The Africa They Never Tell You About

Reaganite Republican ^ | October 26, 2011 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

"Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer 

of money from poor people in rich countries 

to rich people in poor countries." - Douglas Casey 

Namibia's new (presidential) 'State House'

I wonder if that hyperactive savior-of-the-downtrodden Bono's ever visited any these cribs -you know, just to see where all the cash he guilt-trips from people (inc. GWB) actually goes...?

Just another Nigerian mansion under construction...

Living The Good Life in Gabon

Ghana's garish Presidential Palace (2005)

McMansion in Trasacco Valley , Accra , Ghana

Mansion (68 rooms!) belonging to Mugabe's nephew... Zimbabwe

Sudanese Presidential Palace

Jubilee Palace - Addis Ababa, Ethiopa

Palais Presidentiel, Djibouti

Palais Presidentiel, Djibouti

Semi-detached yuppie condos in Nigeria- (looks like Laguna Niguel, CA cca 1990!)

Latest Malibu-type oceanfront pad in Dakar, Senagal

Beachfront Villas in Tanzania

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya

Lagos, Nigeria

Accra, Ghana

Johannesburg, South Africa

Cape Town, South Africa

Kampala, Uganda

Kampala mansion

out back of that same Kampala mansion...

So tell me WHY we're giving money to  150 out of 178 countries in existence...

while teetering on the edge of default ourselves?

Have you seen Detroit lately...?

[Interactive US foreign aid map -here-]

__________________________________________

The Economist   MemorableQuotes   SkyscraperCity  

HomeDecorHouseDesign  VentureMania   ZoomTanzania

Theodora   HappyTellUs   B.A.C   h/t RL

[RockinRight]

Well, these photos were very selectively chosen, but it does show that not all of Africa is poverty stricken.

I agree BTW on foreign aid.

[aimhigh]

Good post. I’d never seen these photos.

[dfwgator]

Foreign Aid undercuts the people living there who otherwise could make a living supplying the things the aid does.

A perfect example is food aid.....it makes it impossible for local farmers to make a living...who can compete with free food? So, you have no farmers, and the problem only perpetuates itself.

[Pessimist]

“Foreign Aid undercuts the people living there who otherwise could make a living supplying the things the aid does.”

Bingo! You are absolutely correct!

I just finished a book about our involvement in Iraq, and that’s what really struck me about there too. How could we expect their society to recover when we were handing them anything and everything we could imagine for free?

And over such a length of time!

[BwanaNdege]

The local African farmers main problems are with incompetent & corrupt governments and insecurity due to tribal conflict.

Same problem we have here. Ask a Korean business man in South Central LA, or someone in Chicago or NYC hoping to by affordable items at a Walmart.

[Reaganite Republican]

“... these photos were very selectively chosen, but it does show that not all of Africa is poverty stricken.”

Oh yes, but that’s all I’m trying to show- there’s money down there, so why doesn’t the guy with the 68 room mansion provide aid to his own countrymen instead of ME? We live in a 2 BR condo lol.

Yeah, there’s plenty of people living in poverty down there- same as Detroit, eh.

[decimon]

Which palace is yours? ;-)

[dfwgator]

A lot of those homes were bought with aid money provided by the US Taxpayer.

[spetznaz]

Shhh...don’t answer AfricanChristian. At least not before I hop into my Gulfstream and fly to talk to you (or if you prefer we can the usual Sunday brunch over at Monaco?) :)

[Mind-numbed Robot]

... so why doesn’t the guy with the 68 room mansion provide aid to his own countrymen instead of ME?

I read the interview with that guy, Mugabe's nephew. He claims to be self-made with no help from the government but early in the article it says that when the Mugabe government took over and there was rampant inflation, he bought many previously prosperous companies for almost nothing. Those were the basis of his fortune, not positive thinking as he says.