Posted on 04/09/2010 10:33:52 AM PDT by Charles West
Nicholas Kristof, a solidly liberal columnist for the New York Times, has an excellent piece out today discussing the situation in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, formerly called Rhodesia, was once a prosperous country known as the ‘breadbasket of Africa.’ The country is now starving and dependent on foreign aid for bare survival.
Nicholas Kristof’s analysis of the situation in Zimbabwe and South Africa breaks that of most liberals (and even many so called ‘conservatives’) because he has actually gone there to see the situation on the ground...
(Excerpt) Read more at westernyouth.org ...
Maybe little Nicky can pay a visit to Detroit next and become further enlightened.
dUH!................
Zimbabwe USA......................
The ghost of Walter Duranty does not approve.
IMO, many observers confuse race with culture. What made the “white” races historically successful in managing resources was not their skin color nor genetic endowments; it was Christianity and the virtues expected of Christians.
“it was Christianity and the virtues expected of Christians”
Really?
So Jews are still poor and starving then?
I agree it’s culture, but culture is more than just religion.
Of course the “protestant work ethic” can be applied to any ethnic group, culture, gender, and so forth.
Though this is the logical conclusion of Kristof's writing, Kristof himself would never, ever apply this lesson to the U.S.
None are so blind as those who will not see.
Certainly not. The impact of Judaism was very much the root of the Christian cultural hegemony which would follow Judaism's rise in the middle east and go on to flood the Western world. The reason why Christianity was a powerful force for society was simply demographic -- far greater numbers.
It may be politically correct to erase the impact of Christianity (and in fact, any virtue whatsoever) from the development of Western civilization due to its human imperfections, but it is historically inaccurate to do so.
It is also well to remember that the entire Jewish scripture is included in the Bible used by Christians and is routinely studied by them; and that both religions share the foundational ethics of the Decalogue.
One should also take note that corruption happens periodically in any large system; and that America was formed by Christians seeking relief from religious persecution by other Christians. It is tempting to think that Christ's teachings were at fault, when in fact it was human failure. The overall ideology contains self-correcting forces that have renewed the system over and over, whether it was rejection of theocracy, rejection of slavery or rejection of rigidly arbitrary class systems. These deep social changes take centuries to accomplish.
How ‘bout those crazy Asians. Huh?
Boy, layin’ around on welfare all the time....
Oh wait! They don’t do that. And they’re neither Jewish nor Christian.
And then there’s that guy who runs our local convenience store. Dude works from morning till night - every day.
Muslim, I believe.
I was an LDS missionary in Zimbabwe in 1981 to 1982. What has transpired since then in Zimbabwe is truly heartbreaking. In 1981 the exchange rate was $1US =$1.50ZIM, last year I bought a $100,000,000,000 Zimbabwe dollar bill for $1US.
As the article says, truly the greatest sufferers in this tragic story are the blacks.
But alas .... they won’t learn ....what you see in Zimbabwe today .... you will see in South Africa in 2020.
... then where will the liberal hate monger-poverty pimps point their fingers?
I've read of something called the "fruit tree principle" to describe differences in socio-economic conditions related to race or culture. The basic premise is that temperate climates with substantial amounts of precipitation are more hospitable to a lot of forms of agriculture. As a result, it's not difficult for people to survive simply by eating and drinking what nature provides.
In more hostile climates further from the equator, on the other hand, it takes a lot of work for a person or society to survive for long stretches of the year. The simple need to keep warm and stay fed requires a high level of industrious behavior and social/political organization.
Even within Europe you can see this at work. The Anglo-Saxon nations of northern Europe are far more advanced and prosperous than Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy (especially southern Italy).
The importance of this should never be underestimated. One defining characteristic of pagan and aboriginal cultures is that their worldview is cyclical in nature, not linear. That's why so many of their customs and folklore is rooted in the changing of the seasons, the passing of the years, the phases of the moon, etc. One day, one season, and one generation is no different than the next for these cultures.
A linear view of the physical world, on the other hand, is what makes someone wake up one day and figure out how to cultivate and harvest 15 acres instead of 5 . . . how to travel from one place to another in three days instead of seven . . . and how it would be a cool thing to get on a ship and sail past that distant point called "the horizon" that other people never bothered to think about.
Christianity is simply an extension (and fulfillment) of the Jewish (God given) culture and moral system.
It may be lazy to not type “Judeo-Christian” every time,
but it’s really not necessary.
But, fact is, there IS a term: Judeo-Christian work ethic. I didn't invent it. I just applied it in support of your assertion. And there's no claim of exclusivity.
Yet, you get all snarky with me...
That guy running your local convenience store, especially if it is a 7-Eleven, is most likely Hindu, although that’s not a 100% accurate generalization (which is an oxymoron in itself, of course).
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