Seems like they’re doing pretty well on that already. But going from ‘the choking grip of the white capitalist’ to self-inflicted economic strangulation and disaster doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade to me.

Actually, I know a lot of people who defend Mugabe, on the same grounds they used to defend Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin, et al… “The capitalists used their conspiracies and witchcraft to sabotage what would have been beautiful workers’ utopias.” Such a marvelously convenient excuse, since the only way to disprove it is to eliminate all democracy from the world (to prevent “capitalist corruption”) and see if socialism can then be used to construct a true paradise. Even if it can’t… well, too bad there’s no other alternative left, right? Might as well keep trying socialism until it succeeds, no matter how many starve in the meantime, because there’s no more free countries to run off to.

It’s like the cargo cultists, who eventually declare that all the seeds for next year’s crops (or even the next generation of children) must be sacrificed to the Cargo Gods before their shiny silver birds drop the magic boxes full of holy treasure. If you don’t do it, you must be forced to do it anyhow or else your holding out will doom us all! And, once everyone makes the sacrifice either willingly or unwillingly, if the Cargo Gods’ never come, then the tribe is doomed anyhow, making the desperate people very easy to control, even by the people who doomed them in the first place. No point in seeking revenge when we’re all going to die anyhow; might as well let the priests rule their Hell, on the rapidly disappearing chance the Cargo God will actually come.

I keep telling people to look at the history of Chile under Allende, Peru under Garcia, Argentina under Peron and a number of other leftists. It’s the same old plan. Make things more fair with more equal economic outcomes. Has failed everywhere its been tried. Yet the left keeps thinking that they can make it work. Aaarrrggghhh!!

Great comment. Zimbabwe is Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged come to life. Now South Africa is going down that same path.

The United States is still a couple of decades away, if present trends continue.

When he was in Zimbabwe, there were still a few white farmers hanging on, but the hand writing was on the wall. Mugabe redistributed the farms seized from productive white farmers to blacks who knew little or nothing of farming. The producers are all gone now and the country, once quite prosperous, can’t even feed itself.

I saw the same thing in Kenya in 1997. Once a very prosperous country it was in a process of slow decay because Moi’s kleptocrats kept people from building any successful enterprises.

Things are starting to go downhill in South Africa, the hope of African renewal is beginning to decay. This from Shrinkwrapped’s blog:
http://shrinkwrapped.blogs.com/blog/2010/04/western-white-guilt-and-suicidal-moral-masochism.html#comments

“Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize because when South Africa gave up apartheid he led the way to a peaceful transition and eschewed revenge in favor of enabling the emergence of a functional multi-ethnic democracy. This is now failing in South Africa. Governance in South Africa has been poor and the economy is failing its people. It is now a nation descending into magical thinking, splitting, and paranoid delusion.”

It is to weep. Anyone who has been to Africa knows it is a continent with boundless resources and hard working people who, if provided with decent governmment and free markets, could have a prosperous future.

The bloody British had to be fought tooth and nail so Africans can have their human dignity and rights.

And now Africans have had them for the last 40 years. How’s that working out for you?

Oh.

Now the same evil oppressors and their accomplices (US, Aussies, etc) have teamed up to destabilize the African economies, including Zimbabwe to advance their supremacist views, and make the point that Africans cannot rule.

So…we’re to blame for Africa being a basket case? Right. And in your view, without our “destabilization” efforts, Zimbabwe would be an economic powerhouse, is that right? Please try to argue that — we don’t get many laughs around here.

Here’s a reality check: how was Africa doing before colonialism? Even worse than now, right?

And a bonus question: whom do you blame for, e.g., Rwanda? You’ll have to work hard to blame us for intertribal genocide, but I’m sure you’re up to it.

Bottom line: Africa is and will remain a basket case until and unless Africans own up to their own shortcomings, and stop blaming everyone else for them. You’re running your own tab.

point the finger at poor African leaders who are trying hard to rebuild societies

I believe that should read ” trying hard to build societies,” not “rebuild.” Not that it matters; poor African leaders are in fact trying hard to become wealthy African leaders, and clearly don’t give a rat’s ass about building their societies.

it is time for a revolution across the African continent .

Just what the doctor ordered. More political upheaval and uncertainty, well known drivers of economic growth that exert a siren call luring in foreign investment. For the record, against what exactly are you proposing to rebel? Africa is now run (after a fashion) by Africans.

Hank Johnson wants to offer you a tip: make sure you have equal numbers of people on either side of Africa, so it doesn’t capsize.

It is an ominous thing that the reverse racists (for want of a better term) have co-opted accusations of racism in their attempts to immunize some of the world’s worst tyrants against all criticism. Obama—though not one of the world’s worst tyrants, but certainly one of America’s—is in that vein as well. It is a transparently pernicious thing to use the fight against the very real problem of racism to try to protect vile tyrants from valid criticism.

I will not waste anymore time trying to educate you bastards on history.

Fair enough, and I won’t waste any more time trying to educate you about reality.