Why Is Africa So Poor?

[LadyKay]

I'm not sure if this question has an answer. But why is Africa so poor? For as long has I can remember people and nations have been sending aid to Africa. And yet nothing changes. I can remember as a little kid watching "help the starving children in Africa" programs on tv bagging people to send money so they could buy food and medical care for the children of Africa. And here it is years later and they are still staving and dieing of things that could easily be prevented or cured. Why are they so behind the rest of the world? Why can they not take care of their own? I am not asking this to be uncaring. It just seems like all these years of sending money and aid has not made anything difference at all. From generation to generation they just keep on starving and dieing and in need of basic care. Something other then sending aid needs to be done to help these poor people.

[Lacilliyr]

South Africa is actually pretty rich, they're up to par with standard modern cities today. When you think of the poverty and disease stricken Africans, that's north Africa. As to why they are still poor, I don't know. I'm not sure if South Africa shares its wealth with those in the north or if the commercials for sponsoring children are very helpful. Maybe they both are and there is just so many people its barely making a dent.

[victoriavengeance (1)]

I blessed the rain there.

[Destroit]

Because if you give a man a fish, he has dinner. If you teach a man how to fish, he'll have dinner for a lifetime.

We keep handing them fish with no fishing pole to do it themselves. It's like handouts here: they don't teach anyone any skills or anything valuable, and it enables people to not learn to help themselves.

We need to stop sending food and start sending schools. Oprah's school was a good start. But we need to be able to educate them, not give them free handouts. Same here when it comes to inner-city urban areas like, oh, say Detroit (which is more poverty stricken than a lot of the places in Africa).

That's why welfare impedes people instead of helping them excel.

[Simon Bar Sinister]

aftereffects of colonial rule and Cold War gamesmanship, coupled with extreme lack of transportation infrastructure.

[Destroit]

South Africa was fucked for awhile because of Apartheid, which is basically government instituted racism and segregation, so for the longest time they weren't getting anywhere. Low and behold, since anyone with simple logic could come to this, they got rid of Apartheid and voila...South Africa started becoming wealthy again...imagine that!

[prick]

Like so many other places in the world there are a few wealthy, militant like people in control and keeping everyone else down.

[Destroit]

Warlords running the counties? Genocide? War?

The reason they are so poor is the aid isn't getting to the people who need it.

What is your definition of aid? And how would said aid help them in the long run? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just asking for more specifics.

[Destroit]

Like so many other places in the world there are a few wealthy, militant like people in control and keeping everyone else down.

Also very correct, this was very true with Apartheid, and still rings true in many African countries today.

[TitsMcGee]

What is your definition of aid? And how would said aid help them in the long run? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just asking for more specifics.

I know there are people out there that go to the 3rd world counties to teach them out to fend for themselves, because I've pilfered some of their books from the internet. Someone just isn't letting these people through or something. That is my definition of aid.

[Destroit]

I know there are people out there that go to the 3rd world counties to teach them out to fend for themselves, because I've pilfered some of their books from the internet. Someone just isn't letting these people through or something. That is my definition of aid.

That's because there are a lot of tyrannical stupid people out to try and stop progress. It's easier to control people when you keep them ignorant and starving.

[Guest Megalicious]

Well they may be poor, by Nigerians are the happiest people on the planet according to some UK study (2003, so it's been a while).

The top 5 were all considered "poor" and third world countries. The common denominator seems to be supportive community - think about it, even in the most conventional African family, there is still a sense of "tribe", family, community -- they take care of one another, provide structure, balance and support.

America ranked 16.

So yes they are poor as all fuck, but they are rich in ways we can only strive for.

[candyman]

Oh...they are getting plenty of AID(S) down there...

Stupid celebs wanted to look good and help "fight" a disease...AIDS. Remember that South Park episode where they cure AIDS by injecting money into the bloodstream? Nah...doesn't work.

We send them giant boxes of condoms...seriously...I saw them and they are huge. I'm sorry but I am guessing that 1 in 200,000 of them are actually used properly...

Africa has an ecosystem perfectly suited for killing the fuck out of people living in it...but somehow adding genocidal warfare seemed like a good idea to quite a few people down there for some reason. Honestly, they have monster ants that can kill you and if you get away some dude in nasty undies kills your ass with an old AK and then probably snorts coke off of your nipples...

[LadyKay]

Well they may be poor, by Nigerians are the happiest people on the planet according to some UK study (2003, so it's been a while).

The top 5 were all considered "poor" and third world countries. The common denominator seems to be supportive community - think about it, even in the most conventional African family, there is still a sense of "tribe", family, community -- they take care of one another, provide structure, balance and support.

America ranked 16.

So yes they are poor as all fuck, but they are rich in ways we can only strive for.

I've been saying this all along and people just look at me like I'm some kind of flower loving hippie. We are living in a way that the human race was not meant to live. We where meant to live in tribal groups with every member of the tribe helps each other and is depended upon each other. That is one of the reason modern society has so many issues. We are living in a way we where not wired for.

[torn asunder]

several posts removed due to rules violation...

Edited August 28, 2011 by torn asunder

[taysteewonderbunny]

several posts marked "unapproved" due to pending moderator discussion...

My two cents: allow them, unless they specifically target members of the board, but with note that they do not represent the opinion of the board as a whole or any moderators per se and that all are welcome here.

[TitsMcGee]

Well they may be poor, by Nigerians are the happiest people on the planet according to some UK study (2003, so it's been a while).

The top 5 were all considered "poor" and third world countries. The common denominator seems to be supportive community - think about it, even in the most conventional African family, there is still a sense of "tribe", family, community -- they take care of one another, provide structure, balance and support.

America ranked 16.

So yes they are poor as all fuck, but they are rich in ways we can only strive for.

See Small Town USA. Seriously, my little village (yes we are the village of Posen) is a very tight knit community, if you need someone you can always ask a neighbor for a helping hand. Just look at the benefit the they threw for my dad after we found out he was sick. That's a regular thing around this area too.

[Enishi]

The way I see it, Africa south of the Sahara has been vulnerable due not only to the instability that followed after the colonial era, but also due to the fact that before the modern era there was never a large unifying power like Rome, and no systems of writing that were passed on. I don't think this was due to anything like 'race' mind you, but rather, the geography and climate and the types of cultures that developed there as a result. It made Africa 'easy pickings' as it were, thus leading to the current situation today.

Edited August 25, 2011 by Enishi

[candyman]

The way I see it, Africa south of the Sahara has been vulnerable due not only to the instability that followed after the colonial era, but also due to the fact that before the modern era there was never a large unifying power like Rome, and no systems of writing that were passed on. I don't think this was due to anything like 'race' mind you, but rather, the geography and climate and the types of cultures that developed there as a result. It made Africa 'easy pickings' as it were, thus leading to the current situation today.

No they did have a unifying power around almost all the time...but when it turns out to be something like the UN then all that happens is a bunch of nothing.

Seriously, most of the commercials where they ask you to help Africa should just have Yakety Sax playing in the background. People like us want to help but can't...to others that actually have the ability to help this is just a big publicity game where donations means big perks and fans. Rome was pretty much the last Empire the conquered large pieces of land...it changed after that.

All you can do is step back and cheer for the rebels in Libya and hope they can reach their goal...the good news is that their goofy "leader" can't be found anywhere...

[Vater Araignee]

Teach a man to fish and he owes you one lump sum and a can teach others removing profit potential.

Give a man a fish and he becomes indentured.

Steal all of his natural resources and eventually he will beg to be indentured.

[~Tszura~]

We have PLENTY of resources in the world for no one to go hungry, or have basic needs unmet. We may not be entirely selfish as a group, but the few of us who are fueled by power, money, and greed seem to always get the greatest hold on everything.

We seem to be able to insert ourselves into other countries, even if it means war, if we want something from them, but we can't go in guns blazing when people are being slaughtered, starved, and tortured. That has always disgusted, and pissed me off. It makes me ashamed, too, of where we are at as a species. I'm not going to lie, I'm part of that problem because I'd still kill a bitch in certain situations whereas Nightgaunt would look at the big picture, and try to transcend the moment. Even with that, I could never take total control of anything, or take part in directly wiping out or torturing an entire population.

[GothicSilencer]

Teach a man to fish and he owes you one lump sum and a can teach others removing profit potential.

Give a man a fish and he becomes indentured.

Steal all of his natural resources and eventually he will beg to be indentured.

I support this plan.

[candyman]

We have PLENTY of resources in the world for no one to go hungry, or have basic needs unmet. We may not be entirely selfish as a group, but the few of us who are fueled by power, money, and greed seem to always get the greatest hold on everything.

We seem to be able to insert ourselves into other countries, even if it means war, if we want something from them, but we can't go in guns blazing when people are being slaughtered, starved, and tortured. That has always disgusted, and pissed me off. It makes me ashamed, too, of where we are at as a species. I'm not going to lie, I'm part of that problem because I'd still kill a bitch in certain situations whereas Nightgaunt would look at the big picture, and try to transcend the moment. Even with that, I could never take total control of anything, or take part in directly wiping out or torturing an entire population.

We didn't need anything out of Vietnam, Korea, or Somalia but because war, even if it is for the best reasons, became televised and people didn't like it...WW2 would even have been different if it would have been made more public.

People see the heartbreak because of TV and cry for someone to do something...but then when something is done they cry out that it is awful and should stop. Regular people are saying that they don't want to sacrifice "their" troops...that is our decision to serve I will die in the fight for freedom for ANYONE!

I am not going to say that war or something like it is the answer...but we have been trying that "talking" thing for a while and it did a whole lot of nothing. Red Cross gets ambushed all the time because it is "christian" so they make Red Crescent...which gets the same treatment. All the tons of food and supplies that get sent in are stolen by dictators or rebel groups and they NEVER hand it out to the people that need it. If anything is done to prevent those issues that groups kill their own damn people as an example of how serious they are...

A friend on post got back from a tour in Somalia a while back, yes we are still there, and he has been there many times before. He is there simply to protect foreign civilians so the local groups don't murder them and take their shit. But we have this stupid mentality when it comes to helping...those groups making the trouble are doing some of the worst shit imaginable to their own people...but we have to be nice to them if we go to help.

[RockGod_66]

The biggest reason Africa is so poor is because of the World Bank and IMF(International Monetary Fund). International bankers will loan money to corrupt leaders of African nations at loan shark rates, and when the African nations default on their loans the bankers will either: a) Force the nation's economic policies to be controlled by the western bankers in order to receive more loans, or b) If the nation decides not decide to cooperate with the bankers and can't pay back the loans, the country will be forced to declare bankruptcy.

Actually the foreign aid western countries give to Africa actually helps prop up corrupt governments. In fact we should be giving "NO" money to Africa at all, because the money usually ends up in the wrong hands.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Its a strange contradiction that Africa the place is rich, African people are poor.

The vast majority of African countries are at or near the bottom of the U.N. poverty index, don't fool yourself into thinking its just a stereotype that Africa is poor. (not that many people do, but there are a few overly optimistic or maybe just deniers that don't think this is true)

- Piss poor health - Hard to do anything when your sick.

- Centuries of colonialism - Can't use this excuse forever, but it is similar to why the south is so poor, they got ass-raped during the civil war and still are feeling the effects, but in Africans case it went on for generation after generation after generation, not just half dozen of generations. This has a heavy psychological effect that still lingers today. (servitude mentality)

- Corruption - hard to get any aid to the proper locations in abundance due to this and a whole host of other issues that go along with it, the wealth they do have being squandered etc. Education about birds and bees and condoms wont fix this one, a culture-wide revulsion to corruption will have to happen , which will be generations in the making.

- Horrific infrastructure - Roads, Phones, electricity , water you name it, hard to get any type of anything done due to this.

- Tribalism - Piss poor outmoded system of government, keeps you poor and in many cases, at war. We think of afirca as a collection of "countries" but it is much more at the local-level in many cases than we are used to thinking of in the west, the local tribes hold sway in their areas far more than is even understandable to most westerners.

- Ignorance - people just arent educated , hard to fix anything without decent understanding of how the world works. Superstition, illteracy, you name it.

- Huge rich/poor gap and a small middle class (works well with corruption to keep things at the status quo). All the cash goes to the tippy top, far, far wider rich/poor gap than westerners generally can visualize. This is a key way to describe a "third world country" (tiny middle class, huge poor class and all the wealth at the top.)

Its hard to picture the scale of Africa and gives a screwed idea of the aid we send over there. The vast majority of your average African gets no aid at all from the west, that inst contributing very much to say causing joe-african to be a slacker in the same way welfare might in the us. It is a problem on a small scale, but not a drop in the bucket compared to the vast seas of humanity that are over there and never got a single grain of rice from the west. It IS contrubiting to making the rich-richer in many places though.

All of these are working together its not just "people need jobs" or "people need schools" or "its the warlords" or "too much corruption". It all works hand in hand, if the solution was simple it would be fixed already. Similar to many seemingly perpetual problems around the world (middle east violence, homelessness etc.)

As to they got this way in the first place from a historical standpoint is even more complicated than why they are that way currently.