Poverty in Africa and Politics......A Rant
OK so i was watching that interview with brad pitt the other night and he was talking about how poor africa is and how much is needed over there and how it was so exciting that we have the opportunity to end poverty in africa. so before i get into my rant let me just say that my heart breaks for the poor and starving in africa, is it a horrible situation? absolutley, do i pray for them? sure, but can we change it? nope.
First of all this whole One voice campaign is a joke in and of itself, when in the history of the world has a rock concert changed anything for the positive? much less ended hunger on such a massive scale as Africa. this concert or movement or revolution or whatever it is isnt going to change a thing. and they want to say that they dont want your money just your voice, what the hell is that supposed to mean, are we going to sing songs about food to them or what. that slogan makes absolutley no sense at all. america already sends close to 20 billion thats right 20 BILLION to africa each year to help with hunger and humanitarian aid, and thats just america alone. but has the situation improved? nope. america is the richest and most prosperous country in the history of the world and we are only 230 some years old. we are richer than any other civilization EVER and we cannot end poverty in our own country even with all the tons of government programs, churches, and charities. if we cant end hunger here, then what makes anyone think that we can end it in africa. these countries with the starving people are not free countries like we are, if they were then there wouldnt be a problem. these countries are ran by dictators, communists, and islamic wackos that deliberately starve their citizens and take all the money that we send over there. until there is government change over there then there will be no end to poverty. so change the government you say, well thats what we are trying to do in Iraq but GOD FORBID we do that. the Liberals want you to think that we are SOOOOO wrong for helping bring governmental change to Iraq. so its damned if you do and damned if you dont.
Another thing that has me pissed off is the lack of border secuirty in this country. i dont know what the hell George W (and i voted for G.W.B) is doing but it sure isnt locking down the borders like he said he was going to do. the only thing separating us from mexico is a barbed wire fence and a shallow creek, my oh my what a deterrant. i cant imagine any mexican or other person being able to crack that high caliber of security. what are we going to do when a terrorist flies to mexico and walks across the border, thats right just walks across the border then blows up some large city like Dallas or LA or New York, hey it can happen and probably will if we dont do something and do something soon, i wish i could have been in arizona when the minute men were down there patroling the border, if the government wont do something then the private sector MUST! we cannot be afraid of alienating the hispanic vote, they can follow imigration LAWS just like everyone else. you dont leave the front door of your house unlocked at night do you? so tell me why should we leave the front door of america unlocked?
And now for something that hits home down here in florida, all this freakin grafitti that these gang bangers love to paint all over everything. why use such big letters that you cant read them? and why the need to "tag" everything, why not act like a dog and just piss all over everthing, thats the caliber of individuals we are dealing with here. i say round them all up and give them a tooth brush and some soap and make them scrub it off. if you cant find them then i know a way to end all the unemployment. how about the homeless with their signs that say "will work for food" well if you want to work then i got a job for you, start picking up all that trash you are standing in and start cleaning up the grafitti thats all around you, maybe then someone will give you a burger. i mean dear God where is this country going??? personally ive about had it and i am going to go into politics to try to change things unless something is changed and changed soon. i know ive probably pissed off about half of you guys who read this and i dont really care, the only reason you are mad is cause you know what i am saying is true.
the bdt
posted by B-rock @ 8:18 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
preach it b-rock. preach it.
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ok, johnathan here is how i see it, how can people in america NOT BE AWARE?? every other commericial is about some starving child somewhere and how we can feed him for the price of a cup of coffee. remember that fat sally stuthers commercials, who hasnt made fun of her for eating all of the food that was supposed to go the starving kids. and why would you think i would send a fuck you to those organizations?? that makes no sense whatsoever. those organizations are doing all they can with the resources they have, but i am not talking about them am i? no i am talking about us needing to work on the main cause of the problem, and how come you think i have a view of complacency and indifference, did you not read the first part where i said that it breaks my heart to see these things and that i pray for them, but we cant change something unless their governments change, thats my whole point, not that we shouldnt care, but we should try to fix the problem at the root. surely you agree with that. oh and one other thing, for those of you who dont think i know what the hell im talking about, i am going to africa this fall.
johnathan wheeler i love you too man but we will just have to agree to disagree. and i am a huge fan of your guitar playing i always have been you know that.
jamie i am going to nairobi and all around there i think in september. staceys dad is taking me i think for like 15 days or something like that. ill be sure to let you know when i get more information
Brock, that's awesome that you're going to Africa. I hope you have a great time...it's one of my top 5 places to visit in the world.
At the end of this post you said, "the only reason you are mad is cause you know what i am saying is true." Actually what upset me was a statement you made that isn't true, but a lot of people live like it is. You said in the beginning, "but can we change it? nope." It is exactly that kind of thinking that is the reason why campaigns like ONE are needed.
You may want to actually check out the ONE website and see what they're all about before bashing it and referring to it as a concert (www.one.org). It's a campaign to bring people together from all walks of life and ask America to start doing something that will make a difference. Is the answer just throw money at the problem? No. I definitely believe that how that money is being spent needs to be analyzed and that it needs to be carefully used. But that's not something I'm qualified to do, so I can't help out there.
What I can do (what we all can do) is participate in events that send a message to our President and others that says we care about this and we think you should too. After all, what is the point of living in a "democratic" country if you can't make your voice heard?
Yes, we live in America...the most prosperous nation on Earth. And yes, we have our own problems. And yes, I agree that we should also focus on them. The difference between the hungry and poor and unemployed in America and those in Africa are that the people in America have opportunity. They have the chance to find work, make their own money, get health care. The people in Africa don't even have the opportunity for those things.
You argue that awareness campaigns are ridiculous because everyone already knows about these problems. First, if that were true to the point where people actually *understood* these problems, the problems probably wouldn't exist. In other words, if people are so aware, why aren't they doing anything about it? Secondly, if that argument were true, it could also be applied (at least in the United States, and especially in the South) to sharing the Gospel. I mean, everybody already knows Jesus is out there and they can find Him for themselves, right?
If you don't want to participate in things like ONE, then don't. That's certainly your right. But why bash it? Why insult those who want to get involved and at least try to make a difference rather than just sitting back and accepting defeat? And if Africa is a little too far away, feel free to support something that focuses on problems in the US.
Brock and others, I'm not trying to bash you or anything like that. I just cannot understand making or supporting statements that portray such an "oh, well" attitude about serious problems.
well obviously i can see that some of you guys are not seeing my point. my main point is that nothing is going to change unless these governments of the countries in africa change! i mean hello do you think that the different dictators in africa give a rats ass about what the american people think? the american government shouldnt be the ONLY country trying to do something. if the free people of the world care, then there should be a huge uproar over whats happening, but this is 2005, how long has this same scenario been going on??? i just dont think something like the one campaign is going to work, just like all the other different movements and organizations before it.
Brock and Mrs. Brock,
I definitely agree that it is only by changing the government and educational systems that permanent change (and improvement) can be made for Africa and other third-world countries. Brock, I understood that from your original post and think you're right on.
However, my point was why bash something and *discourage* people from participating in something that *could be* positive? Do I believe that next month at the G8 conference world peace will happen and all the world's problems will be solved? Of course not. But until the ONE campaign started openly talking about it, I didn't even know about the G8 conference. Do I think my signing a petition is necessarily going to make President Bush or anyone make decisions they might not have made otherwise? Well...maybe.
Like I said before, I just can't sit back and say "oh, well" to problems like the ones Africa (and the US, and other countries) are facing. Participating in the ONE campaign, sponsoring a child in Mozambique, giving to the KURE foundation, dropping some coins in a Salvation Army bucket...these are things that help me feel like I'm at least doing *something*.
From your original post I got the impression that you think participating in those types of things are useless and that people who would be involved are ignorant and idealistic. If that's how you feel, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
since africa has been the only controversy surrounding my post i guess everyone else agrees with what i said about the border and the grafitti gang bangers then.
this is 1 reason why i am marrying stacey. you are so smart babe.
so i read through all the posts and i have a few comments, hopefully, nonredundant.
i think we (ECers, CHristians, world travelers, missions people) have an over emphasized awarness of the plight of the needy, espically in Africa. Over half of the IPHC missionaries are there. That being said, i think there are a lot of complacent Americans who don't know how bad it is in Africa.
I will be interested to know how you feel after you go there Brock.
I have said many times that I think every person in the world should go to Africa at least once in their life.
I have to agree with Michelle though, why bash something that is trying to do good? The organization may have an ideal goal, but so do almost all humanitarian and aid organizations.
I think that what Mrs. Brock said about education is superb. the One campain is trying to bring more awarness to the plight of the poor education opportunities there.
The governments in Africa are corrupt, but that doesn't mean that they do absolutly nothing for their people. Kenya, where I have been and where you are going, has major problems, but it also has some amazing people and organizations who are doing some very beneficial things with what they get from the government.
I'm going to withdraw from this discussion (and the crowd cheers!!) because (a)I think we're pretty much beating a dead horse at this point, and (b)I think perhaps we're all saying the same thing in different ways. I hope that we can all agree that there are serious problems in Africa (and, Brock, in the US) and that something needs to be done about them. Exactly how we interpret that in our own individual lives is up to us.
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