Monday, October 06, 2014

MSNBC Panel: Proposing A Travel Ban To Stop Ebola Is “Racist”



There are so many ways in which this analysis from MSNBC is stupid.

Let me count the ways:

1) Ebola is "Africa's greatest catastrophic crisis since slavery" --- laughable. First of all, Africa, just seventeen years ago, suffered through the Rwandan genocide - a 100 day period during which 1,000,000 people were murdered with machetes. During the past 150 years, there have also been horrific cases of genocide in Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea (nicknamed "The Auschwitz of Africa"), Burundi, and Zanzibar. This is likely a partial list because I am an idiot, not a history expert. Point being, even I - being the idiot that I am - know that Africa's history is replete with blood spilled by human hands. The institution of American Slavery, which was not outright genocide, could be called minor in comparison. And even if not, well, slavery itself persists to this day in Sudan, where the Arab government of Sudan has been involved in the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of black Africans.

2) The very idea that Ebola "could turn into carnage across the whole region if the world does not assist immediately" is testament to the fact that Africa has deeper problems than how the Western world treats Africa. The fact is, African nations, in general, have not built any large institutions by which to protect their people against he ravages of life on Earth. In many places there are no modern sewage systems, electrical systems, or fresh water systems, much less hospitals, or clinics where vaccines can be distributed. Recently, some Western aid workers were murdered by superstitious Africans precisely for distributing vaccinations. Africa has very deep problems indeed. And one could argue that the deepest problem they have is a total poverty of the kind of knowledge and education needed to cope with, not just the modern word, but Earth itself.

3) "West African countries are America's partners". What do West African countries offer America in terms of partnership? Here's a list of West African nations --- Benin, Burkina Faso, island of Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, island of Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. I'm ignorant! What do these nations offer the Western world? Benin exports cotton. To where? I don't know. Burkina Faso exports Iron, Copper, Gold, and other metals. Who set up those industries? I'm stupid. You tell me. Cape Verde, I don't see that they export anything, do they? Gambia, agriculture is 70% of the GDP. The rest, I don't know. I could go on. But the point is, to the extent we are partners with any of these countries, our partnership amounts to aid in subsistence and the setting up of the industrial infrastructure for mining. If I am wrong, I am wrong. Enlighten me.

4) "It's racist" to close the borders to travel from nations which are being ravaged by a plague which could kill tens of millions of people. It's not racist. It's survival. When an airplane is going down, the able-bodied are instructed to make sure they get the oxygen mask on their face before they make efforts to save others. The reason for this is simple: Dead people can not save injured and dying people.

This video is 1:11. In that short time, I don't think the three people on camera uttered a single sentence which displayed that any of them are in touch with reality one slightest bit.

Am I wrong?

3 comments:

Always On Watch said...

Pasto,
It's Howard Zinn on steroids!

Anonymous said...

five million dead in the Congo

Pastorius said...

Who killed them? When?

I'm not familiar with that. Like I said, I am no historian or African affairs expert. Just an average idiot.