[Cronos]

Africa is totally eat-up with socialism. The barbaric thugs in power there see socialism for what it is, guaranteed power for the elite. Support from their like minded thugs in Europe and the American left allows them to enjoy it.

Actually you got it wrong -- let's separate Africa into 3 components: the Sahara and north of the Sahara -- these are all Arab cultures (excpet for Sudan which is a mix of Arab and WEst-South African), the second East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania etc): these have old cultures -- some like Ethiopia having developed to greatness on their own (there's a lot to suggest that Ethiopians are more Semitic, at least their language is!) and finally West and South Africa.

The North and the East have some culture and whatever problems they have can be blamed on that culture or on socialism.

South and West Africa is barbaric, with no culture. They are not advanced enough to appreciate civilisation. It's like trying to foist democracy on Germanic barbarians in the 1st century BC.

This does not denigrate all Africans -- especially not those from the EAst, but we got to treat each of these portions of Africa differently. I see no hope for Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia etc. but I see hope for Ethiopia, Kenya etc.

[Tobor]

Good post.

But, I still think the struggle between collectivism and individualism, usually expressed as socialism vs. free-markets, has had a great influence on all of Africa.

The 'no culture' barbaric places remain as such for a reason.

I will suggest that the reason is that the forces of collectivism won the war in that region. The forces of individualism and free-markets simply lost the battle in the areas of Africa that are still barbaric, and dictatorial.

I am glad that there are outposts of hope in Africa. But, I suspect they are only places that remain worthy of hope and are surrounded by a sea of horror.

Please educate me more. Are the places worthy of hope, really worthy, or are they just not quite as bad as the rest ?

[Tobor]

Actually you got it wrong -- "

Don't the leaders of these dictatorships through-out Africa use the ideas and propaganda of socialism to support themselves? Don't American and European leftists support them because of their socialism? Does not the MSM ignore their murder and rape because they are socialists?

Is that not true through-out the whole of Africa?

Have these 'countries of hope' rejected socialism?