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kenya (pg. 5)
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| Lesbianosaur |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dieselboy_1206
And now please explain to me why these marginal betterments of their societies took so long to come about? |
So long? A generation hasn't even come and gone. What state was perfected 40 years after it first gained independence? Considering the massive disadvantages Africa has stemming from colonialism, which was basically an inscribed social hierarchy designed to keep Africa from being self-sufficient, I'd say any progress comes as a surprise.
And in any case, progress in Africa has ebbed and flowed - I highlighted more recent examples, but there are plenty of other great examples further back in history as well - Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, or Leopold Senghor of Senegal stand out as particularly vivid examples.
But if you are looking at reasons for failings in Africa... there are plenty. Yes, in many countries corruption is rampant. Bad leaders have come to power in places like Chad and the DRC, which are overrun by human rights abuses, corruption, and a blatant disregard for citizens. But Europe had its share of tyrants in its infancy too. Aid itself can sometimes be to blame - the neoliberal economic policies pushed by the IMF and World Bank in the 70's and 80's did little to help local Africans - indeed, in many places poverty deepened as the gap between rich and poor widened. But really, I know some people seem to think that colonialism happened a long long time ago, but there isn't an African head of state that wasn't born under foreign occupation by a European power that sought only to exploit their country. There are very few African heroes only because there has been very little time for them to arise. Just wait, the era of African ascendancy will arrive soon enough.
Edit: And you also have issues of Dutch Disease (economic reliance upon resource exports makes inflation soar), aid dependency (too often aid doesn't do anything to build local capacity), manipulation of conflicts by outside powers (Cold War proxy conflicts, etc.) and diseases endemic across Africa (malaria, cholera, tuberculosis, and diarrhea are all larger killers than AIDS). In a lot of ways, Africa has been facing a very stacked deck. |
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| Arbiter |
It's unfortunate but given that even the U.S. government cannot seem to run an election without irregularities, it's not realistic to expect that an African nation can. It is mainly that this election was so close... so those problems are brought to the fore.
My friends there seem to be pretty optimistic that this will not escalate too far, and according to them the violence is pretty much restricted to a few areas. I think that both sides realize that they have much to lose from a protracted or large-scale conflict, and given that the new composition of the parliament will provide the opposition with considerable power anyway, it looks like a situation in which compromises may be reached. From what I hear about the opposition leader, I am a bit skeptical of him (he did name his son Fidel Castro Odinga, after all...) but we shall see.
I'm going there in March, so it will be interesting to see things first hand. Though by then there may not be much of a problem left if things go well. |
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| blacknoizybox |
| quote: | Originally posted by chimera66
but whatever i wouldn't go around and kill people with machetes or burn them in a church. |
the problem is that not all africans are like you. looks like most people in those lands think chopping off limbs and burning people alive is just another day |
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| Toye |
I'm in Amsterdam right now, and all 4 of the news stations on TV are covering Kenya and mostly just Kenya.
I imagine when I get back to Toronto I will probably barely hear about it. I'm sure if there was as much coverage about it on TV in North America as in Europe through the media people would be more aware of it.
The president that was elected is pretty sketchy looking. Honestly, if 1 million people are gathering Thursday to 'cause problems, I'd think the president would do something, stand down, recast votes etc instead of putting a ban on the gathering and authorizing military to pretty much do whatever they want. The problem will not end until the President wakes up from his make-believe world or someone does to him what they did the pakistani president. |
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| blacknoizybox |
| doh:rolleyes: |
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| chimera66 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Toye
I'm in Amsterdam right now, and all 4 of the news stations on TV are covering Kenya and mostly just Kenya.
I imagine when I get back to Toronto I will probably barely hear about it. I'm sure if there was as much coverage about it on TV in North America as in Europe through the media people would be more aware of it.
The president that was elected is pretty sketchy looking. Honestly, if 1 million people are gathering Thursday to 'cause problems, I'd think the president would do something, stand down, recast votes etc instead of putting a ban on the gathering and authorizing military to pretty much do whatever they want. The problem will not end until the President wakes up from his make-believe world or someone does to him what they did the pakistani president. |
imo he is pretty sketchy especially after passing that law last year that didn't allow corrupt people in the government to be investigated from some time period... |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
I actually met Raila Odinga and his son a few times just about 2 months ago.
They were nice, but their reason for being in Colorado was escape or hiding, no doubt. :p |
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| chimera66 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
I actually met Raila Odinga and his son a few times just about 2 months ago.
They were nice, but their reason for being in Colorado was escape or hiding, no doubt. :p |
maybe he was hiding his stolen money in the US...don't trust african governments |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by chimera66
maybe he was hiding his stolen money in the US...don't trust african governments |
Oh, they sent me an e-mail too! |
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| chimera66 |
| from ghana? are they asking you for money. sketchy bastards. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by chimera66
from ghana? are they asking you for money. sketchy bastards. |
No, from Nigeria. They've got millions already, and I can have some of it if I help them :) |
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| Moral Hazard |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
No, from Nigeria. They've got millions already, and I can have some of it if I help them :) |
Sounds legit to me! |
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