I was gonna go all offended black person but then I decided that stupid people are stupid for a reason and it would be a waste of internet space to point out the many things wrong with that statement beyond pointing out that you have so clearly and pointedly defined the problem with race relations in America. Humor? How was that funny? I must have missed it. Oh, wait my neck is missing the tinge of red you'd need to find that funny.
Ah yes, nothing like responding to a post you believe is racist by exhibiting your own racism. Well played!
Not only is this offensive. It is plain ignorant. Read about contributions to science, agriculture, architecture, mathematics, medicine, paper products, and dozens of other inventions and innovations that we use today that were contributed from Africa. If you do still have an account, I don't understand why.
Astrorockette's comments didn't extend to an entire race. Just a small ignorant segment of the population that would find his comments as actually humerous.
I didn't call all white people rednecks. I just said only a redneck racist hick would find that funny. Get it right.
Nope, just the segment that lives in Africa(which is certainly the majority). Plus it doesn't take much of a knowledge of the history, and current situation regarding race in this country to see where his remark is ignorant, and racist.
Haiti is bad... they don't have soil... but at least they don't have Zimbabwe's >25% AIDS infection rate... it simply boggles my mind how they can maintain a POSITIVE population growth rate despite that... Zimbabwe may have topsoil... but they don't have any laborers who can live long enough to know how to farm...
I don't know about Slovenia, Greece, Italy and Israel has too much conflict but if I could control my next incarnation and knowing I was going to be poor but could choose where I was born Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland would be better than the US. Technically in Singapore there is no poverty. In fact there are relatively poor people but the government makes sure that the social safety net is strong enough to prevent from being homeless and starving. Homelessness and starvation in Singapore is considered a social shame and the government will go to great lengths to make sure that there are no Singaporean homeless and everyone is well fed. On top of that it will makes sure as heck that your kids get excellent education and health care so even if you're a grade A moron your kids won't be. Hong Kong still has some hard poverty and there are people begging in the street but Hong Kong also makes sure that people are housed and there is a lot greater upward mobility. Hong Kong's social safety net isn't as strong as Singapore's but its better than the US with a lot of opportunity for upward mobility. I don't know that much aobut Ireland's social safety net but my understanding is that it is better than the US particulary in regard to health care. Ireland is also the most dynamic economy in Europe, the Celtic Tiger, so there is still a good chance of upward mobility. Finally even if you're poor in Ireland you can still enjoy the good Guiness..
You got a point there. Although I believe Haiti has a significant Aids problem, too. Looke I would rather be born in the USA than either of those two places. What do you thin I am? Nuts?
Interesting comment. I have been to Europe twice, but never to Ireland. NOt Asia, either. Hopefully I can remedy this in the next few years.
If you have to be born poor somewhere Slovenia is not a bad place. There isn't any of the crap that plagues the African countries, it is a member of the EU so you can move to France or England for jobs, and it is right on the cusp of Eastern Europe with its tremendous growth potential but it is also right next to Trieste and therefore Western Europe. Much worse would be the remote parts of Bulgaria and Romania where I understand that people are still treated essentially like medieval peasants. Beyond that, I would actually love to live in Slovenia at least for a little while (of course not as a poor native). It is all alpine landscapes and forests and culture-wise more like Hungary than Serbia or Bosnia.
Aren't most of the conficts over land occupation/territory/power? Who's going to step up and say, "OK, this is what we're going to do.."? Govts, boundaries, law-all that just doesn't sprout...battles are first waged. It'll take one power to stomp the others, or drive them out. These are "survival of the fittest" situations.
BTW, is there any substancial oil in Africa? Edit: http://www.boston.com/news/specials/oil_in_africa/ Perhaps the US should ween itself off of the middle eastern oil and provide a bigger market for the African populace. If the suppliers in Africa weren't tyrants, I'd be all for it. Let the middle east "starve"....(not literally)
I thought Nigeria and Angola were OPEC members; and oil, along with soccer, has pretty much kept Cameroon fairly stable for the last 40 years. I don't know if Africa has a lot relative to other continents, but, as with any other natural resource, I assume less commercial development means they have more available. Pretty sure strong-arming underdeveloped non-Western countries for cheap oil is how we alienated the Middle East in the first place: assuming a half-century of economic, diplomatic and political fair play might have made Islamic fanaticism a less appealing alternative. Or maybe, just maybe, the country that split the atom and went to the moon could invent a half-decent alternative fuel engine, although we'd probably need some German engineers for that too (considering they invented the gas powered one).
We could offer any country in Africa something they don't have, FOOD being a main issue. Technology to irrigate and make large amounts of land useful for farming. Medicine. Education. Of course, we'd be relying on some civility from them, and the desire to work together. About alternative engines, I believe that hydrogen is the next major step. From what I've heard in automotive circles, several of the world's automakers are working together and sharing technology. Supposedly, GM is, or had been planning, to help with the infrastructure (hydrogen pump stations) in the US. It's all interesting, but the main problem with a major change, is just that. Change. It's very costly to develop, train people, and get the public to switch over.
The idea of redrawing the national boundaries isn't feasible today, but it could have been done when European Imperialists initially gave independence to their colonies after WWII. Instead of leaving Africa with the same colonial boundaries, they could have redrawn and divided their colonies according to ethnicities or tribes. Instead, they left them as they were, and this grouped antagonistic ethnic groups/tribes together or divided whole people into different countries. Conflicts are fought over wealth, and I guess that includes ethnic conflicts like the Tutsis and Hutus, and the "genocide" in Sudan. "Survival of the fittest?" I guess either the Tutsis or the Hutus should basically wipe the other out. That will solve some problems in that region, and there's no need to redraw the map too.
