Posted on 11/11/2015 4:37:16 AM PST by Nextrush
'.....in the lives of most nations there comes a moment when a stand has to be taken for principle, whatever the consequences. This moment has come to Rhodesia. We have struck a blow for the preservation of justice, civilization and Christianity. And in the spirit of this belief we have this day assumed our sovereign independence.'
The words of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith uttered 50 years ago today on the occasion of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
When elections were held in Rhodesia in 1964, the 50 white seats in the 66 seat parliament were all won by the Rhodesia Front Party. The Rhodesia Front was created by mining and agricultural interests concerned that the colony's independence would lead to a totalitarian style society.
In the Belgian Congo some 500 miles to the north, independence in 1960 led to a civil war with Communists led by Patrice Lumumba prominent in a bloody conflict replete with atrocities against whites.
The United Nations was trying to 'mediate' the conflict but cracked down on an anti-communist government in the southern region of Katanga, led by Moise Tshombe. The Katanga government was backed by mining interests trying to hold onto the mineral wealth in the face of the communist forces.
It was this kind of scenario that weighed heavily on white Rhodesians as they considered the pressure being applied on them by the British government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson to become independent with leftist black forces allowed into the system.
The events that followed including the war and the eventual 'majority rule' independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, then the emergence of Robert Mugabe's murderous authoritarian regime in latter years, all serve to give pause for thought today.
In my lifetime I've had my conservative activist period fully supporting of Rhodesia's position in the 1970's and I've had my Pharisee and Hypocrite religious period moralizing against "racism". Is that on God's Top Ten?
Things like greed and lust are. Greed for minerals that brought whites to take over black Southern African lands and some whites to oppress other whites in South Africa (The Boer War).
Lusts like those of the late segregationist defender Strom Thurmond who 'sinned' with his black maid or those of Dr. Martin Luther King who 'sinned' with two white prostitutes at a time on numerous occasions.
Underlying race as a problem are the deepest problems and my heart strongly suspects our obsessions with matters like race serve to distract us from deeper things.
The point of this piece being....?
Any time you have a government predicated on keeping power completely in the hands of a minority and completely out of the hands of the majority then you’re riding a tiger that’s growing hungrier by the moment. It never ends well.
“preservation of justice, civilization and Christianity”. Southern Rhodesia was an early victim of Britain’s postwar decline and pusillanimity in defense of Western Civ. This was foreign policy basically built on white guilt and wishful thinking. Smith - who, btw fought very bravely as a Spitfire pilot in Europe - clearly saw what the future would hold once the White Man shrugged off his “burden”.
Pamwe Chete!!!
I have a friend who was a Selous Scout during the “war of independence”. I was fortunate to have him autograph the book for me and point out his picture on the various pages. He always had his face covered by his hat.
He assured the book was factual.
Your statement sure has a familiar ring to it. Put a twist to it and apply it to the US. Being right now the lefties are trying to flood the country with minorities to take over.
Will the majority eventually fight back? Will it end well for the leftists?
Or will the majority just keep fading away to the point that the America as we know it fades into history as other conquered nations do.
History for sure, but a commentary of sorts on self-righteous hypocrisy, throwing stones, priorities.
I used to read “Solider of Fortrune” back in the 70’s as a teenager. War stories from Rhodesia were published there.
What’s happened since is pretty bad. A better solution was needed than those pushed by the Ford and Carter Administrations. The murder and starvation brought on by Mugabe was bad. Ian Smith never did anything like that.
In politics when one uses emotional arguments like race one loses sense of what really matters, like God’s Top Ten.
My own moralizing about race was a reflection of my own self-righteous hypocrisy about myself. I needed to deal with the top issues in my life instead of preaching to others.
Africa was better off under colonial rule.
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