02 Jul 2005 |
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| Bankole Arowobusoye.
This article is in response to the general euphoric, self-congratulation theme that I perceive in many quarters, evidently in response to a recent announcement of “debt forgiveness” to African countries by the G8 or the OECD Countries. It is with a heavy heart that I have come to similar conclusions as Martin Luther King Jr. that many black people regard rights as a sumptuous feast laid out by White men, with the only obligation of the black man being to simply show up with a huge appetite. There are myriad reasons to be against debt relief, however, grounds on which I will advance objections to this evil is the ideological one. That is, on the grounds that there exists no debt to be forgiven in the first instance. Correct ideological reasoning, I observe, appears to be missing in the calculations of those apparently rejoicing over the latest debt scam, a.k.a debt “forgiveness” by the G8 countries, vis-a –vis African countries. Regrettably, a lot has been malignantly said about ideological reasoning; some have gone so far as to even call it a pseudo-science lacking in empirical support or testable evidence. However, ideological reasoning is not a pseudo-science, nor is it rocket science. People who refuse to reason ideologically make the false assumption that individual or Nation-State decisions; can be made purely on economic or scientific grounds. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we understand the term ideology simply to mean a frame of reference by which people in a culture live their lives and which characterize their thinking, rather than the formal definition of an integrated set of abstractions that constitute a socio-political program, we will realize that, every individual subconsciously or otherwise, must necessarily be a victim or advocate, as the case may be, of ideological reasoning. Correct Ideology leads to the ideologically correct. All reasoning is ideological based and the superior ideology is not Maxism, Capitalism or Socialism, but any which is has the ability to surround the perceived adversary with a ring of fire and a grip of vice. This I call the ideology of survival and it cannot be expected to be benign. Of course, a curiosity look at history and even contemporary events proves Western ideology is not. Nevertheless, contrary to popular mythology, it is not particularly anti-African, rather, it is merely extremely pro- Western. And of course, there is nothing strictly wrong with this, so long as one recognizes this fact and reacts or better still, preempts accordingly. Similarly, Africans do indeed have an ideology, unfortunately however, unlike the survivalist ideology of the West, for some unfathomable reason, the African one is that of utter self-destruction. Its main constituent appears to consist of childlike trust; common sense and discrimination be damned. Like an enthralled moviegoer, disbelief must be suspended; critical thinking and the asking of questions must be unacceptable. Like a baby or puppy, we seem to enjoy lapping up whatever concoction is cooked up for our benefit, so long as it is from the West. Because African Nations and its people refuse to think proactively and express a self preservative ideology, rather than seeking complete debt repudiation and then going on at a latter date, to in fact press for repatriations coupled with a public apology for injustices suffered in the past, here we are, like madmen, rejoicing over, this sham the mere promise of “debt relief”. Shouldn’t we ask: exactly what debt or whose debt is being forgiven? Deception as a science and an art The perfection of the science and art of deceit doesn’t come easy, however, with practice, it is possible to make it damn hard, if not impossible to expediently separate the truth from lies manner. Let us take a look at how unfortunately lies become truth; Act One: Scene One:- Vietnam,1964, the Gulf of Tonkin IncidentBy 1964, America was getting fed up with fighting an attritions war in Vietnam, and decided to up the ante in order to win a quicker victory. A vicious bombing campaign was in the offing. On Aug. 4, 1964, the American put out a story that “North Vietnamese torpedo boats launched an "unprovoked attack" against a U.S. destroyer on "routine patrol" in the Tonkin Gulf on Aug. 2 — and that North Vietnamese PT boats followed up with a "deliberate attack" on a pair of U.S. ships two days later.”As the Americans proceeded to bomb the s**t out of the North Vietnamese, the truth was quite different. There had in fact been no torpedo boat attacks by the North Vietnamese who probably could boast of maybe a couple of rickety fishing boats. Rather on Aug. 2, the U.S. destroyer Maddox was a engaged in aggressive intelligence-gathering maneuvers against North VietnamNevertheless, the press went agog for the American president; · The Washington Post screamed on Aug. 5, 1964. “American Planes Hit North Vietnam After Second Attack on Our Destroyers; Move Taken to Halt New Aggression", ”· The New York Times roared hoarsely, "The president went to the American people last night with the somber facts and then President Johnson has ordered retaliatory action against gunboats and 'certain supporting facilities in North Vietnam' after renewed attacks against American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin."· The Los Angeles Times lustily gushed " Americans must face the fact that the Communists, by their attack on American vessels in international waters, have themselves escalated the hostilities." So it came to pass that the lie became the truth, at least for a season. Act one: Scene two:- Africa, 2005, the curious case of the non missing, missing funds.This is how it works: From the headquarters of the BBC or CNN:- Good evening, here is the breaking news from CNN headquarters by Pat blah, blah. Today at a meeting of blah, blah,, the G8 announced forgiveness of blah, blah, blah ,billion to blah blah… Pat: We now go over to Prof blah blah of the Africa Unit of the blah blah…What do you make of this lattest development prof…. Talking head: blah, blah, blah, and it is a good day for Africa. Lets hope the Africans make the best of it…Blappity blappity blah. Then, the ever-faithful African press laps this up like a hungry dog, while the befuddled led by the confounded that call themselves the African intellectuals clap their hands in ecstasy. Thumping their chests and patting each other on the back,” We have won a great victory they say”before contentedly retiring to sleep. And this ladies and gentlemen is how another lie becomes the truth; at least for a while. And so ends another session of the longest running conference in history, the Berlin conference, otherwise repackaged as the G8 conference for the benefit of today’s African “intellectual”, who apparently learns nothing, who lacks one minor incapacitating drawback necessary for his calling; intelligence and an appreciation of the lessons of history. The only real debt burden response There can be only three correct response of the African to the “debt ” issue, and for avoidance of doubt, I will clearly state these responses as follows: · Repudiation.· Repudiation· Repudiation However, our “intellectuals”, “leaders” and “experts” tell us it is dishonorable to repudiate debt. No, “it is not possible ” they say, “it cannot be done”, this they tell us will lead to ruin and disaster. Furthermore, we are told we should wait till Argentina shows the way. I find this hilarious. Not only is debt repudiation possible, it is desirable and even inevitable. In fact, rather than leading to ruin and disaster, it will lead to respect. How do you respect someone that does not stand up for him or herself even when trampled upon? Sure as day comes after night, the West knows it is inevitable and even has an illustrious pedigree. Maybe we should ask the Germans what they did about their “debts “ which was dubiously imposed upon them after the European war of 1914.It might also be instructive for African economists who think this way to readDebt repudiation, the Soviet experience:http://econwpa.wustl.edu:8089/eps/eh/papers/0409/0409002.pdf If Africa repudiates its debts, the heavens will not fall, in fact, under the right circumstances, this will still happen! The very idea of the African debt burden is anathema to me. Africa of course, owns no one a single cent and is in fact owed much by those who are now claiming to be “forgiving” debt. In the normal scheme of things, a landlord does not prostrate to a burglar, so, how did a proprietor come to find itself on bended knees, giving grateful supplications to a housebreaker who promises to return part of merchandise stolen in the first place from the proprietor?. The following section shows how: Roadmap to poverty; flabber-whelm, over-gast , dis-fuse and con-gust the African. I have searched the dictionary in order to find words to describe the peculiar roadmap to and the genesis of the African debt burden, which has overwhelmed and flabbergasted innocent ordinary African people. Amply aided by the confused and disgusting mainly foreign imposed, African “leaders”, the West has undoubtedly been complicit in the impoverishment of Africa. The only question that remain to be answered is, between the West and the “African leaders” to what extent do we apportion blame and ask them to make restitution for the stolen lives to the African people? My search of the dictionary was an exercise in futility. Since I couldn’t find words sufficing to describe the impoverishment process, I have, borrowed a leaf from George Orwell’s book “1984” and had to invent my own language. However, unlike newspeak, which is relatively quite simple and straightforward, the language of the roadmap to African debt is not quite so straightforward. But I will interpret. It goes roughly through a series of steps like this: Flabber-whelming the Over-gasted · A Western country, usually a former colonial master eliminates a Patrick Lumumba type African patriot archetypical figure with any ambition of liberating his people from the clutches of oppression or neo-colonialism. Anything necessary to ensure that he is killed, buried and forgotten in an unmarked grave is done. In this way, right from the onset flabbergasting the overwhelmed newly emergent African state is achieved · In many cases, after a bloody war, an authentic hero, the Patrick Lumumba archetypes are replaced with hopeless psychopathic buffoons like Mobutu Sese Seko, an Idi Amin or Jonas Savimbi archetype tyrant. The more brutal, stupid or kleptomaniac, this manic sell out is, the better. These are the internal tormentors, the Achilles heels of Africa, the scum of the earth, the bloodthirsty vermin of the cesspool and the eternally filthy fifth columnist. They are the bastard rulers of Africa, disgusting and confused. · At all costs and with every means possible, to the detriment of his people maintain the two bit psychopathic hoodlums in power in perpetuity. The sole aim of which is to prevent the emergence of any nationalist Lumumba type who might be capable of galvanizing towards the protection of populist Africanist interests. · Loan the petty tyrant of your making a few million dollars, dress it up with World Bank/IMF participation so that it can be passed off as a national loan, secretly facilitate the siphoning of the bulk of the “loan” back to luscious private accounts in any country of choice for the thug. · Deny that the World Bank/IMF e.t.c, are merely the Psych Ops division of NATO and the Western powers. Nothing prickles the African interest more than the prospect of inclusion; by sprinkling in a few Africans here and there in these organizations, the illusion of inclusiveness is fomented. Very soon, the Africans lose sight of their real problems and begin to hanker after bigger but empty symbols like UN Security Council seats. · The ordinary citizens or more appropriately, inhabitants of Africans who we are now being told are in debt, do not know what, when, where or how much was “borrowed” in the secret back room, Mafioso-like agreements between the two dirty parties; that is the African bastard -dictator and his mentor, the Psych Ops division of the West. It doesn’t matter. A Unilaterally declaration of some unverifiable amount, amply supported by the magic of Enron type accounting is made. Bringing in the IMF/World bank to profusely quote statistics and mouth gibberish like “Capital Markets”, “Globalization”, “Free Market economy” to astound the confounded. And so it has come to pass that the external aggressor, the Western world fronted by its Psycho Ops division, has relentlessly colluded with the internal aggressor, the eternally filthy fifth columnist, to plant and water the seeds of destruction on the African soil and the fruits of decades of the dirty Psych Ops war which enthroned murderous military dictatorships after dictatorships, in countless African countries, usually after decades of war, which ensured the abortion of any legitimate African aspiration is now in full bloom. The result of the above foul milieu was to ensure without the risk of war, without the taking of any responsibility, without any apparent guilt, the putting of the clueless African States, usually headed by the caricature of a mandrill, in a position of absolute vulnerability for the purpose of cheap, perpetual, exploitation. Perhaps, with a little bit of luck, the Africans may even in time begin to enjoy and participate in their own debasement, may even come to thank the West for providing them with a one way ticket for a trip to hell! The purpose of “debt relief” Just as a good engineering design of a pressure system incorporates a relief valve to prevent an explosion owing to the build up of pressure, a good Psych Ops must likewise provide distractions and relief for the purpose of preventing or at least delaying the onset of self realization and self actualization in a perceived enemy. So rather than taking the risk of being confronted by the sure prospect of the only correct African actions of debt repudiation, we are now see attempts to preempt this very just response. This is nothing new, in the 1960s, we witnessed similar tactics used to nullify the buildup of nationalistic fervor which could so easily have led to a genuine African renaissance, had the rug not been pulled from under budding nationalists, as describe in the above road map to poverty.We are now confronted with the confounding spectacle of a lion feigning paternalistic interest in the sheep, and the sheep, as if struck by madness, expressing gratitude to the lion. This spectacle is quite beyond the absurd, it is actually more ridiculous than imagining the Jews paying obeisance to a Hitler. The State of Mind and the Mind of the State;-The need for ideological thinking In spite of what anyone might like to think, this is a Western bashing exercise. The Western States are only expressing what comes naturally to the mind of an individual, that is the state of selfishness, which inevitably translates into the selfishness of the state. In spite of above describe machinations to poverty, this same state of mind must slowly but surely be emergent in the African, otherwise, one has no choice but to ultimately place the blame for Africa’s problems mainly in the court of the African action and inaction. And indeed one does. Inevitably, African poverty is really a manifestation of the poverty of the mind of individuals. When the state of mind of enough individuals changes, the mind of the African state will change, ideas like debt “relief” will be readily seen as the caricature that it is, no one will ask permission from the West before debt is repudiated and there will be no need for an article such as this. Predicting the future is always risky business, but past behavior, it is said, is the best indicator of future behavior. If the past is any pointer to the future then on thing is sure, until Africa and Africans begin to adopt a self-referencing survivalist ideology similar to that espoused by the Western world, no amount of “debt forgiveness” will be adequate in filling a rickety-leaky-sabotaged, setup- for failure- basket cases know as African states. We will continue to be taken to the cleaners for every single thing we have and even when we have nothing left that can be taken, we will still, simply be taken, just for the pure heck of it.I mean people climb mountains and hunt game just for fun, don’t they? Again, in spite of all the foregoing, Western ideology, though bellicose is not really anti-African, so much as it is pro-Western. So long as humans exhibit the predatory drive, an aggressive Western stance is logical and should be expected from the West. Similarly, Africans need not adopt any seriously anti-Western ideology, so much as to adopt an aggressive pro-African ideology. This is all that is necessary to counter any anti-African policy. Once again, I have to clearly state that African culpability in its own self-abnegation is undeniable. it is not the purpose of this writer, at this time to address this particular issue in this article as there will be plenty of time for that in future. However it is timely to point out that we have failed as a race to adopt a pro-African attitude. So long as we, as a people are contented to continue to merely turn up at the feast, with a huge appetite, we shall continue to have any old garbage rammed down our throats and shall be expected, like puppets at the end of a string, to give thanks with a song and dance, much to the amusement of our external tormentors.
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