Jason Y writes:
A tiny elite steals from people in many nations, not just African (or New World African) states.
The Blacks generally just sit there and take it though in Africa. And in Africa it is particularly nasty because of the dire poverty of so many of the people. For instance, Gabon has a per capita income of $20,000/yr. Should be a nice place. But the malnutrition rate is sky high, most of the people are horribly poor and/or starving and the health indicators are complete shit. Apparently some little elite, probably one tribe, monopolizes the state and steals all the money leaving everyone else with jack. With all that oil wealth, Nigeria should be a rich country. Instead it’s one of the most nightmarish places on Earth with horrific poverty and crime. You want to know why Blacks just sit there and take it in Africa? Because they are used to this crap! African Blacks have always lived in tribes under a chief. Generally the chief and his pals monopolized most of the best women and apparently a lot of the money, but I would assume that they doled out enough for the tribe to live by. They still sort of do that in a way. One tribe gets into office and steals all the money and gives it to their tribe and all the other tribes get jack. The other tribes don’t revolt because they are used a thieving all powerful chief. Instead they plot for their tribe to take over public office so that they can enrich their tribe and fuck over everyone else! I will say that I like what Mugabe has done in Zimbabwe though. The capital society is pretty peaceful and nice and even the slums are not that bad by African standards. Mugabe is a populist and a socialist, and he has done a lot of great things for his people. Botswana is said to more or less function also. The takeaway point is that Africans don’t rebel against their leaders even when they suck because they are used to living under an autocratic thieving chief who could not be challenged. Instead they opt for zero-sum games of replacing one tribe’s oppression with another’s. I do not know about this tropical diseases holding Africans back thing. There are a lot of tropical diseases in the Caribbean, Brazil, Vietnam and Singapore and those places are doing all right. It is not at all typical for a small oligarchic elite to steal everything and leave everyone else with jack. It’s hardly the case in Europe except maybe in the Ukraine and possibly in Russia and Kazakhstan. That model does exist in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Burma. Further east, this is the model in Indonesia and the Philippines. This is also the typical model in most of Latin America, though things are finally changing now. However, in India, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines and now most of Latin America, one can at least say that there is a loud and angry Left made of the masses who are getting screwed by the oligarchs. In a number of places, the Left is even armed. But there seems to be no such thing in most African states. It is if Africans simply expect to be ruled by a thieving autocratic bastard and do not see any other alternative. In most of Asia it is not the case – Mongolia, China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Taiwan are relatively equitable places. The entire Arab world is more or less run according to a socialist model as is Iran. Most of the former SSR’s are relatively socialist places such as Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kirghistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The oligarchic model is pretty much nonexistent in traditional Europe and in the Anglosphere of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, though the US is starting to resemble the model somewhat. Trust me that nowhere else on Earth would you find a country that had a PCI of $20K/yr where the majority of the people wallowed in horrific poverty, starving and sickly. That sort of lunacy would only be found in Africa. If you think this website is valuable to you, please consider a contribution to support the continuation of the site.
I wouldn’t compare the Arab states and Iran to the Western and Asian ones in terms of socialism or economics.
The Arab peninsula has socialized food distribution and medicine paid for by high oil revenues to feed almost everyone but everything else is a joke.
There is no real middle class, little economic activity derived from intellectual and artistic skills or interests, very little business and hobby types forging creative industry and small businesses, no political will to make upper and lower class interests work together.
Your either a wealthy connected type who lives in segregated properties and developments with lavish imported architecture, food, cars, and toys or you live in the depressing spans of identical government housing blocks and work in an underpaid servicing job. Of course that’s not even counting the virtual slave labor they bring in from south east Asia and India.
The West and Japan (as well as China to lesser degree) have far more fleshed out economies and social capital, a real middle class driven economy and far more opportunity to economically and socially advance.
Also, if happiness and fulfillment mean anything than their certainly a bust in that area.
Based on self reporting the Islamic world is the most miserable place on Earth outside of the poorest parts of Africa and Haiti.
There’s certain black run caribbean nations, especially ones in the anglosphere ,that have good government & have High Per capita incomes. but then again, what’s also true is their economies are based on tourist dollars, ex-pats living in the highlands, or else operations being run by foreign multinational corporations, meanwhile the host nations doing all the can to cream off (tax) the assets of the elite living in the good spaces of the islands,(you can’t move Real estate elsewhere) or have high sales taxes on the tourists in order to fund the welfare programs for their citizens. Then again, those island nations tend to be the rough equivalent of a large town or a very small city.
Perhaps they need a new way of looking at the world. I mean, you agree Hinduism has ruined India. Meanwhile, in this post, you say tribalism has ruined Africa. So it will take someone to broadcast the revolutionary message.
” A tiny elite steals from people in many nations, not just African (or New World African) states.”
“The Blacks generally just sit there and take it though in Africa. And in Africa it is particularly nasty because of the dire poverty of so many of the people.”
The same is true of parts of the MidEast , South Asia , South East Asia and Latin America. Only South Asia surpasses Africa in terms of mindboggling poverty and misery.
A tiny elite control Pakistan,India and Nepal. Under Saddam, Iraq was controlled by a tiny elite, Egypt is run by a small ruling elite. Dito Philippines .
Latin America is much easier to notice as far as control of the masses by a tiny elite. Just look at all the South American nations and the abject poverty of the Native , Mestizo and Mulatto masses.
I don’t think people anywhere just take it. There have been countless insurgencies, wars, revolts, protests etc.. It’s just that the balance of power is soo unequal and the repercussions soo brutal and through by establishments that soo many of the people who resisted are dead , disappeared or just burnt out. Some places like Venezuela and Bolivia the masses won out over the entrenched elites but soo many others places the elites ,with help usually from Uncle Sam , brutally put down opposition.
I agree. Africa, by any stretch of the imagination,does not have a monopoly on corruption.
But it does suffer from a from primitive,blatant ,in your face kind of corruption than more advanced nations.
There’s a lot of blatant corruption in South Asia too.
Does it really matter if corruption is in your face or subtle? Are we going to give some corruption a pass cause it is more sneaky and underhanded.