print“…At some point in the reams of repudiations and recommendations American writers issue authoritatively about Zimbabwe, they shift mysteriously to the passive voice. Allusions are made to a Zimbabwe where all was sweetness and light. One is told that once-upon-a-time, this helter skelter of a country used to export food. That not so long ago, life expectancy, now 33 years, was 60 years; that in that bygone era, unemployment, now over 80 percent, was extremely low; that Zimbabwe had the ‘best health care system in Africa,’ and the highest literacy rates.
Mugabe reversed all this. That much we know. But who was the Prince among Men responsible for the good times? We are never told. …”
That’s from the new WorldNetDaily column, “Mugabe, Mbeki, Maliki: They’re Our Boys
Here’s the Africa Archive.
What a terrific column. Your words are so precise and parsimonious. It would take any other writer about a month to make a point half as cogent, let alone compose a single argument. Such great writing – always a pleasure to read.
I’d like to second NIC’s praises. Ilana’s latest piece confirms once again and with flying colors what I’ve always been saying: she is the Goddess amoung political commentators! Keep up the great work, your majesty!
I’ll no doubt develop this theme further, but in my pessimistic moments I wonder if civilization (defined as those places where ordinary people can live secure in their property and reasonably free from arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and being eaten)has spread about as far as it’s going to in the foreseeable future.
In other words, maybe this is as far as Enlightenment, industrial civilization extends for a while to come.
http://rantsand.blogspot.com/
“Tribulation” is perfect. Apparently it comes from a different latin root than “tribe”, but it still suggests “tribe” to this English-speaker. And that’s exactly what Mugabe is doing: reverting the land area of Zimbabwe to tribal rule. That tribal organization of a society cannot support the population that modern western social organization did — therein lies the tribulation.
What’s interesting about the first two cases is that we (Britain and America) have the unfortunate tendency to not want to be bothered about the effects we’ve helped create. I’m not sure that there’s much of an outcry in Britain over either Zimbabwe or South Africa, and the horrible situations created there. As for America’s part, I clearly recall that before the “regime changes” in Africa, the white minority were demonized as “bad people” in the media, guilty of holding the black population down, and that was enough information for most Americans. The third case, Iraq, is clearly ongoing but could well be “solved” by reminding Iraqis that their problems are their own if (or when) we leave, the lot of the average Iraqi being worse than before “liberation” from Saddam Hussein.
Too true, the collective “we” did put them there (with a big push from the political arm of the IMF, the UN and their Marxist military arm in Africa, the ANC), but there is a long history of the installation of puppet governments. The only problem in this case is the “puppets” have come off the strings, with a vengeance. BEE is not the peaceful capitulation the ANC would like and it appears that in the months to come, they are going to be met with more resistance. Personally, as I have said before this so called “Affirmative Action” in South Africa is a sad joke. It silences, denigrates and suppresses minorities, rather than help them. Just because blacks are minorities in many first world countries, doesn’t mean they are a minority in a third world country, especially one they call their own. It doesn’t make sense. But, we are talking about Africa and Mugabe seems to be Mbeki’s role model.
Even the Zanu sympathetic Costatu is fed up with mugabe:
Cosatu marches with ‘Hang Mugabe’ posters
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20070403134903843C314307&set_id=1&click_id=6&sf=