| "It's The White Guys Fault" - Part 4 Africa's Problems |
by Bill Zettler |
Guest Commentary
From the Desk of Bill Zettler *
In the first three articles in this series "It's The White Guys Fault," I looked at how the media reflexively assigns blame to white guys, how the issue of historical slavery is misrepresented as a white guy monopoly and how European colonialism has been beneficial to some countries. In this last article of the series, I will review the plight of Africa and the elitist opinion that we have not done and are not doing enough to help.
Contrary to what Bono and other elitist Hollywood types say in the media, the number one cause of poverty in Africa is corrupt African politicians, not lack of contributions from the United States and other G8 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Russia, Canada and Japan).
For example, over $400 billion in international aid has been donated to Africa since 1960 and if you listen to rock stars and politicians even more is needed. The problem with this "feel good" program is it has been an utter failure. The per capita income of Africans in 2005 was less than it was in 1965 adjusted for inflation. Despite 400 billion "feel good" dollars, poor Africans are indeed poorer than they were two generations ago.
So who benefited from this $400 billion largess? First were the African politicians, the predatory Princes of thugocracy who have drained and continue to drain billions from Western aid programs for their personal Swiss bank accounts. Secondly were the elitists from the U.N., Oxfam, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other NGO's (non-governmental organizations) who sent thousands of highly educated, highly compensated, mostly useless minions to supposedly help, but actually hinder, the poorest of the poor Africans. There were high salaries, expensive airplane tickets, first-class hotels and generous benefits and pensions to those thousands who "felt good," but "did no good." So is the overall lack of progress in Africa since the 1960's a donation problem or an African political problem?
How about in Darfur where 10,000 people a month are dying of starvation and violence, in spite of thousands of tons of foodstuffs in Western warehouses waiting to be delivered. The Islamic regime in Khartoum refuses to allow delivery. So is poverty and starvation in the Sudan a donation problem or an African political problem?
And in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe recently began Operation "Clear Out the Trash" which razed the homes of 250,000 Zimbabweans making them homeless and hungry. The police commissioner of Harare called these homeless victims a "crawling mass of maggots." This starving nation, that now needs to import food, was once Africa's largest food exporter. But that was before Mugabe took office 15 years ago, declaring himself President for life. So is homelessness and poverty in Zimbabwe a donation problem or an African political problem?
In Ethiopia the ruling tribes continue to ethnically cleanse other tribes by moving them from their ancestral homes to the inhospitable desert. This black on black Apartheid has resulted in at least 400,000 deaths, ten times the number attributable to the white on black Apartheid of South Africa. So is the ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia and the resulting starvation and poverty a donation problem or an African political problem?
Then, there is Nigeria's religious violence and its corrupt government officials stealing oil revenues. And we have the Congo with three million civil war dead and counting. Are these donation problems or African political problems?
Explain to me how you would relieve hunger and poverty in countries that are, in effect, at war with their own people. Who exactly would you give food to? And, if you gave it to the ruling party, how much of it do you think would reach the poor and needy? When we gave food to the Ethiopian government in the 1980's, they sold it and bought weapons and used them to kill other Ethiopians. No, giving aid to corrupt regimes just entrenches them further. Replacing corrupt regimes with democratic regimes, by whatever means necessary, is what needs to be done to save Africa's poor starving masses.
A good first step is for Bono and other media elites to spend less time making advertisements admonishing Western countries and more time addressing the black on black political issues that are, by far, the largest cause of poverty in Africa. If an African leader is genocidal and corrupt, then criticize him and get him out of there--just like you would an American or European politician. Do what Dr. King urged everyone to do: "judge people by the content of their character not by the color of their skin." No free pass, just because they are not white.
In the end, free elections in Zimbabwe and guns for Darfurans would do more to eliminate African hunger and poverty than 100 rock 'n roll concerts.
Copyright 2007 Bill Zettler / RFFM.org
Comments