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Are We Doing Enough For Africa? (pg. 5)
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
Personally, I am rather skeptical that our recent policy towards Africa will yield long-term gains. PEPFAR, to me, represents part of the unordinate focus on AIDS which has characterized many of our health initiavites, and to make matters worse, its "conservative" methodology would appear to compromise its probable efficacy as well.
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Somehow I missed your post in the discussion Krypton and I were having. But I have to say - I enjoy reading your thoughts on Africa and Kenya in particular, as I feel they often supplement and inform my own to a great extent.
You are very right to be cautious about PEPFAR... the focus on Abstinence+ funding is questionable at best, and I'm not convinced that the implementation has been very efficient. It seemed to me to be a big "hey gais look at this! i'm doing something about aids lulz". But I guess that begs the question of whether some effort, however inadequate, is better than nothing.
But you are also right to note that there are a plethora of other major health issues in Africa - many of which are far more treatable than HIV/AIDS, and affect more people as well. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by atbell
Who is Affrica?
Are you implying that Africans are lazy or freedom hating?
What more could they (African populations) do? |
Neither actually.
They need to somehow, get a handle on all the corruption and reign in their warlords.
They've been so despot for so long they have no idea what true freedom even means.
Until they get rid of the choking weeds, nothing solid is going to take root for them to build upon.
One only has to go so far as their own living room and look at their TV to see the same starving children in Africa commercials we've been seeing for over TWENTY YEARS now...
That's not to say that some children haven't been helped, however I'm a proponent of solving the problem, not just patching it. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
One only has to go so far as their own living room and look at their TV to see the same starving children in Africa commercials we've been seeing for over TWENTY YEARS now...
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You're seriously going to use TV commercials to argue a point? Most of those commercials were shot in Ethiopia in the 1980s... when the former Derg regime used famine to crush a popular rebellion. Since the regime was removed, malnutrition in Ethiopia is on the decline. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
You're seriously going to use TV commercials to argue a point?
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Yea actually.
Not all those commercials are 20 years old and the problem STILL exists obviously albeit not as severe.
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Most of those commercials were shot in Ethiopia in the 1980s... when the former Derg regime used famine to crush a popular rebellion. Since the regime was removed, malnutrition in Ethiopia is on the decline. |
I will concede that they were hardest hit in the 80s (Band Aid anyone) and that their biggest problem is actually AIDS and other diseases. |
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| Krypton |
Do you have anything to add friendly copy-n-paste troll??:conf: :o |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by jerZ07002
canada is inhabited by the people who created those boundaries - europeans, while africa is not. Major difference! |
Yes, because Europeans has nothing to do with Canada at all...:rolleyes: |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
Yes, because Europeans has nothing to do with Canada at all...:rolleyes: |
what? |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by jerZ07002
what? |
What I meant to say is that there are plenty of Africans with European roots. How could one insinuate otherwise? |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
What I meant to say is that there are plenty of Africans with European roots. How could one insinuate otherwise? |
plenty...if by plenty you mean enough to say that people with european descent live there, then sure. but i would hardly call the european population of africa substantial. the country with the highest number of europeans, south africa, only has around 4 million white people (9% of the population), which is dwarfed by the african population. something that isn't present in canada. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by jerZ07002
plenty...if by plenty you mean enough to say that people with european descent live there, then sure. but i would hardly call the european population of africa substantial. the country with the highest number of europeans, south africa, only has around 4 million white people (9% of the population), which is dwarfed by the african population. something that isn't present in canada. |
Sorry what's the relevance of population to borders again?
A majority should have all the power they need to make any decisions they need to.
Instead they fight amongst themselves and go nowhere.
You blame 'outside influence' while the blame should truly go squarely on their own heads (for the most part).
They're so politically inept that nothing will ever get done until they're mature enough to put down their AK47s and realize what they're doing to themselves.
In the mean time, the only world element they attract are the low-end buzzards of the world who would sell their mom for $$ or are void of any empathy, on any level.
Sure we can help, but trust is hard to come by when your back yard is being raped and we'd always be looked at as 'meddling' even if we were trying to be honest.
Who can work with that??
There are solutions but they have to implement it themselves and want it enough to make those solutions stick - not just until the next military junta marches around the corner to change the rules.
(I'm obviously talking about the troubled parts of Africa here - let's not make any assumptions that I'm painting a whole continent with THAT large of a brush...) |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
Sorry what's the relevance of population to borders again?
A majority should have all the power they need to make any decisions they need to.
Instead they fight amongst themselves and go nowhere. |
You do realize that until 1994 91% of the population of South Africa didn't even have the right to vote, much less organize politically? Where does this good governance you demand spring forth from?
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You blame 'outside influence' while the blame should truly go squarely on their own heads (for the most part). |
Yes, let's just forget about history for a second.
| quote: | | They're so politically inept that nothing will ever get done until they're mature enough to put down their AK47s and realize what they're doing to themselves. |
Ok, now you're just being ridiculous.
| quote: | | In the mean time, the only world element they attract are the low-end buzzards of the world who would sell their mom for $$ or are void of any empathy, on any level. |
Are you talking about me? Actually, what the hell ARE you talking about?
| quote: | | Sure we can help, but trust is hard to come by when your back yard is being raped and we'd always be looked at as 'meddling' even if we were trying to be honest. |
Back yard being raped? I'm sorry, I evidently don't speak Canadian.
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Who can work with that?? |
Indeed.
| quote: | | There are solutions but they have to implement it themselves and want it enough to make those solutions stick - not just until the next military junta marches around the corner to change the rules. |
And these magic solutions they can implement themselves are...?
| quote: | | (I'm obviously talking about the troubled parts of Africa here - let's not make any assumptions that I'm painting a whole continent with THAT large of a brush...) |
Too late. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
You do realize that until 1994 91% of the population of South Africa didn't even have the right to vote, much less organize politically? Where does this good governance you demand spring forth from?
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I didn't demand anything - where are you going with this?
The very fact that they have been able to vote for the past 14 years doesn't bother you just a little?
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Yes, let's just forget about history for a second.
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Let's not but thanks
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Ok, now you're just being ridiculous.
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No, I'm not.
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Are you talking about me? Actually, what the hell ARE you talking about?
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Why would I be talking about you?
The subject is quite clear...
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Back yard being raped? I'm sorry, I evidently don't speak Canadian.
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*sigh*
Can't help you if you can't stay on topic, which, by the way, was Africa and foreign aid...(are 'we' doing enough...ring any bells?)
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And these magic solutions they can implement themselves are...?
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I never said what the solutions were, I simply impled they exist and that if they're anywhere near serious about solving their problems, the onus is on them to provide the environment for it to happen.
That may sound a little too nebulous for you but not everything is the fault of former colonists either...
For you maybe... |
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