Thursday, February 5, 2009

"Let Africa Sink" - Kim du Toit

Ahh... So many post topics, so little time. I've had a mind to do a series of "compilation" posts which will contain lists of the very best stuff I come across while reading online. This will be the first. I shall call it "Blogumacation." It'll be on the bar on the right hand side. The present immigration debate with Ben has brought back to mind an old essay I read on what things are like in Africa and why it would be best for the West to simply leave the place alone. "Let Africa Sink" was written some years ago by Kim du Toit, a South African turned American turned fantastic blogger, who has since retired. In it, he explains that much of what goes on in the Dark Continent is a direct result of the mindeset and culture of the place, particularly the widely held philosophical outlook there that "life is cheap." It is a sobering essay, and not one to read or taken lightly. This essay, along with another of his that I can no longer find, were key in convincing me that style of government is almost purely a function of culture. The other (and by far the more persuasive, of course) has been my marriage and my experiences with my Chinese in-laws. Unfortunately, I can't share that with you. I can share with you Kim's essay. Go forth and read.

2 comments:

  1. This is what happened when I clicked on the above link:

    Your organization's Internet use policy restricts access to this web page at this time.

    Reason: The Websense category "Weapons" is filtered.

    What kind of websites are you likning to?!!Okay, I know I shouldn't be goofing around on the internet while at work, but they don't have to make it so difficult.

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  2. I'm surprised you can get on this site...

    Kim duToit is what some meddlesome do-gooder busybodies who design censorship software might call a "gun-nut." He devotes large swaths of web space to singing the praises of various guns and discussing things like what would be the best gun for X situation and the like.

    He also devotes a fair amount of space to revealing pictures of women. So if you didn't get filtered for gun commentary, you'd probably get it for nudy-pix (though not very many of them are THAT bad.)

    Unfortunately, he also happens to be an extremely cultured, intelligent, and educated man who also has a lot of worthwhile content on that site, especially articles like the one I linked to, that have a tendency to get filtered because of their associated material. And as you might guess, some of this might even get filtered for being controversial (and if you visit the site you'll find out he got a fair amount of hate mail for that article in particular.)

    Don't let the prudes get to you. It's good content, just like the other sites I have linked here.

    You know you're getting close to the truth when nobody wants to let you read it.

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