Why is Africa a Failure?

[boramk]

Why is it that Europe, the Americas including the poor South and Asia all getting better economically and advancing but Africa always stuck or progressing backwards?

It's the only continent in the world to have their average GDP to grow down (I'll try to find the article I read it from)

Sure all country have corrupt polititions but why does Africa have all the corrupt/stupid ones the world could host?
(Even if Bush were to take presidency in a place in Zimbabwe or here he'd do a better job.)

Why are the people here so slow at everything and leave everything for last? (Eskom etc.)

Why is it always "me first" and no "here take, let me help"

All the people do in this continent is blame colonialism, racists and other countries for their own problems and this all is p*ssing me off.
Hong Kong and Singapore were colonized, it didn't stop them from using the colonialist infrastructure to build up their economies tremoundesly.
S. Korea after the Korean war was a messed up country. It had more internal problems than this whole continent and had no natural resources such as coal, oil or gold to trade. Now look at them, they built themselves up pretty nicely for being the size of 2 Gautengs.

Africa has potential, and its not using it

Why is this continent so hopeless?
Feel free to flame me or discuss and try to awnser my question

 

[Robin Hood]

I think a lot of us have tried to answer this question. lol

 

[PostmanPot]

Why is it that Europe, the Americas including the poor South and Asia all getting better economically and advancing but Africa always stuck or progressing backwards?

Because first world exploitation of Africa is/has helping/helped them advance, perhaps?

 

[Turtle]

Africa's not really a "failure" in that it's working pretty much exactly as Africans want it to work. Only Africans are responsible for the decisions of Africans. You just need to use a different definition of "failure" and "success" - your first problem is that you look and see a failure. You can only begin to truly understand when you drop this flawed premise - temporarily drop your entire worldview, basically.

Because first world exploitation of Africa is/has helping/helped them advance, perhaps?

No, that cannot explain any more than a tiny percentage of the problems, and in fact, is more than counterbalanced by the massive tsunami of new technologies and ideas that Europeans brought to Africa - Africa should be wealthier than ever before. African countries that have long been decolonised remain mired in poverty, while countries like South Korea that 40 years ago were at the same "starting point" as some African countries e.g. Nigeria completely reinvented and modernised itself. Could you elaborate on what exactly those so-called "exploitations" are, or do you prefer vague allusions? The only real exploitations are market-distorting farm subsidies and so-called "aid" that destroys markets.

 

[Lino]

Because the entire world feels sorry for Africa and helps it. Africa needs to stand on its own two feet. Aka do everything for its self and no body else

 

[Robin Hood]

Africa's not really a "failure" in that it's working pretty much exactly as Africans want it to work. Only Africans are responsible for the decisions of Africans. You just need to use a different definition of "failure" and "success" - your first problem is that you look and see a failure.


No, that cannot explain any more than a tiny percentage of the problems, and in fact, is more than counterbalanced by the massive tsunami of new technologies and ideas that Europeans brought to Africa - Africa should be wealthier than ever before. African countries that have long been decolonised remain mired in poverty, while countries like South Korea that 40 years ago were at the same "starting point" as some African countries e.g. Nigeria completely reinvented and modernised itself. Could you elaborate on what exactly those so-called "exploitations" are, or do you prefer vague allusions? The only real exploitations are market-distorting farm subsidies and so-called "aid" that destroys markets.

You got a bladdy good point there...Ive never looked at it that way..One man's failure is another's success..mmm

 

[boramk]

Africa's not really a "failure" in that it's working pretty much exactly as Africans want it to work. Only Africans are responsible for the decisions of Africans.

why are african's like this?
why is it that they still have tribal values?
why is it that anyone who tries to help is branded as post colonial racists?

this is why africa "fails"

BUT WHY???

EDT: it was help not hard

 

[Robin Hood]

why are african's like this?
why is it that they still have tribal values?
why is it that anyone who tries to hard is branded as post colonial racists?

this is why africa "fails"

BUT WHY???

We all know the truth, but by saying so youll be branded a "racist"...so i just sit back and enjoy the circus

 

[Toko]

It's the culture that's the problem.

For Africa to get any better the culture has to change and they don't want to change. They also need to be able to let go of their racism which is something that they can't/won't do.

They also need to take responsibility/accountability for their actions which is something else that they can't/won't do.

 

[PostmanPot]

No, that cannot explain any more than a tiny percentage of the problems...

I wouldn't say a tiny percentage. But I wouldn't say it is the only factor in the underdevelopment of Africa, either, and I certainly wasn't alluding to this in my OP. Of course, it is a combination of factors.

Could you elaborate on what exactly those so-called "exploitations" are...

Colonial draining of African welath. Exploitations such as people/slaves, gold and other natural resources, spices and plants etc.

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.

Further reading on How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.

 

[PostmanPot]

why are african's like this?
why is it that they still have tribal values?
why is it that anyone who tries to help is branded as post colonial racists?

this is why africa "fails"

BUT WHY???

EDT: it was help not hard

Remember that Africa has been exposed to the "New World" and the "new way of thinking" for considerably less time than that of Europeans - and the majority of that time, they/it have/has been exploited.

 

[PostmanPot]

We all know the truth, but by saying so youll be branded a "racist"...so i just sit back and enjoy the circus

What truth would that be?

 

[Robin Hood]

What truth would that be?

You want me and you to "dance" again?
Maby some other time when i know im not talking to a brick wall
Jokes aside...Thing is i havnt heard or seen anything that these guys can achieve by themselves...Maby im wrong, who knows, but they havnt shown it yet.

 

[Chermobil]

Because first world exploitation of Africa is/has helping/helped them advance, perhaps?

I agree with this statement.

If south africa wasn't sanctioned 60 odd years ago for employing its segeregation policy, then south africa would have been a fully developed country. Russia, the usa, england all used cheap/exploited labour to help them industrialise But south africa should have done it without help.

Even today you see cheap labour coming into western world(indigenous africans, Eastern Europeans etc) because it feeds their economy, cheap labour cheap minerals.


The 'real' world is a capitalist dog eat dog environment. Where every economy is subject to exploitation by its superior.

Ever heard of how the world bank keeps capitalist goverments borrowing money at interest...


The exploitation of weaker/developing economies is the only way for the Western goverments to repay the debt, or wage wars.

 

[Debbie]

To the best of my knowledge, no-one has given a succinct and wholly satisfying answer to this yet. In terms of the difficulties in studying it, it's a hard-core social science question, there are a billion variables at play. Most of these variables cannot be isolated because of their nature and milieu; or because those studies into this question which are proposed have a hard time passing ethics(read "political correctness") committees.

 

[PostmanPot]

You want me and you to "dance" again?
Maby some other time when i know im not talking to a brick wall
Jokes aside...Thing is i havnt heard or seen anything that these guys can achieve by themselves...Maby im wrong, who knows, but they havnt shown it yet.

Sure we can dance, provided you teach me how to first (e.g. present the facts that prove it is not possible for black people to achieve the same as white people), and you don't do any name-calling while we're at it.

 

[Toko]

Spend a few years in Africa and the answer will come to you.

 

[Robin Hood]

Sure we can dance, provided you teach me how to first (e.g. present the facts that prove it is not possible for black people to achieve the same as white people), and you don't do any name-calling while we're at it.

Jokes aside...Thing is i havnt heard or seen anything that these guys can achieve by themselves...Maby im wrong, who knows, but they havnt shown it yet.

Im off to bed so i'll say goodnight, but ill leave you with the above. Maby you can prove me something icw this?
cheers PP

 

[Piepalook]

The reason for South Africa's slow advance lies in the fact that we mainly export raw materials and import finished goods.

We export iron ore or pig iron to Japan where it gets made into steel/flat sheets.
This in turn gets made into car body panels and eventually into cars.

We and other nations then buy the cars.
They add value to the raw material whilst we do not.

We do the donkey work for very little return.
They do the finished product and then sell it back to us at a huge profit.

It stands to reason that unless we start making finished product,we will not advance economically in the same way as they would.

 

[BandwidthAddict]

Remember that Africa has been exposed to the "New World" and the "new way of thinking" for considerably less time than that of Europeans - and the majority of that time, they/it have/has been exploited.

Oh goodness but your stupidity is funny. I can hardly type for laughing so hard.

I would love to know when you think this "new way of thinking" came about? Have you ever heard of Enlightenment?

Here is something of a factoid .. Whites have been in Africa for around 300 years. That's from around the 18th century. Enlightenment happened around the 18th century.

Enlightenment is generally regarded as the time when the "new way of thinking" became widespread.

Therefore, Africa has been exposed to the "new way of thinking" for as long as the rest of the world.

But even if that were not the case, Africans in South Africa have definitely been exposed for at least 100 years. That is enough generations to adopt the ideas. But they haven't. Why?

Two simple words: Arrogance, Stupidity.

P.S. Some Africans actually learned the lessons and have done very well with them. They are, unfortunately, in the minority.