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Entry: My Country of Flickering Lights -- Dispatches from the New South Africa Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/my_country_of_flickering_light_dispatches_from_the_new_south_africa#19197 Post contents: “Thanks for enlightening me about Africa. It is a subject we hear so little of but made so interesting.” Well, from Mr. Reader’s insightfully bleak article, we understand why we hear so little about Africa: Its present predicament contradicts so many of our postmodern fairy tales. Lefty pie-in-the-sky pedants hammered us endlessly with tripe about how the end of colonialism and apartheid would herald new era for the Dark Continent, one of endless promise and peace and prosperity and yap, yap, yap… Obviously, those rosy predictions have not been borne out, considering the violent dementia that wracks much of Africa. There is little to applaud about the colonial era. The uncertain benefits of political and economic modernization were more than offset by brutal oppression and exploitation. And there is no excuse for apartheid – except, of course, Israel’s version. The media will not backtrack to reconsider events and conditions it so hopelessly misread. There is no political ax to grind for the left, either: The collapse of their overseas colonies spelled an economic boon to Europe’s imperialists, not their death knell. Bullets and chains, after all, are very expensive. Even a superficial familiarity with history indicates how this will turn out: Some African countries will persevere and elevate themselves at least to Third World status; a few will do much better. Others, like Zimbabwe, will wander in the jungles of backwardness and brutality for the foreseeable future. Few Western countries extend Africa any favors. If the continent’s vast natural riches cannot be looted at pleasure, it’s easy to forget that the great rock juts above sea level to sustain millions of struggling souls. But ultimately, the caltrop under Africa’s heel is the same crippler of all the perpetually oppressed: The ability to blame all misfortune and misery on someone else checks any incentive to improve one’s lot one’s self. Sent at: 2008 09 07