India should welcome Africa's white farmers
They could revive the Indian breadbasket
Shiva Kalidasa
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"The descent into chaos which Africa as experienced since decolonisation
cannot be ignored"
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The descent into chaos which Africa as experienced since decolonisation
cannot be ignored. Wars, famines, economic regression and the collapse of
basic infrasturctures is evident on our television screens daily. Despite
the best efforts of Marxist and fellow sympathising pseudo-intellectuals,
serious study cannot ignore the reasons behind this. The host of excuses
that have been laid out have exacerbated the already dire situation. In
this
double standards have been given to pre and post colonial Africa, to
black
and white. The whole point of opposing colonial rule was that it was an
abrogation of the right of self-determination of all peoples.
The Allies
had
been fighting Nazi rule of Europe. How could they then justify their own
rule over vast tracts of territory in Africa and Asia? Why was the
liberation of Czechs, French, Dutch, Poles and others important, while
beign
simultaneously inapplicable to Indians, Malays, Jamaicans, and Africans?
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(Apartheid) has come to be
demonised simply becuase it was run by whites...
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The
Nazi brutalities exposed the full horror of what could happen if social
Darwinism and biological determinism were allowed to run rampant. So then
the whole point of opposing apartheid was that it was brutal, relegated
people according to their racial category (itself not easy, judging by
the
farcical treatment given to mixed race Coloureds). This has been missed
and
the main thrust given was that aparthied was white. So it has come to be
demonised simply becuase it was run by whites. That allows every excuse
to
be given to the failures of many post-colonial societies.
History cannot
predict the future, but it can give examples of where the future might
lie.
So one can only judge post-1990 South Africa by the examples to the
north,
and that really is not very encouraging picture.
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How much money was siphoned out of
Rhodesia as compared to the regime of Mugabe?
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It is strange that the very same leaders who denounce western colonialism
at
every opportunity, as if it was still 1945, then go to the very same
imperalists to demand, not ask, but demand aid money, which then finds
its
way into their Swiss bank accounts. How much money was siphoned out of
Rhodesia as compared to the regime of Mugabe?
This has created a vacuum which modern day National Socialists, the
unapologetic racists fill. Why is Africa so underdeveloped they ask. The
answer they claim blacks are genetically inferior, and so this is
irredeemable. Anti-racists howl and complain, but with their socialist
ideas, they not only make apologies for the very real post-colonial
failures, but provide the mental fodder for the very Nazi ideas which
unapologetic white racists need - Marxism and Socialism are after all
essentally the same as Fascism and Nazism, as FA Hayek warned back in
1944.
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Keith Richburg,
created an uproar among his fellow ethnics in
'Out of America' in 1997
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Into this two important scholars have entered the fray. Keith Richburg,
African-American journalist created an uproar among his fellow ethnics in
'Out of America' in 1997. Though condemned his views proved not only
objective, but prophetic. He was defended by a fellow citizen of Ghanaian
descent, Attiye author of the 1988 'Chaos in Africa', who took the ideas
to
a greater depth, blaming not only ''anti-racist' western 'scholarship'
but
the forces at work in Africa: statism, tribalism, sultanism, and the
unbiquitous vampire state. These acted against market forces, and thus
democracy itself - as there has never been a true democratic society that
was not based upon the Marxist bane of capitalism.
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Who has not heard of the 'Asians' who
suffered
ethnic cleansing from Uganda in 1972?
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That does not mean that without colonialism such societies are forever
condemend to oblivion. Richburg deal with all the excuses about Africa's
regression. When the multi-ethnic nature of states is used, he uses
Indonesia to counteract this. What of Singapore, a small colonial fishing
village with no natural resources which was to become the economic
colossus
of the Pacific Rim. In all societies there is some corruption, but in
Africa
this has been combined with utter incompetence, lack of responsibilty,
the
most amazingly manufactured excuses, and above all inhumanity.
Since independence in 1947, India followed this to an extent. The strange
thing was that as India went under economic stagnation, emigrants from
that
country actually prospered. Who has not heard of the 'Asians' who
suffered
ethnic cleansing from Uganda in 1972, in some cases with just one
suitcase,
becoming success stories in their new countries. Under Nehru and family,
India also suffered nepotism, statism, and the usual socialist disasters.
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Punjab becmae the breadbasket of India
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True there was development, and Punjab becmae the breadbasket of India,
as
well as having a school in very village, road links, and economic growth.
But this was in spite of the government not because of it, and in large
part
due to remittances sent back by family members in the West. The central
government, obsessed by Stalinist planning, stifled industrial growth. It
is
only with liberalisation since 1992 that India has made progress in leaps
and bounds, notably in the IT sector. What stopped India from suffering
the
same fate as Africa, was the much hated social structure, derided as the
Hindu caste system, which provided a community barrier between the
individual and the asprant Stalinist state run by the Congress Party.
However 50 years of quasi-Stalinist rule have left their mark. Punjab for
all its success has stagnated. Extreme affirmitive action programs,
called
reservation policies effectively marginalise vast sections of the
population, in recompense for an Aryan invasion which never even took
place.
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What India needs at this stage is not the usual IMF funds and bank loans,
but sound business advice.
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Large numbers of young men migrate to the West, often under dubious
means,
to escape lack of opportunites in an environment which still pushes the
state as the means to employment, with its nepotistic and corrupt
accretions. The market economy is still in infant stages, in a country
which
until 1991 sold two makes of cars that came from the James Deane era, and
that without a choice of colour (even though there was only the choice of
black or white). Unable to make money from other means, families sell off
the expensive farmland to raise illusory wealth.
What India needs at this stage is not the usual IMF funds and bank loans,
but sound business advice. If Punjab could prove to be the success story
under the pre-marketisation era, there is no reason why this success
cannot
be repeated under the new liberal climate. It has been shown that
democracy
and economic success lie upon a successful market system and that
development is linked to increased levels of urbanisation. The land
situation could have been resolved this way. A growth in the service and
technolgy sectors, following the pattern of the developed world, would
allow
an increasingly urban population to fill vital economic roles.
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Who can argue that Africa has not re-entered the Dark Ages?
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The land
demand would then lessen allowing the white farmers to become modernised
agribusinesses. What is happening now is a modern day fall of the Roman
Empire, with the collapse of the cities and spread of subsistence
farming.
Who can argue that Africa has not re-entered the Dark Ages?
What of the plight of the white farmers. They are often scoffed as
deserving
it, the revenge of the disposessed under colonialism. But this is the
usual
Leftist excuses. It is also ominous for South Africa. As a non-white
person
I do not want to admit it, but as a scholar I have to be objective if I
want
to avoid falling into the same cess pit of excuses that has caused much
the
problems we see today.
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(White farmers) should be encouraged
to
migrate to India
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But South Africa is heading the same way. The
murder
of white farmers in Zimbabwe and South Africa is not the revenge of Franz
Fanon's 'Wretched of the Earth', but descent into barbarism, killing of
the
very people who feed the population.
So how does India fit into all this? If Punjab is to revive its
breadbasket
economy and move onto the next stage of development with the rest of
India,
following the tiger economies of the Pacific Rim. If skilled white
farmers
are dispossesed and made starngers in their own countries, which they did
for all politcal faults, help to build in the first place, be encouraged
to
migrate to India. A modern urbanised industrial society needs an
equivalent
agricultural base. If India is to leave the Third World and enter the
league
of industrialised nations, it needs the correct knowledge base, and ditch
its outdated and colonialist Marxist obsessions. This the Anglo and
Afrikaner farmers can certainly provide. There are many 'What If's' in
history. perhaps India can avoid being one of them if it grabs this
watershed opportunity.
Last 25 Visitor Comments
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Name
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Email
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Subject
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Date
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| Woko | mlashosis4_at_yahoo.com | Keith Richburg | 2/24/2005 |
| I have just finished reading Out Of America and I feel sorry for my brother Keith. In reading the book I realised that keith would so much want to be white, the only thing he did not say was God why was I born black.
Keith suffers from what W.E.B. Dubois called "double consciousness, that sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity."
What Keith saw in Africa maybe true but rejecting his heritage because of the evil he saw in Africa is being foolish. I would wish he was sent as a Washngton Post reporter to Iraq and see what Americans are doing to the people of Iraq, let him go and count the dead bodies of innocent people killed in Fallujah and then he would proudly proclaim his American ness.
Woko |
| erick kabendera | ekabendera_at_yahoo.com | Africa Indiginous | 12/11/2004 |
| sir, i am a university of Dar es salaam student but working as a reporter with Tanzanian newspaper-The citizen, iam currently reading the Keith: out of Africa. the point is that Keith has forgotten one thing: in my tribe-western of Tanzania-we believe that once one is born in slave family, even if he become rich, educated and whatever through his/her generations-he will always remain a slave. as long as Keith is black, no matter weather he was born in America-still would have written on how bad are bthe African problems that the solution. as long he has the Africa blood-he will always remain an African. he probably can not regard himself being an American-forgetting the distarious conditions that African faced in Disaspora-still facing. especially being undermined. a black man belongs to Africa-always will belong. if not, why the element of BLACK-AMERCIAN, BLACK-AMERICAN or whatever, should be included in his identification?. if he feels that he completely belong to west-then ommitt black. thanks |
| Stephen Manley | research_at_ibt.org.uk | General Comment | 12/2/2004 |
| Dear Shiva,
My name is Stephen Manley, I am currently working for the International Broadcasting Trust (IBT) in London. We are developing a programme proposal for a documentary to be screened next year on channel 4 in England. The programme is going to be about the current economic success of India and its comparison/effect on the African Economy. I would be extremely interested in your opinions.
While researching, I came across an article you wrote entitled ‘India should become Africa’s white farmers.’ The article was very informative and provided a good link between Africa and India. Do you feel that South Africa could learn anything from the economic success in India or will it always be left behind in terms of world economy? It is clear from your article that you feel there are lessons to be learnt but could this knowledge be used on a wider scale to improve the financial success of the entire country?
I would be very interested to hear any comments you might have on the subject. Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Stephen Manley
IBT
E-mail – research@ibt.org.uk
Phone – 020 7874 7657
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| Shiva Kalidasa | mirchi5@hotmail.com | Out of America | 2/26/2003 |
| Visitor
Thanks for your comments, and I apologise for the spelling mistakes - I wrote it while at work.
Keith Richburg's "Out of America", Harvest Books; Reprint edition (July 1, 1998) on www.amazon.com and here is one review below:
The New York Times Book Review, William Finnegan
To his credit, Mr. Richburg lays out his own confusion and guilt about saying some of the things he does . . . he is candid about his gratitude that his ancestors made it to America. Mr. Richburg lambastes whites in the West who, for fear of appearing racist, hesitate to place responsibility for Africa's woes on African shoulders, and then he extends this criticism to white Americans who are allegedly afraid to hold black Americans responsible for their own woes.
Also George BH Ayittey "Chaos in Africa" St. Martin's Press; (February 1999).
I appreciate your feedback but unfortunately I cannot read Afrikaans (a colleague translated for me).
Best wishes
Shiva
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| Visitor | Anonymous | p.5 | 2/25/2003 |
| essentially... Sal later verder proeflees. Btw. waar kan mens daai "Out of America" in die hande kry? Klink baie interressant. |
| Leo | Anonymous | 2nd P | 2/25/2003 |
| becAuse |
| Leo | Anonymous | 2nd paragraph | 2/25/2003 |
| aparthEId (2nd time word occurs) |
| Leo | Anonymous | 2nd sentence | 2/25/2003 |
| infrastRuctures |
| Leo | Anonymous | 1st sentence | 2/25/2003 |
| ... Africa HAS experienced... |
