Let’s say you’re an average wage earner in Equatorial Guinea, pulling down about $1 a day.
Imagine your consternation to learn that the son of President Teodoro Nguema Obiang (in photo) has closed on a $35 million beach house in Malibu. Let’s say you could afford a pocket calculator: You’d find out that’s roughly equivalent to about 96,000 years of your labor.
Hey, something to shoot for. But this tale, related by the BBC, illustrates that Africa’s biggest problem isn’t AIDS, and it isn’t the capricious guerrilla wars that erupt with the regularity of summer storms. Africa’s biggest problem is corruption. Equatorial Guinea is one of the most corrupt nations in a continent full of them.
Despite more than $300 billion in development aid to Sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years, African countries continually rank at the bottom of U.N. studies measuring life expectancy, gross domestic product and literacy. And every year, as the Los Angeles Times has noted, the $15 billion in aid that flows into Africa is roughly matched by the funds flowing out — to Western banks. Or in this case, to Malibu.
Posted by Dave Knadler
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18 Comments
But, we usually cant speak to this now can we.
And yes, you know the reason.
Look at Zimbabwe, once they killed all those evil white farmers and gave the land to 13 year old “veterans”, Mugabes wife and friends, what used to be a thriving food exporting country is now importing everything since they can no longer even feed themselves. But never mind,,,,we must not question it….where is the NYT and their outrage at this situation.
Once one of their little leftist utopias goes down the shitter they seem to forget.
Perhaps they wish it away since they were the big supporters of pushing out the European farmers and giving it all to Mugabe.
Then it all promptly went in the socialist rabbit hole.
Recent international news. Another son of an ex-despot was released early from prison where he served for ordering the murder of a supreme justice, while corruption charges against the father are languishing due to fear of retribution from the benefactors of the former military regime, which sadly may include peoples from the current administration, which otherwise can be seen as relatively clean. That is barely scratching the surface of Suharto’s clan of Indonesia, whose record of abuse of power dates back more than six decades.
In short, the Bible nails it when it says that the love of money is the root of all evil.
I’d say, let the Security Council give mandate for some Scandinavian countries (with their amazingly low rate of corruption) to take over the governance for one generation. :) Besides, those sun-starved populations may enjoy the tropical jungle paradise that these parts of Africa can be.
My aunt whom has made several trips to Africa and lived there off and on. Told me she thinks that the blacks in Zimbabwe had no right to the land as they had stolen it from the natives that had lived there first.That the economy in Zimbabwe had grind to a holt since they had kick all the whites out. It seemed all these years the blacks had been trained to run the machinery but did not know how to fix it once it broke down. It did not take long before the farming, industrial and mining equipment failed.
The government then had to call in European experts to fix the machinery at a high cost. Farther draining the economy. But to subject, yes when you build your wealth on the backs of the little people, everyone suffers.
But what about Bono? I thought he had all the answers about africa. He knew enough to tell us where we should spend our foreign aid. Not his money mind you he is too busy exempting himself from taxes at home. No contribution there but he should manage ours. It is the Medias job to show celebrities for what they are. Instead they are just as star struck as the people humming along to we are the world.
Mr bill, please expand on your comments I see an informed comment but I am not getting the full meaning. I am sure It is my ignorance but maybe I am not the only one.
“Who gives a crap?”
Africans in their infinite variety who live there. Everyone should be concerned about Africa because of
a) humanitarian reasonsb) the continent has enormous resources, many of which are perishible. Widespread corruption equals disaster when it comes to managing those resources. For example, you use a cell phone? Guess where the solonium that makes the chip came from?c) neglect is one of the surest roads to international resentment. The sub-Saharan African nations were created by European powers that carved the continent up without regard to the already existing nations already there. Northern areas of sub-Saharan Africa are increasing being effected by radical Islamism.
WAIT A MINUTE! If you don’t care that the CEO of Walmart makes more in two weeks than a floor worker makes in a LIFETIME, why do you care that an African gov’t official buys as beach house in Malibu while his constituents make a dollar a day?
That’s just the “free market,” remember? Extreme wealth and poverty are just “natural and inevitable” as some people are rewarded because they are “just more productive.”
Get with the program . . . what are you, some kind of COMMUNIST!
BTW, Karl Rove owns something like three expensive houses and he only makes 150,000 dollars offical salary.
Nah, nothing to see here . . . move along.
SHP – Most of the media and internationl cohorts will not dare say anything bad about Zimbabwe et al because THEYchampioned throwing out the whites and now that the black Africans are in charge, after killing the white farmers…one can not dare criticize or they would bare the wrath of the NAACP Apologists etc.
Even So. Africa is now a death trap with the much vaunted change in management. You will notice you do NOT see much of So. Africa in the news anymore do you. Nope, why, cause it is a death trap and people live in military enclaves due to uncontrolled killings. But the NYT wont touch it…why, because its Blacks now doing it. heh.
You know – the Bill Cosby syndrome.He gets lambasted for stating what should have been said 40 years ago, and was by former Sen. Pat Moynihan but he was white and got in trouble. Now Cosby has had to take up the mantle.
YES there were obviously bad practices in these countries prior but when the same practices are implemented by others, it seems not to garner the attention.
Seems the NYT types are racists by not expecting much from the Black leadership in these places. Odd , since they were the great champions of this to start with.
But then leftist are not known for their consistency.
Sort of a – Whats good for them , may not be good for thee.
Its funny actually to watch as these countries get abandoned by their liberal enablers.
Mr. Bill–
The fact that whites are 1 percent of the population and own HALF of the arable land in Zimbabwe probably means nothing to you . . .
Idiot.
http://www.slate.com/id/81386/
South Africa OK’s Gay marriage.
Unreal that they have more civil rights for gays in SOUTH AFRICA than here in the US.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061114/ap_on_re_af/south_africa_gay_marriage
Mr Bill wins the understatement of the year award–”YES there were obviously bad practices in these countries prior . . . ”
Apartheid, bad? No democracy, bad? Wholesale land theft, bad?
Ya think?
Apartheid is still going on, just in reverse. But we shall not hear of it.
So what if 1% owned the majority land, Ted Turner is the SOLE largest landowner in the US also. And the top 1% of tax payers here pay 30% of income taxes.
Bad seems o be relative..as always.
Africa is a model country for the elite.The birth place of the conception of slavery.Where else can you go to practice your urban warfare techniques to dismantle governments and societies?Where else can you go to practice the first laws of mankind, the flesh, blood and bones laws?Africa biggest problem is it own self realization to excel itself beyond its primitive beliefs systems of long held monarchy.
Where on Earth did you get your superiority complex, Santiago? Having read your mindless, racist, anti-semitic ramblings for several days now, I have to wonder what childhood insult caused you to develop such hatred for your fellow human beings.
Racism and bigotry are the last bastions of the emotionally inferior.
But………..
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anyway……..
Read JM Coetzee if you want to know how mad Africa has been and is now. Especially Zimbabwe.
The LIfe and Times of Michael K (from the early 80s, when apartheid was just finding its last legs), Waiting for the Barbarians, and my favorite, Disgrace (from the late 90s, when apartheid was being replaced the vicious black nationalism mr bill speaks of).
Disgrace won UK’s Booker Prize in 1999. Coetzee is one of today’s very best writers of English (he also lectures at Capetown U and U of Chicago). It may be that only a novel can so dissect the ways that cultural differences can make our concepts of personal accountability break down and even seem lunatic. An extremely powerful novel.
Highest recommendation.
Wow. MrBill, I simply cannot take you seriously.
Any point you were trying to make was nullified with your “Africa is a model country for the elite…” comment.
Africa’s a continent, not a country.