This reminds me of something that I have thought about before. The world demonizes colonial rule. Europeans being the most likely villains in past centuries. We forget that we, the USA, were created through colonial imperatives. Yet we overthrew our masters and created a country that is the envy of our once masters and much of the rest of the world. Yet, in the darkest continent there is little evidence of the smallest desire to be free and create anything. They have been subjected to all of the crucibles which might cause an insight as to how to move forward but they have not. I have often wondered why this is so. Africa is a land of plentiful resources, as compared to somewhere like Nippon, yet the Japanese have prospered while the Africans have yet to leave the chute. There are a lot of racist views which would explain this. I think they lack overwhelming proof. I am interested in hearing a viewpoint that explains Africa's lack of progress.
FRiend, I've tried hard to reason out the things that would explain all this, but each time I try, I get flamed for un-PC behavior.
So, whilst I don my flame-retardant vest and get my K-pot on, here goes:
It's a cultural thing. I give point to the Japanese and German work ethics, for starters. Also, the Middle Eastern trade ethics as well. We look at darkest Africa, and it's tribal conquest.
Point is, in Europe and the Near East, and also Japan, there were cultural codes of conduct, trade practice, and work and behavior ethos. I find these things missing in sub-Saharan Africa, with the noticable exceptio of the Euro-Colonial enclaves.