Sparhawk, I do hope you're not talking about me... To be honest, I don't give a rat's arse about Africa. However, every single point I made is true. Africa cannot get as wealthy as Europe, perhaps not even as wealthy as South-America. Most countries/tribal areas there simply don't have the climate and geography for that.
Of course, Western influences don't help one bit; Catholics saying birth control is bad fucks up generation after generation of poor, uneducated kids, western countries exporting cheap agricultural stuff fucks up local farmers, who are then encouraged to use artificial fertilizer that eventually turns the ground into concrete, etc...
Now, are there solutions to Africa's problems? Well... for one thing, we need to stop the population explosion. Second, we need to stop AIDS from spreading too much, by any means necessary. Then, we need to allow/force local farmers to grow food - it can be done: Zimbabwe did fine until Mugabe kicked out the big white farmers. Even if we solve most immediate problems, and encourage food production, we'll still get the occasional famine and epidemic; it's inevitable in that climate. Just don't expect Africa to develop heavy industry, or get anywhere near wealthy enough to allow luxuries like in the West.
Perhaps the best thing for Africa would be for the rest of the world to stop cuddling them to death, and leave them alone for a few decades (and that includes not trading with them at all).
|