October is (British) Black History Month, which completely escaped my attention. My apologies to all Africans who may feel slighted by my oversight.
So join me in commemorating the event by reading this piece of Black History.
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I thought February was Black History Month?
Or are they getting two now?
Maybe Feb is USA’s BH Month, but October is the UN’s or something?
Are you saying they don’t deserve two months? Are you a rayciss?
Actually, it’s British Black HM. Duly altered.
Kim,
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask this, but I suspect you have some insight into this question. Why is Africa….Africa?
I’ve read your “Let Africa Sink” essay, and get that it’s a shithole. I don’t understand WHY. It’s got plenty of fertile land (with long growing seasons), and an abundance of natural resources. It should’ve been the bread-basket of the world and an economic powerhouse. There’s a reason why most European nations formed colonies there, they saw the potential, but they left when they just couldn’t make it work (a simplification I know, but still).
It can’t be the wildlife, North America didn’t have domesticated animals until the Europeans got here with horses, cattle, etc. Sure, Africa has plenty of dangerous animals, so does Australia. Tribalism? Asia has tribalism too (Europe too, ask a Finn what he thinks of Russians sometime). Malaria? My Dad got it during the unpleasantness with Japan in the 1940s and he was never in Africa.
I guess what I’m asking is, why did everyplace else in the world overcome similar challenges to Africa, often without the advantages Africa has, and why didn’t Africa do so?
Sorry if I opened a can of worms on a Friday afternoon, but enquiring minds want to know.
I can’t cite any sources, but I seem to recall studies were done that showed Black peoples average IQ was about 20 points below Whites and Asians.
I don’t know if it is true, but it would explain some things. I believe this is an example of Mokita.
a New Guinea word meaning”a truth everybody knows but nobody speaks”.
Sorta like “Scratch a liberal, you’ll find a totalitarian underneath”?
That is apparently a natural part of being a Leftist/Progressive/Liberal.
Karl Hess, one of the founding fathers of Libertarianism, and Barry Goldwater’s speech writer, whom Barry referred to as “Shakespeare”, said that “When Republicans make ‘the jump’ (from politics as usual to stronger stuff) they became libertarians. When Democrats make “the jump”, they become Stalinists.”
From a curiosity standpoint I find this fascinating. I also have run into this conundrum with other taboo subjects that one simply does not discuss. Why? I am not simply being cheeky either. In this side of the political divide you come across skin haters, anti semites, etc and I just cannot be convinced 100% that they are right or totally wrong. I am not scared of being called a raycis or a natzi, but I cannot join in their fun because I just dont buy it. As Mark D asks, why? Ive heard the IQ thing and then I grew up in diverse New Orleans and have seen plenty of my personal friends that were just as mentally capable and civilized as I. It irks me that we can dissect motivations, identity, and nature vs nurture everywhere else but these certain places where we pretend the emperor has a skilled tailor.
PS: Does anyone else feel the pressure to make sure their are know grammatical errors in your posts because indubitably our African Prince will be reading them?
Just doing my small part to keep civilization intact, one grammatical correction at a time.
I just check for any grammatical errors and spelling errors I can find because I know that the lack of such errors allow the ideas to enter the mind of the reader more smoothly. Misspelled words are like badly made keys you have to jiggle in the lock to unlock the door. They interfere with the easy understanding you need for your argument to easily persuade. There’s no sense in crafting an argument and having it stumble on You/ You’re /Your, or something equally avoidable.
Africa being Africa.
And the WH operative on the Africa desk dealing with Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda:
Susan Rice!
Mark D asks the question that I have wondered about for years. I understand the Chinese are a big factor in some parts of Africa now. How will that change things in the long run, I wonder?
Most invention seems to have occurred in temperate climates, and north of the equator. I wonder if there is a plot of inventions over the last, say, two hundred years on a world map by latitude?
Rorke’s Drift?
Was that the battle where the doctor had the soldiers put rocks of various sizes and sharpness around their position so the Zulu warriors could not run at full speed up to spear throwing range because they all were barefooted?
Lest anyone get too smug, this could happen here. Especially in Democrat run big cities without widespread firearms ownership. You are on your own.
I believe it was Keith Laumer, in one of his scifi novellas about a war between the North and South Squeans (spelling is probably incorrect) , asked the question “how do you tell the difference?”
Looking at the photos of the Hutus and the Tutsis, how do you tell the difference?
Indeed, how did the Hutus know the Tutsis on sight? How do the Austrians know when a tourist is a German and not from Czechloslovakia or France or even Vienna?