Drought in the Horn of Africa?

[Longcol]

I withdraw my comment. I am sorry.

 

Thank you - appreciated.

[andygardener]

I did state that the Israel situation is different. And, you're right, they have done a 'better' job at it, for many different reasons.

 

The African situation has its own reasons for being so messed up.

 

the point is was driving at is that to expect a people that lived under one system when 'you' came in, lived under the worst and most warped version of the very system they're then expected to inherit and refine is rich. Especially as this country, hundreds of years later, is still struggling with the same system.

 

They have done a hugely better job, while under the gun. I guess they are more loyal to each other is the key factor.

 

However they did it Israel gives the lie to the idea that post colonial countries have to be corrupt despotic hellholes.

[Kaimani]

They have done a hugely better job, while under the gun. I guess they are more loyal to each other is the key factor.

 

However they did it Israel gives the lie to the idea that post colonial countries have to be corrupt despotic hellholes.

 

I give you that Israel has done a vastly better job. you could point to the fact that most of them, there now, were not there during the birth of the country...didn't have to fight the oppressing powers...but the main difference is the support from the Diaspora Jews here and, mostly, in The States. They do have vastly greater resources and connections.

 

They don't give lie to the idea of colonial pasts haunting the freed nation by virtue of Israel, as it is now, never really having been a colony of any country.

 

But we might be losing sight of the point here.

Africa has its share of crackpot despots. God knows we have a knack of voting them in, or letting them steal power. We have not managed to let lie old tribal wounds even when the old enemies ended up on 'our' side of a border we didn't think would come to be. We have let our dependence on others keep us in a state of infantile malleability. We have let corruption, greed and the worse of ourselves be the only virtues we take from what the old colonial system taught us...the list is endless.

But the world cannot wash its hands of its part in the whole mess.

[Bassman62]

But the world cannot wash its hands of its part in the whole mess.

When the former British colonies were being run you would do well to look at the lot of the British working class family, go and look at pictures of old Sheffield when the empire was at its greatest.

We owe them nothing, we got nothing out of it, the spoils went to a small minority.

But the point is we cannot be blamed for the last 50 years.

Just as in the Horn of Africa they don't help each other as the Israelis do.

[Bassman62]

They have done a hugely better job, while under the gun. I guess they are more loyal to each other is the key factor.

 

However they did it Israel gives the lie to the idea that post colonial countries have to be corrupt despotic hellholes.

Agree 100% they've shown the way, the truth is the surrounding Arab countries are embarressed because Israel shows them up for what they are.

[Kaimani]

When the former British colonies were being run you would do well to look at the lot of the British working class family, go and look at pictures of old Sheffield when the empire was at its greatest.

We owe them nothing, we got nothing out of it, the spoils went to a small minority.

But the point is we cannot be blamed for the last 50 years.

Just as in the Horn of Africa they don't help each other as the Israelis do.

 

When the former British colonies were being run you would do well to look at the lot of the British working class family, go and look at pictures of old Sheffield when the empire was at its greatest.

We owe them nothing, we got nothing out of it, the spoils went to a small minority.

 

common knowledge this.

 

But the point is we cannot be blamed for the last 50 years.

no one is saying you should be, just that you should not shirk your part in all this.

 

Just as in the Horn of Africa they don't help each other as the Israelis do.

 

You’re probably right. The genesis of Israel (in its current form) demands that the people stick together more than any nation in history. And the world needs it to work too. You can't deny that they do get infinitely more 'help' from the most powerful nations and people on the planet.

still, credit where its due...they've done well.

[2pac]

Aid not allowed in by guess who?

[harvey19]

If people are starving because aid money is not being used correctly by the government of the stricken countries why aren't the West treating these governments like Libyas leaders.

We are bombing Libya to protect innocent civilians according to the UN why aren't we protecting others in Africa from leaders who are not acting in their peoples best interests ?

[rickiethecat]

The thing people don't get with aid to africa is that giving aid to an overpopulated country will only make things worse.

 

Look at what happened with Geldof and Live Aid in the 1980s. What money eventually filtered through (after the corrupt warlords and government officials had taken their share) was used to save lives so children who would otherwise have died grew up to have massive families of their own. The result 20 years on is that Ethiopia is even more overpopulated than it was then so the famine is even worse.

 

Until African countries take steps to reduce their populations they don't deserve a penny of our help.

[Bassman62]

If people are starving because aid money is not being used correctly by the government of the stricken countries why aren't the West treating these governments like Libyas leaders.

We are bombing Libya to protect innocent civilians according to the UN why aren't we protecting others in Africa from leaders who are not acting in their peoples best interests ?

Go and ask Logncol and Skinz they seem to think that the poor and starving are receiving all the aid we and other countries send.

 

The fact that millions are still starving doesn't matter in their strange world of book keeping, if you can't prove that they didn't get the aid money the fact that they are still starving isn't a fact.