Come Back, Colonialism, All is Forgiven

[Pannonius]

Oh I didn't mean it in that sense... I was trying to explain a colonialist attitude!

Kenya is actually quite well off compared to Africa. My Grandmother's siblings were teachers and doctors. They might have not allowed locals to grow crops, but it wasn't bad at all compared to what's been left in Western Africa.

That's not to say that life in a Nairobi slum is fun....



Replace 'electronics' with 'resource wealth' and 'plumbing' with 'infrastructure'

But that's hardly the same thing. And what kind of infrastructure? I think Amadeus is right, the Europeans took, but they also gave back more than they've taken.

 

[emzie]

But that's hardly the same thing. And what kind of infrastructure? I think Amadeus is right, the Europeans took, but they also gave back more than they've taken.

So Africa became a hell hole why.

 

[Communisto]

So Africa became a hell hole why.

It's always been a hell hole.

 

[Pannonius]

Communisto allready answered that question for me.

 

[Evie]

Unfortunately, this may well be true for large part of Africa. Which sucks, because Colonialism was NOT a good thing (let's see...foreign government taking over the land and treating it as their own in all way, with the people living there having absolutely no say in this - and things often getting worse than that -...nope, not a good thing) - but the independence that replaced it is infinitely worse (in SOME African countries) than the alternative was.

Doesn't apply to ALL of Africa, mind - much of western (Ghana, etc) and northern Africa have not been doing so badly for themslve; certainly not to the point where you could justify "they were better off under colonial rule". Eastern Africa, I'm not sure of?

...but the Congo and surrounding regions? Blergh.

 

[GinandTonic]

Oh I didn't mean it in that sense... I was trying to explain a colonialist attitude!

Kenya is actually quite well off compared to Africa. My Grandmother's siblings were teachers and doctors. They might have not allowed locals to grow crops, but it wasn't bad at all compared to what's been left in Western Africa.

That's not to say that life in a Nairobi slum is fun....

My grandpa spent a little time in Kenya, and even he was shocked by the level of self-indulgence amoung the whites.

 

[dosed150]

the thing about colonialism is, yes the europeans did treat africans badly, but was it any worse than the treatment africans would have recieved from their own leaders

 

[illram]

It's always been a hell hole.

This is a common misconception. Why it is common, I have no idea.

You don't really mean, "always," do you? As in, forever? Since the dawn of humanity? How far are you going back here?

 

[Communisto]

This is a common misconception. Why it is common, I have no idea.

You don't really mean, "always," do you? As in, forever? Since the dawn of humanity? How far are you going back here?

The majority of Africa has always been a hell-hole, yes. Granted, there have been plenty of empires and cultures that were far from hell-holes. But for the most part, it hasn't been a pleasant place.

 

[illram]

The majority of Africa has always been a hell-hole, yes. Granted, there have been plenty of empires and cultures that were far from hell-holes. But for the most part, it hasn't been a pleasant place.

What are you basing this on?

 

[Communisto]

What are you basing this on?

Care to show me different?

 

[illram]

Care to show me different?

I'll show you different once you actually show me something to back up what you're saying. Till then it's on you.

 

[Norseone]

well its a hell hole now...so I think you have to show it wasnt in the past

 

[Cannae]

Told you so!


Yeah, defaulting on debts really worked in South America. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me 10 times, shame on me.

They finally realised the truth. And now they want the Europeans back. The problem is, Europeans don't want them back.

It's always been a hell hole.

If you're so insistent on colonizing this place, then why don't you pack up your bags and live in Africa.

 

[stuge]

Unruly laborers working in conditions of de facto slavery had their hands chopped off; the cruelty of Belgian rule was premised on the idea that Congo and its peoples were a resource to be exploited as efficiently as possible. Leopold's absentee brutality set the tone for those that followed him in ruling the Congo — successive Belgian governments and even the independent government of Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled from 1965 to 1997 and who, in a crowded field, still sets the standard for repression and corruption among African despots.

This is why Congo has failed. Colonialism was bad, and when it was finally replaced, the replacement was Seko's regime.

BTW, I find the name Mobutu Sese Seko hilarious, because in finnish it means Mobutu Thethe Nutcase.

 

[Pannonius]

If you're so insistent on colonizing this place, then why don't you pack up your bags and live in Africa.

Read my post again, please.

 

[Cannae]

Read my post again, please.

What post?

 

[Narz]

Le Blanc is a traitor to his homeland and his race. Sometimes I wish I could go back to mommy & daddy cause even though they treated me bad ofttimes at least I got free food & shelter but I wouldn't really want to. Pathetic.

 

[Trajan12]

They finally realised the truth. And now they want the Europeans back. The problem is, Europeans don't want them back.

One article does not prove that Africa wants colonialism back...what an asinine conclusion.

At any rate, people always talk about how colonialism brought development. It also made cooperation between Africans virtually impossible. Which is a huge step further back than any development they cold have possibly done.

 

[cubsfan6506]

But that's hardly the same thing. And what kind of infrastructure? I think Amadeus is right, the Europeans took, but they also gave back more than they've taken.

Thats just dumb if they gave back more then they took their colonies wouldn't of been profitable.