Posted on 04/29/2017 8:18:04 AM PDT by davikkm
After the ending of Apartheid, South Africa looked set to become the driving force of the African continent. It had the developed world’s support behind it, popular support from almost everyone, and yet it has sunk to the very bottom of the world’s equality rankings (in terms of economic disparity). And it’s not only economically that South Africa is struggling. Political corruption is rife, violence is high, and the threat of insurrection is never far away.
When the charismatic Mandela came to power as the head of the African National Congress (ANC, the present ruling party), many in the Western governments and media predicted a “great leveling” (Nelson was after all an avowed Communist), they assumed that all people would grow richer and that South Africa’s problems would soon be solved. But this wasn’t to be.
Soweto (now famous as the setting of the movie (District 9), has now become an almost unmanageable sprawl of poor housing spreading into barely stable shacks and lean-tos. Blacks, Whites and Coloured,* who have any money at all, move into gated communities with armed guards, and the incredible rise of gun crime, carjacking and home invasions affects almost every aspect of day to day life.
(Excerpt) Read more at investmentwatchblog.com ...
Communism is awful, but to diagnose south Africa, Zimbabwe and all of black Africa problems as due to “communism” is to truly and purposefully dismiss the elephant in the room.
Can you guess what it is?
“During the Oscar Pistorius trial, it was said that, at night, people do not stop at stop lights .... it’s too dangerous.”
—
Among the most successful,profitable businesses are private security firms.
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However,OTOH,as we were driving north toward Kruger National Park we passed through townships that were as bad as anything we saw in Kenya or Tanzania.
There does seem to be a huge prosperity gap in the country...the origins of which are entirely unknown to me.
Genetics?
After the ending of Apartheid, South Africa looked set to become the driving force of the African continent. It had the developed world’s support behind it, popular support from almost everyone, and yet it has sunk to the very bottom of the world’s equality rankings (in terms of economic disparity). And it’s not only economically that South Africa is struggling. Political corruption is rife, violence is high, and the threat of insurrection is never far away.
...
But it allowed liberals to feel good about themselves, which is what really counts.
I remember from the 1960s and 70s that the Congo and almost all African nations were 1 vote away from going Communist and losing all chance for improvement and prosperity (or basic freedom). Too bad the European colonizers just walked away and let that catastrophe unfold.
67% White.
16.6% Asian
8% black
1% Native American
and only 6% Latino
Ok, so it's white and liberal. White and liberal cities like Portland and Seattle can still remain very nice places to live. Apparently a lot of people think so, they have the fastest rising house prices in the USA.
The real poster child you are looking for is Detroit, which went from 90% white in 1910 to almost 90% black in 2010.
No snakes and scorpions?
Don’t go there! You’ll upset Maxine Waters.
He lasted two years. He said you can't go any where or do anything. You need security 100% of the time and can't leave the compound without it.
The Dominican Republic has a powerful example of what not to be, right next door. That helps them to know the consequences of certain actions.
Seattle is Liberal/socialist. its turned into a $hit hole. It hasn’t caught up with Detroit, Baltimore or Chicago yet, but in some ways except for the murders, its almost there as government slams down more laws every year on Wa. The recent minimum wage, anti Trump protests, and gun laws are a example.
It's quite politically incorrect to discuss, but there is a great book called "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" that was published in about 2006.
The author's thesis was that average IQ of national populations was highly correlated with GDP. Successful countries had smarter people. (Only a few oil-rich countries fell outside the curve).
Congo (Dem. Repub. of.) has an average IQ of 64.
Here is the definition of Mild Retardation from the Medical Dictionary:
Mental retardation occurs in 2.5-3% of the general population. About 6-7.5 million mentally retarded individuals live in the United States alone. Mental retardation begins in childhood or adolescence before the age of 18. In most cases, it persists throughout adulthood. A diagnosis of mental retardation is made if an individual has an intellectual functioning level well below average and significant limitations in two or more adaptive skill areas. Intellectual functioning level is defined by standardized tests that measure the ability to reason in terms of mental age (intelligence quotient or IQ). Mental retardation is defined as IQ score below 70-75. Adaptive skills are the skills needed for daily life. Such skills include the ability to produce and understand language (communication); home-living skills; use of community resources; health, safety, leisure, self-care, and social skills; self-direction; functional academic skills (reading, writing, and arithmetic); and work skills.I will submit that whether the country is nominally capitalist or communist it's probably not going to make that much difference to how things work out there.
The issue is much more about the nature of the people who live their then about the form of government.
This is a problem with "magic dirt" conservatives. They seem to think if you just apply the Bill of Rights to some dramatically different group then the Founders and their progeny that you will get an instant functional "proposition nation". A Somali with a tendency to violence, a culture of tribalism, the traditions of clitorectomy and honor killing, and an IQ of 70 will become a valued member of society once transplanted to Minneapolis.
We actually have the existence proof that this is false at this point.
it sounds like hell living there.
“This is a problem with “magic dirt” conservatives. They seem to think if you just apply the Bill of Rights to some dramatically different group then the Founders and their progeny that you will get an instant functional “proposition nation”.
That was why their plan to nation build Iraq was such a rousing success. Just give everybody the vote, blue jeans, and add water. Voila! Instant America. Worked like a charm. Neocon brilliance.
Sounds like quite a place there...run by our black brothers.
They are probably dead now...or held captive and tortured.
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