Korea, Russia, and the Middle East). There are many discussions now about how we brought nothing but disaster to those countries and we should stay the hell out of other people’s politics. Teachers now tell students we don’t need to bring anything to anyone, and the people who live in a county should choose their own solutions.
This is a double edged sword though: some foreign countries want the US to stay out of everything, and other want us to constantly intervene, so there’s just no winning. At least colonization is seen as the devil now.
Now I have heard many foreign people state how they hate America for her international policies and trade policies. I’m not sure what people want the average american to do about this. Civilians do not set these policies and have no control over them. Yes, we vote for our politicians, but frequently they don’t do what we vote them in to do. We donate money and aid because it’s the only thing we can do and know how to do. How does the average mom in Minnesota control what her government does with foreign trade policy?
LikeLike
Yep I know what you mean Violet.
The US will, I think, prove to a benign dominant power. I wonder how people will feel after a few decades of Chinese domination.
LikeLike
I should clarify that by the standard of history the US has been quite benign for a dominant world power.
LikeLike
It hasn’t.
It has toppled elected governments.
Complicit in the killing of activists.
Have led a trade onslaught on developing countries together with the EU.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mak you certainly make some valid points and I realise my view is very much at odds with others. But I still maintain that by the standards of world history the US has been benign for a world power.
That does not mean the US is guilt free, far from it. But just compare the US to previous European powers and you will see quite a contrast. And if you look further back the contrasts are greater still.
But even in modern times compare the US and Soviet Union post WW2. The US established gave liberated countries freedom, the Soviet Union occupied and controlled them. Much of the more notorious US actions post WW2 need to be seen through this prism.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Peter, you have to be the only foreigner I know who has anything nice to say about the US. Even most Americans can’t find anything nice to say about our own country. It’s good to see that at least one person on earth doesn’t think America is a complete pile of shit, and you can do so despite our current (*cough*) great leader. 🙂
LikeLike
USA only agreed to join the WW2 after assurance from Britain that it would open the markets in her colonies to American goods.
The USSR is what came between Cuba’s freedom and total domination by the US.
Were it not for Cuban fighters, Namibia may still be a south African colony supported by the US.
And then there is this
https://twitter.com/ZachJCarter/status/885526254149095424
LikeLike
China rose as a counterpoise to US domination. For one, they don’t pretend to bring democracy. They are here to get resources and market for their substandard products. If states can deal with their import regulation and reduce their appetite for Chinese loans, there should be no problem
LikeLike
I don’t know if I’d call the US benign, but I certainly don’t want to see a world with Chinese domination. Though I suppose that may eventually happen anyway given their growing economic power.
LikeLike
In a fair world, where trade is fair and no one currency is dominant, China will not be a problem
LikeLike
HA! I have a rather nasty phrase I like, and I trust your eyes will not be offended by reading it:
“You can wish in one hand and shit in the other, and see which fills up first.” 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mak China is already interfering in Australian, it is a cause of major concern here:
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20171118064503962
LikeLike
I think, the USA government doesn’t believe in democracy. It is a story you people have been told for a long time to a point you think it is true. The US have toppled democratically elected leaders around the world and installed stooges. How does that work for democracy? The US invests in the military and goes to all this places to create market for their weapons or to have access to resources but nothing to do with democracy. Take our case for example, the chairman of the electoral commission made a press conference where he said the commission can’t guarantee a free and fair election. 2 days later Bob Godec, the US ambassador and EU ambassadors/ high commissioners told us they believe the commission is ready for election. Question is, what do they want?
If you ask me, the US should remove its army bases around the world. No African country has an army base in the US! Keep your soldiers in your borders, your CIA should stop toppling governments and your big multinational companies must stop using the CIA and others to kill those who oppose their dominance.
LikeLiked by 4 people
“I think, the USA government doesn’t believe in democracy. It is a story you people have been told for a long time to a point you think it is true.”
This a thousand times, my friend! Democracy is an illusion. We’re all somebody’s bitch over here.
And leave it up to Americans to fuck you up then wonder what the hell is wrong with you. We do this all of the time to our own sailors and soldiers, children, women, LGBTQ and minorities. Holy shit, it’s no wonder Jesus does so well here….the land of the used, abused and indoctrinated.
And Christian Americans love nothing more than passing out Bibles in your continent while people starve. They fight sex ed and condom distribution at every turn in a land that’s not even their own. That way they can go back to Africa a few years later with their Bibles to save those little ones left orphaned by AIDS. WASH them with the blood of Jesus, RINSE away their sins and REPEAT stupidity. Shitty McShit Faces.
LikeLiked by 3 people
There are many layers in the problem.
Big companies with money are a threat to democracy everywhere
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s why I put the word “democracy” in quotes when I made my previous comment. Trust me, the people here know the limits of “democracy.”
I agree…we should pull out of every country completely and NEVER intervene…I’m pro isolationist. However, when we do that there is an outcry of us being barbarians and not helping other countries in need. Don’t forget what Saddam did to Kuwait.
Once again, American *citizens* do not make foreign policy. It’s left to the crazy people in charge. I can’t control our crazy leader anymore than you can control yours.
LikeLiked by 3 people
True, Violet. It’s interesting how our leadership tries to convince us that we’re (citizens) in control here in the States. We’ve never been in control. They have always been in control. Then again, that’s what happens when you have a country that was taken over by English prudes for the sake of forming a theocracy. And ta-da, we’re still dealing with that mindset centuries later.
Geez, I wonder how much better off the entire world would be if the US didn’t pour so much money into our military and Israel? Their apocalyptic scare tactics have so many Christians here convinced that this is moral! They don’t even question those tactics, they actually encourage them.
Sorry, Noel, our government and “charity efforts” suck. You have the right to be pissed with my country.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your economy is likely to tank if you stopped selling weapons
LikeLiked by 1 person
True. The US profits heavily from war. That and the slave labor of our prison system.
LikeLike
I can’t blame the citizens. You and I have had anything but the best of relationships. So my beef is not with the citizens maybe apologists of the state but generally at the policy makers
LikeLiked by 3 people
I know, my brother. It still doesn’t ease my white American guilt. All the crap that I’ve been through is just a fraction of what your fellow citizens have been through. That’s a big aspect that’s so depressing upon deconversion, removing the blinders and REALLY seeing the injustices throughout the world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The irony is that prior to WW2 the United States was isolationist, staying out of other people’s wars was the prevailing mood in the country. In the 1930’s the US Army almost dismantled. As WW2 commenced President Roosevelt help for Britain was in defiance of the US congress.
The Russians now admit that after WW2 they would have taken over the whole of Western Europe if the US had not stood in their way. The Soviets felt tricked by the Americans into letting the Austrians hold free and fair elections and were determined that would not happen elsewhere in Eastern Europe.
Fast forward to the year 2001 and the American mood was again for isolation but another event. 9/11 changed all that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Peter, I voted for George W. Bush the first time he ran for president solely for his isolationist views. You can only imagine my horror when he dragged us into the Iraq war after 9/11…and it turned out there was NO evidence for weapons of mass destruction. After that my faith in elected officials was shattered.
My dad said he lost his faith in elected officials when Johnson dragged our country into Vietnam…another war which was highly unpopular with Americans.
Despite our people’s desire for isolation, US politicians just can’t seem to stay out of foreign wars. So it’s ironic that foreigners think we’re actually warmongers. They never get to see the fury our civilian population has against these foreign wars.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your army is the single largest corporation in the world. It always has to flex its muscles.
I think Bush 2 was filled with hatred for Saddam and was fulfilling what Bush 1 didn’t accomplish and lies were not going to come in the way of that ambition
LikeLike
Don’t forget Bush was very religious (see my response to Peter). Religion played a part in this war, no doubt.
LikeLike
Violet the Iraq invasion with hindsight looks a very poor decision with so many disastrous consequences.
It turns out that no matter how you look at it, the decision is indefensible. The one time governor of my State of Tasmania was Richard Butler a UN arms inspector, he maintained before and after the invasion that there were never weapons of mass destruction.
Likewise the federal Member of parliament for Hobart, Andrew Wilkie, was a former government intelligence officer. He resigned from the army just prior to the invasion because he could see from the intelligence that there was no case for an invasion.
So an incredibly bad decision that the whole world is paying for.
What I ponder is whether the powers that be were blinded by their preconceived opinions, or were there more sinister motives?
LikeLike
We can add Libya to the list.
LikeLike
Trust me, America knows the Iraq war was indefensible, and our people feel incredibly duped by absolute lies/incompetence of our administration. Yes, the entire world has paid the price for this terrible mistake.
As to the motives of G.W. Bush…I do remember he told us he “prayed deeply over Iraq and God told him to go to war.” Outsiders won’t believe that excuse, but if you know religion in the US, you’d know this is entirely possible. 😦
LikeLike
Mak Libya is an English/French fiasco. The US really wanted nothing to do with it, they did provide some military support but that was because the English/French lacked the capacity in some specialised areas.
As a result of the Libyan experience the West was loathe to intervene in Syria. That went to pieces anyway in a worse way than Libya. Sometimes you can’t win.
LikeLike
This is spot on. Africa never needed help until we showed up. Just like any other society among the native Americans. They lived for millennia without our belief systems, and the do-gooders cramming the Christian God down their throats to save you heathens has created misery and poverty in and an economic system designed to enslave your lives. A system nobody wants to live in but every one of us is a slave to. That’s why when people make enough money they get out it. Move to the country.
LikeLiked by 3 people
And the colonialists also brought diseases that were not known of before. Created tribes that hitherto didn’t exist and which in so many places have led to continuous strife and the same people have the temerity to call Africa a dark continent.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Interesting. I’ve never heard of Africa being called the dark continent. I’d say it’s more a dark world.
LikeLike
Interesting. I have heard that term for so long I don’t pay attention to it
LikeLike
It’s a truly appalling term. 😦
LikeLike
I am surprised you haven’t heard it used
LikeLike
I meant to say the entire world is a dark place. Sorry.
LikeLike
My Kenyan brother, an excellent manifesto on what works best for you. I applaud you for proposing this. Too often, particularly in the U.S., we are forced to listen to what our leaders tell us what’s best for others. What they fail to mention is that what they truly want is what’s best for their investment portfolios. Thank you for offering this perspective, my friend. Naked hugs!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your government dupes you. It is about market and more market
LikeLiked by 3 people
So very true. That seems to be the primary purpose of governments everywhere. 🙂
LikeLike
I couldn’t agree more. Western governments look for assholes willing to sellout their people for their own profits and leave Human rights and n the dust. What we in the west like to call colonialism, is really best described as either pillaging or the outsourcing of slavery.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Human rights is a song the western governments will sing as long as it doesn’t come in the way of dollars. Why is there still market for cobalt and other minerals mined from the DRC when there is a human rights crisis and child labour? Because without them, Apple can’t make their phones. Human rights only count when money is not involved
LikeLiked by 1 person
Again, this is true of ALL governments. Corruption, greed, inequality, selfishness, injustice, racism/tribalism….these are problems of the entire human race, not just of America. We are all complicit, and we all need to contribute to the betterment of mankind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with you totally. My point is your government or the EU should not pretend to occupy some high moral ground in any of these issues
LikeLike
Agreed. But don’t all corrupt governments claim the high moral ground?
LikeLike
Well yeah. Saudi Arabia is busy killing Yemenis and claim they are fighting rebels and now they are recolonizing Lebanon
LikeLike
Western governments aren’t the only corrupt governments. I’m pretty sure they’re all corrupt.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Agreed. The US also wants Canada to be their puppet.
LikeLike
Indeed Violet!
Think of two figures, Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe. Sadly it seems that Mugabe is more the norm and Mandela the exception. A pity indeed as we review history Mandela stands out as one of the great figures.
LikeLike
Mandela, interestingly doesn’t get a good rap around here. He, like Teresa are creations of the media.
LikeLike
Interesting! I still see Mandela as a great man.
I realise that many South Africans are frustrated by the slow pace of reform. But South Africa’s position is heaps better than Zimbabwe. I see the people in Harare are celebrating the impending departure of Magabe.
Coming back to Mandela I suppose he was a figurehead of sorts who did little actual governing.
LikeLike
No, south Africa is struggling to get Zuma out. And maybe just as bad. Look at the xenophobia as a result of unemployment and so on.
Zimbabweans are in celebratory mood and whatever the outcome, I don’t think it can be worse than the last decade under Mugabe
LikeLike
You are right V.
My concern is the double standards. They lecture Africa on corruption but allow companies that have been found to be corrupt by their courts to do business in Africa.
Last semester I was doing research on water and I found reports of companies from France that had been found guilty of corrupt practices still doing business in Africa. What’s role of the governments in such cases?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not to sound like a broken record, but ALL governments are corrupt, they ALL claim the moral higher ground, and they ALL have double standards. Show me a completely honest government the world over and I’d probably faint.
The problem is America is bigger and more powerful, and this means we can do more damage than others. Don’t forget corrupt governments (all governments) damage their own people as well as foreigners…and the american people have suffered greatly under our own corruption. The real question is, how do you stop it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I still maintain we should a lot more minding our own business & leave other countries to their’s. I hate seeing one country try telling another how to run their country!
LikeLike
But then again leaving a country to its own devices led to the Rwandan genocide. Sometimes its is a delicate balancing act.
LikeLiked by 3 people
The Rwandan genocide wouldn’t have happened had the Belgians and the French not planted the seeds for it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nonetheless, when the Rwandan tragedy happened, who was it blamed on? The US.
LikeLike
Sorry, that wasn’t clear:
The Rwandan genocide was blamed on the US because we didn’t intervene to stop it. Do you think we should we have intervened?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good question. I hate it when we force ourselves into other lands to take away from citizens and stir up shit. However, when there is something as awful as genocide how should we intervene? I couldn’t imagine witnessing something like that. Those poor people. No one should be murdered by dull machetes and machine guns or buried alive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is the speeches of Clinton during the genocide that America had nothing to gain or something close that has brought her in sharp focus.
I think in a moral universe, anyone who can stop death, even of a single individual should do all they can
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed. Unfortunately the US had just had a total f’ing disaster in Somalia right before Rwanda happened. So the decision was made not to intervene. Was it the right decision? As an isolationist, I tend to think we were correct in not intervening. As a humanist, I’m appalled we didn’t intervene.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you think the decision was because of the disaster in Somalia or the apparent lack of resources to extract from Rwanda?
LikeLike
I was in my mid-20s during the Rwandan genocide, and I can tell you the US population in general was still in shock over what happened in Somalia.
In the interest of full disclosure, I need to point out that during and after the Somali crisis, my state took in huge numbers of somali refugees…Minnesota has the highest population of Somalis in the entire US, and my city has very high numbers of them. While these Somalis were thankful for our help, they impressed upon us how the US needed to stay the fuck out of their politics, their country, and their lives. Considering what happened to our US soldiers there, we decided they were right.
So I do believe that the average US citizens felt we should not meddle because Africa didn’t want us there.
Now as to the greed of our policy-makers wanting to extract resources from the region, this is likely true. However the conversation among us civilians at the time was that we needed to learn lessons from the vietnam war and stay the hell out of other countries.
Looking back now, and knowing the full scope of what happened, can I honestly say to myself that we shouldn’t have helped Rwanda? No.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes Violet as you observe the US intervened in Somalia with humanitarian aims and was punished as a result so it is understandable that they wanted to stay out of Rwanda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with you totally
LikeLiked by 1 person
Africa’s history represents the world’s history: Asia including the Middle East, Australia, and the Americas including the Carribean Islands were all rapped by the seed of the Japhetic genetic mutants. The only thing that will be put an end to the Gentile reign is the soon pending Judgment of Yaweh!
LikeLike
I think you landed on the wrong blog. The only judgement we know of is that from the golden boot
LikeLike
Sorry you took offense, my comment was actually in support of Africa as she has the same history of all continents invaded by Japheth’s seed. I didn’t land anywhere, I was created by Yahweh from the dust of the earth, “landing” is the other guy’s story. Judgment is spelled with only one e. Sorry not familiar with “golden boot.” The Judgment I speak of can be find in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelations in The Holy Book. Are you a transplant to South Africa? The remark made regarding Yahweh’s Judgment was referring to Gentiles. Are you a Japhetic Gentile seed?
LikeLike
You seem to have forgotten the endless flow of medical aid, vaccines, humanitarian volunteers, and tax deducted donations given to many countries.
When you look at natural population levels before and after European colonization, you’ll find increases of 400% in some cases. Almost as if our agricultural and technological advancements make it easier for people to live.
Yes, some European advancement was made easier by enslaving others. But, we also lead the charge in fighting slavery and are the most effective abolitionists. In contrast, Africa is still a hotbed of slavery, human trafficking, disease and ethnic cleansing.
We can withdraw our aid, our companies, our colonists, our technology and trade. If you want.
LikeLike
Oh thanks for the overpopulation?! Because more people means the world becomes a better place? And let’s not forget the gift of Catholicism in many of those countries which prohibit the use of birth control. Fortunately overpopulation still wins against the spread of AIDS…I guess? And that overpopulation increases poverty leaving more people to be exploited into slavery.
Your attitude is so typical of the white colonialist, you gave the disease, and then want praise for the cure.
Why can’t people just be more thankful for the white man’s genocide, religious indoctrination, spread of disease, enslavement and exploitation of native peoples and resources? I mean maybe one day they’ll get an iPhone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your reply is typical of…well…a racist. You realize African societies are committing genocide right now? We aren’t. You realize they are doing religious indoctrination? Spreading disease? Even having sex with virgins to cure AIDS! We spread disease? Why is it every refugee family I treat is infected with intestinal parasites? Scabies? And a host of viral susceptibility? Nice try.
You couldn’t last a year without “white colonialist” technology. You couldn’t even refute this. Using their technology, their language. If you try, it just further reinforces my point.
Over population? So your argument is white colonists force natives to reproduce? That’s an idiotic argument.
One day you’ll be able to utter those wonderful words. And I’ll be able to respond “You’re Welcome.”
LikeLike
Racist? lol Okay.
Read Guns, Germs and Steel, or some other book that explains how societies develop, why overpopulation happens, why Europeans spread disease to places they invaded. You seem to have the barest knowledge of…really…well anything except your eurocentric view. And when you look at all the blood that the white man has taken to get these technological advancements, your greatness becomes an illusion. Anybody can get to the top by stepping on people who have less power. It’s no impressive feat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Stepping on people with less power” ahhh. The racist reveals himself. Believing that some are inherently less powerful than others. That people start with less power than others. You realize white skin is a relatively new adaptation?
Please describe precisely how in 40 AD my ancestors were more advantaged than yours. Heck, they might even be the same.
I’ll tell you what, I’ll stop my Eurocentric perspective when the South Sudan starts sending me aid. Or when The Camaroonian Peace Corps aid workers show up in my town. Or we start calling Karachi to scam them with fake IRS calls.
Don’t worry. I’ll wait.
LikeLike
I find it incredibly insulting that you use the word “Eurocentric” in a negative way. Of course I have a Eurocentric view and unapologetically so. My ancestors were European, I have European blood, I have European heritage, I have European traditions, a European name. You wouldn’t dare go to China or India and any accuse them of having an Asia-centric perspective.
In fact you’re targeting one of the few cultures that has the self awareness to critique their own perspectives based on these traditions.
So yeah I have a Eurocentric view and I have no problem with that.
Am I not allowed to honor my family my traditions because I’m white? My language? The achievements of my people? How about instead of attacking other races for their traditions and cultures you instead try to lift up your own.
LikeLike
Oh no I’ve insulted you. Like your ignorance and racism isn’t an insult to me and my friend whose blog you commented on. I have no desire to continue discourse with someone whose fundamental understanding of history and human development is so fundamentally flawed. If it makes you feel better, I won’t concede that you are right… But I will concede that you are alt-right. Cheers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Also, this was an initial response to a racist ideology. Have I mentioned any race other than my own? I don’t believe I did. I guess leftists don’t own mirrors.
LikeLike
Swarn, you are not getting anywhere with this fellow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think you would know a racist if one hit you on the face.
You are ignorant as soup. You better just shut up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unfortunately I don’t have to comply. Also, ad hominem attacks are not a valid argument.
LikeLike
Just so you know, a rebuttal was issued on my page to your recent post.
LikeLike
I have seen it, interesting post. I see you write books too. Good for you.
LikeLike
I write garbage. Enough garbage that it can fit between two covers. Hence, a book.
LikeLike
Well, most of the things that sell are garbage. You have a big market.
LikeLike
Yeah, actually. For some reason, a lot of sales happened in Japan? None of my books were ever translated in Japanese. But maybe it was used as a bad example, lol!
LikeLike
They could have been using them as door stops, you never know. But if you made money out of it, does it bother you how they were used?
LikeLike
Not really. I’m not a fan of my books. As long as they are happy, I can live with it!
LikeLike
You know!
We should be happy there are iPhones even if people are killed in the Congo to get the cobalt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] the dear white people post I wrote a while back, there is this ignorant fellow who has […]
LikeLike
[…] the dear white people post I wrote a while back, there is this ignorant fellow who has written Uh oh…Attacking […]
LikeLike