An American in Africa (Do yourself a favor..read)

The American Enterprise Online ^ | July/August 1997 | Keith B. Richburg

[TexasCowboy]

"Tribalism?"

Africa's main problem is over-population, and this causes intense rivalry over food supply.
I've seen rival tribes in Africa living side by side without any social interaction, but without strife, also, as long as there is enough food to survive.
In ancient times if food supplies were limited, one tribe raided another tribe and killed off half of them and stole their food. That mechanism controlled the population.

The Western world abhors the wars of genocide, but it's always been a part of African life, much as it was for the American Indian before the white man wiped out most of them.

Another contributing factor to the problems of the Africans is the idea buried deep on their primal pons that they should be able to live off the land.
A case in point:
While I was driving my Fiat back to camp one night on a long board road in Nigeria, my driver who had reluctantly allowed me to drive, spotted a small animal crossing the road.
He became very excited and told me, "Stop, boss! Good chop!"
He jumped from the car and, with a small club, beat the animal to death. He brought it back to the car with the air of a mighty hunter. He showed it to me with, "Good chop, boss!"
Now, it didn't matter that he had all the food he could ever eat at camp. What mattered was that he had killed his own food from his own land.
The problem with that idea is that there are practically no animals left in Nigeria, and in many places in Africa.
They live on a high carbohydrate diet of tubers. If they're lucky enough to live by a river they have fish to supplement that diet.

When the Western world seeks to "help" Africa with donations of money and food it must be kept in mind that the tribal need for their own land will not be diminished simply by having enough to eat.
It will not stop genocidal wars; it will just make the warriors better fed.

[RobFromGa]

thanks for the ping to a worthwhile article.

[MEG33]

These personal stories are devastating.We worry about violent movies and video games..Their children are live participants.

[prognostigaator]

weekend read bump

[RightField]

A "just-back-from-vacation-must-catch-up-on-FR-articles" bump for later read

[bert]

This is a good piece except he confuses countries with continents. English-Americans are not comprable with African Americans.

Who is the king of Africa? Does Africa have a president? What is the capitol of Africa?

Questions for the American media to ask on a Saturday in a mall.

[MEG33]

bttt

[TheOtherOne]

Great read. Thank you for posting.

[nopardons]

BTT

[freeangel]

Interesting read. It should be required reading in schools. It certainly makes me count my blessings.

[Johnbalaya]

This article is excellent and truly sad, for two reasons. First, there is the image of a brutal Africa that haunts him. That despite the rays of hope that are evident to him, it is overcast by the blood drenched inhumanity that surrounds him.

Secondly, it is sad because it is also a personal story of a denial and loss. He searches for an ancestral beacon that extends beyond slavery, for something far more noble than chains and the bartering of human life, for a continent and a people that would show to him an ancestral nobility beyond that which he has experienced as an American. But the images of violence and brutality haunt him when he closes his eyes and he realizes that this is not the Africa of his hearts imagining. His pain is evident as he turns his back on it. That for him to concede that the pain of slavery led to a far nobler existence for black Americans, compared to the children of Africa today, was heart wrenching. He shows this well in his excellent writing.

Thanks Valin. This article was a great read and I'm going to go out and find this man's book. He is a most excellent writer.

[backhoe]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1087916/posts?page=23#23
The Documentary they don't want you to see...
African Crisis ^ | 29th February 2004 | Jan Lamprecht
It's god awful stuff. And what happened then, is happening again, right now, in Zimbabwe. People must not "take this with a pinch of salt". These things have been done again and again.
See these & other photos & videos here:
http://www.africancrisis.org/Photos.asp

[wita]

I suppose the words "dark continent" mean a whole lot more than a populace with a dark skin. There was a post wishing for 200 more years of colonialism. I don't think it would take that long, perhaps one generation, maybe two, where the populace was educated, not by parents and propaganda, but by truth. Short of that miracle, it will take some earth shaking miracle to change the hearts of the people, and make them cringe and feel horrified at the site of blood, shed for political or tribal purposes.

Apparently Christianity, is able to engender the principle of Love thy neighbor, but it took centuries and a dark age to come to fruition, and in a heartbeat of disease, poverty, privation, tribalism, and trauma, we could find ourselves in a world just like Africa. Oh how dependent we are on the fragile system established by our forefathers, a system dependent on the rule of "law" and adherance to it.Without that principle and the willingness of the population to allow that rule, we would return to a time that our forefathers faced death merely to escape, and where would we escape?

[Cacique]

An old thread you might find of interest.

[cyborg]

It's either phoney afrocentrism or rank hatred for black Africans. I'm not impressed by this article nor the comments I read in this thread, which is just par for the course in any such in FR.

[cyborg]

thanks for the ping

I wasn't impressed by his book but I'll reserve comments since this thread is old :-)

[ThanhPhero]

save to share

[Slip18]

Save to share.

Read your articles. You are a great writer, also.

Thank you.