dank
2007-10-19 11:13:14 UTC
Zvakanaka wrote...
fathom a level of civilization so primitive and try to imagine what life is
like in places where electricity and clean water don't exist. These things
cost a lot of money and to get that money a nation has to sell something of
value on the world market. Even if Italy produced no manufactured products
at all, its culture is all the rage and anything sounding vaguely Italian is
usually profitable. Same with Japanese, sushi bars have become cliché, and
even the smallest American town has some Chinese buffet, while larger cities
have entire Chinatowns built on the trade associations between America and
China, and of course "Little Italies" with similar associations.
I don't any see Zimbabwe Cafés, Bistros, or sushi bars springing up in my
local neighborhood, so I'll assume that Zimbabwe has decided to forgo the
culture and fashion route and offer us something like oil or chocolate that
we'd be willing to deal with barbarians to obtain. No? What could they
possibly offer us besides a tribute of cacao beans to get us to support a
maniacal tribal dictator like Robert Mugabe? And now they can't even offer
us that. I see some valuable industrial Palladium-group metals on the CIA
fact list, and we need to ensure that none of those natural resources are
used to prop up his or any other despotic African regime, no matter how much
it might profit U.S. corporate interests.
Ten years ago, before Mugabe gave generous handouts to war veterans that the
fiscus could not sustain, Zimbabwe cultivated and exported a range of
products that earned foreign exchange. That in turn meant we could
comfortably import power and fuel.
Now, with tobacco under siege and horticulture all but destroyed the country
no longer has the means to earn forex. And tourists don't want to come to a
country where the president and his ministers wage war against minorities.
Without forex the country can't pay for power or fuel. That explains the
steady collapse of electricity supplies to urban centres. Large swathes of
Harare have been in darkness this week amidst reports that Zesa cannot pay
its bills. This is disastrous for industry and demoralising for the public
at large. But it is a sign of things to come.
In Bulawayo, which has suffered a severe water shortage, Zanu PF is
preparing to elect a provincial leadership. The war veterans have thrown
their weight behind Mugabe but the local provincial heavyweights have
withheld their endorsement...
I am just barely beginning to comprehend African politics now. It is hard tofiscus could not sustain, Zimbabwe cultivated and exported a range of
products that earned foreign exchange. That in turn meant we could
comfortably import power and fuel.
Now, with tobacco under siege and horticulture all but destroyed the country
no longer has the means to earn forex. And tourists don't want to come to a
country where the president and his ministers wage war against minorities.
Without forex the country can't pay for power or fuel. That explains the
steady collapse of electricity supplies to urban centres. Large swathes of
Harare have been in darkness this week amidst reports that Zesa cannot pay
its bills. This is disastrous for industry and demoralising for the public
at large. But it is a sign of things to come.
In Bulawayo, which has suffered a severe water shortage, Zanu PF is
preparing to elect a provincial leadership. The war veterans have thrown
their weight behind Mugabe but the local provincial heavyweights have
withheld their endorsement...
fathom a level of civilization so primitive and try to imagine what life is
like in places where electricity and clean water don't exist. These things
cost a lot of money and to get that money a nation has to sell something of
value on the world market. Even if Italy produced no manufactured products
at all, its culture is all the rage and anything sounding vaguely Italian is
usually profitable. Same with Japanese, sushi bars have become cliché, and
even the smallest American town has some Chinese buffet, while larger cities
have entire Chinatowns built on the trade associations between America and
China, and of course "Little Italies" with similar associations.
I don't any see Zimbabwe Cafés, Bistros, or sushi bars springing up in my
local neighborhood, so I'll assume that Zimbabwe has decided to forgo the
culture and fashion route and offer us something like oil or chocolate that
we'd be willing to deal with barbarians to obtain. No? What could they
possibly offer us besides a tribute of cacao beans to get us to support a
maniacal tribal dictator like Robert Mugabe? And now they can't even offer
us that. I see some valuable industrial Palladium-group metals on the CIA
fact list, and we need to ensure that none of those natural resources are
used to prop up his or any other despotic African regime, no matter how much
it might profit U.S. corporate interests.