4/22/2008

Food For Thought

at 4/22/2008 Posted by Kitty

2 comments:

Roadkill said...

Here is some Food for Thought:

What if the alleviation of famine, civil war, and general chaos in sub-Saharan Africa could be brought about by re-colonization?

Let's face it, since a wave of independence swept the continent in the 1960's, there has been nothing but a succession of wars, famines, and internecine warfare, all as the infrastructure left by the departing colonizers slowly fell into decrepit disrepair.

Huge packages of western aid have been squandered by corrupt and/or incompetent government officials (think Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, Robert Mugabe), while the people of these nations have suffered and died in the millions.

Adding to the misery have been so-called do-gooders like American Environmentalists, who by banishing such products as DDT have levied a malarial death sentence on millions of Africans each year – mostly children – while smugly congratulating themselves for saving some birds.

Then there is the scourge of AIDS, which has killed millions more even as billions of dollars of western aid packages and western-developed drugs have been provided to stem the plague. Of course, little can be done to change the habits and behavior of the people who pass the disease on to one another, especially when their own governments are too weak or inept to do much about it.

Re-colonization is one possible remedy to the suffering. It could help rebuild the infrastructure, re-establish agricultural self-sufficiency, and employ the masses. It could bring the standard of living back up to the level of 1960, which in itself would be a monumental achievement.

Would some westerners make money? Sure. But the potential benefits in reduction of suffering and death might suggest at least that the idea not be rejected out of hand.

Again, it’s only an idea, submitted for your consideration.

April 23, 2008
Anonymous said...

Roadkill:

It's interesting to see what happen in Africa after the colonies were given their freedom. It certainly shows the ugly side of societies as a free market. But then again, it takes time to short these things out and install democracy.

Once again you bring up the do-gooders and not-so-do-gooders intervening for kind-heart, Christian idealism and the monetary molesters of the mafias of modem capitalism. Could we just ignore the situation in Africa and let the free market take its course? That's were politics steps in.

Are you saying that banning DDT is a major factor in Africa? Is malaria even common in Sub-Sahara Africa? Isn't it found in the juicer parts of tropical Africa?

Maybe one of the major inventions of the last 150 years that has caused the most problems is the science of photography and motion pictures. Just think what it would be like in the world without these powerful visual reminders. Famines and wars would be just words on paper with the occasional neighbor boy transported home in a government coffin at government expense with the appropriate Purple Heart and words of heroic valor attached.

Hey, I’m in supply chain management. I don’t pretend to know how to save the world or cure its ills. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution and there’s too many variables being added to the equation on a regular basis. I don’t have a problem with people making money. When I see one of my liberal friends wearing their “People Before Profits” buttons, I ask them if they know what you call a business that puts people before profits. They always say no they don’t. I tell them the business is called “bankrupt.”

April 23, 2008

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