Thursday, November 16, 2017
Political Mayhem Thursday: Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe...
Yes, I know, the tax bill is complicated and possibly evil, and Senators are starting to back away from it. And, yes, I know, the Roy Moore situation is just getting creepier all the time. Yet, there are other things going on in the world, and one of them is particularly important. One of the world's longest-ruling and controversial leaders is apparently reaching the end of the line.
Zimbabwe is a complicated place. From 1923 until 1965, it was a British colony known as "Southern Rhodesia." In 1965, the predominately white government (in an overwhelmingly black nation) declared independence from Britain, and from 1965 until 1980, the white government was in power, despite worldwide condemnation and sanctions. Robert Mugabe was one of the leaders of the Zimbabwean African National Union (ZANU), which eventually won majority control for the country.
At that point, Mugabe was a legit success. He first became Prime Minister and then President. As a sometimes-Marxist, he was deeply unpopular with the United States.
And now, after 37 years of ruling Zimbabwe, it looks like the military is taking down Robert Mugabe. The problem, of course, is that the freedom fighter became the self-enricher. When the economy tanked, he turned to vilifying gay men, calling them "worse than dogs and pigs." By 2009, about 75% of the population relied on food aid, and unemployment rose over 80%. Meanwhile, his own fortune soared.
Through it all, he did win contested elections, even though many of those were marred by intimidation.
It's complicated, but it looks like change is on the way.
Comments:
<< Home
Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, is a classic example of a foreseeable disaster. Once Rhodesia was the breadbasket of Africa - now is has to import food, the infrastructure is shot, and chaos is in charge. Classic colonialism didn't train the native population to manage their own affairs in a modern world. When world opinion forced the turnover to the natives, they promptly killed the whites, confiscated their land, and ran the country into the ground. This pattern has been repeated over and over in Africa. The warlords stole the money and lived like kings, and the populace starved. Add tribalism into the mix and chaos rules.
I don't know if there is a solution - tribalism, lack of an educated populace, and destruction of habitat is rapidly reducing most of Africa to ruin.
Lee
Post a Comment
I don't know if there is a solution - tribalism, lack of an educated populace, and destruction of habitat is rapidly reducing most of Africa to ruin.
Lee
# posted by 
: 12:24 PM
: 12:24 PM << Home
