The Basketcase of Africa
Dec 21 '03
The Bottom Line An attempt to bring some enlightment to the vast majority of people who know little and care as much about the plight of Zimbabwe. Let me know if it works!
Now why am I writing about this, you ask? Because it's a Sunday, and not much happens on Sundays and also because it's something which irritates me insanely. I’m really rather easily irritated when it comes to political ideas and the way that the world operates, so when it comes to the oppression of millions of people, as it occurs all over the world, I tend to become even more annoyed than usual – and especially when there is little to no mention of these issues in the public domain. Apathy, as ever, will reign victorious when it comes to far-off issues.
Anyway, for those of you who don't know, Zimbabwe is a pissant little country in Africa, just north of South Africa (the country, not the direction), which for a long time was a peaceful, prosperous colony of Britain called Rhodesia, attained independence, and was from thereon in a peaceful, prosperous independent sovereignty. At least, until a few years ago, when serial madman and President Robert Mugabe decided to allow his country to internally combust by rigging elections, intimidating opposition parties and the populace, and illegally dispossessing white farmers' (and by relationship, the many black workers) of their land - which, of course, is what gave Zimbabwe much of its previous prosperity.
These issues are bad enough on their own - Mugabe is a tyrant, and while not of the evil nature of a Saddam Hussein or Mao Tse Tung, his autocratic lust for power is the one and only thing which has sent his country spiralling into an uncontrollable descent to insanity. He can blame the colonisers as much as he likes - the fact that they set up, and left, a reasonably peaceful, quite wealthy country makes his claims invalid. The whites owning the farms can't be blamed for what they were left with - I would be severely pissed off if I were blamed for contributing greatly to my country's wealth, as though it were a bad thing, even if intrinsically it was racist for mostly whites to own farms.
Most of their employees were or are black, and far from being slaves, they were, as far as I know, well paid and looked after. This may not have been the case universally – but they were certainly provided for, something the current regime is patently unable to do. The fact that the blacks, mostly, have absolutely no idea how to manage something like a large commercial farm comes down to a lack of education, and thus are stuck as labourers - something Mugabe and the state institutions can take most of the blame for.
What irks me most about this ludicrous affair is the attitude of the African nations, and more to the point the African members of the Commonwealth, to these shenanigans. After his complete and utter failure to bring order and any semblance of democracy to his nation, Mugabe was written off as a loon and Zimbabwe suspended from the Commonwealth, and sanctions applied. Now, the African delegates of the Commonwealth wish to see him reinstated and sanctions lifted, which in effect means not only removing the punishments from this rogue, but basically encouraging him to continue, knowing that he will not be punished, and that the most his government will receive is a verbal slap on the wrist.
This isn't good enough. These sanctions really aren't hurting Zimbabwe - the economy has been well and truly buggered for quite some time now, and the only thing that will fix it is a change of government, and a change of attitude. The more Mugabe is alienated, both externally and internally, the sooner this change will occur. At the present moment in time, the opposition leader is up on trumped-up treason charges, as are other officials from the opposition party, which will continue to foment unrest. And even though he currently has the military on his side, President Mugabe will perhaps soon be isolated. How he responds will show in time, but one hopes that the beleaguered people there step up and remove him from power.
But while he receives tacit encouragement from the regional governments, who use bulldust excuses generally related to racism, paternalism, colonialism and other irritating -ism's which have more to do with their inability to get their acts together, act civilly in a political landscape and actually contribute something aside from playing the blame-game than anything tangible, Mugable will continue to wield ultimate power in Zimbabwe, and while he and his cronies amass as much wealth as they can, the people of Zimbabwe will continue dying of starvation, AIDS/HIV-related illnesses, as well as endure state-mandated assassinations and political prisoner-taking.
If the African nations wish to have this monster, among others, in their midst, then they can bloody well have him. Just don't expect the rest of the world’s civilised nations to bow down to their ridiculous expectations, nor swallow any of their garbage, until such time as they actually make an impact on the world stage beyond the continuation of ludicrous wars and the total and utter failure to get along and make something of their vast continental resources.
I'm proud that Australia is taking a stance against these idiots - until the governments of Africa grow up and accept responsibility for the mismanagement of these situations, they will continue to be deserving pariahs. And the more they put their hands out and make demands, when they continue to be unwilling to use what they are given in a wise and productive manner, the greater the chance the outside world will refuse to deal with the poverty-ravaged nations that some of these people are supposed to be overseeing. The enduring selfishness of African leadership will continue to be to the ruin of their people – Robert Mugabe and the citizens of Zimbabwe will simply be another in a long line of disgraceful, yet ultimately inevitable failings.
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Epinions.com ID:
copernicus
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Location: Hopefully taking photos somewhere
Reviews written: 137
Trusted by: 124 members
About Me:
planning to write more soon...that's the idea anyway!
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