My hypothesis on African problems?

Question

Africa has over 2000 ethnic groups & languages, making them the most ethnically diverse place on Earth. In addition, (Speaking of sub saharan Africa) other than the Zulu, they did not experience conquerers that tended to wipe out opposing cultures & absorb them. Therefore, specific geographical areas may have several very diverse tribes with differing cultural & religious views.

However one views European colonization, it did offer Africans a common "bad guy" & kept their dislike for competition from neighboring tribes at bay. While education "might" help to moderate tribal competition, this will take generations & some basic cultural changes. However, Europeans do not have the power to make these changes, as they might have had while they held the reins to Africa.

In this case, diversity is the cause of genocide & general unrest as tribes vie for power.

I am not one with thin skin & will be glad to accept critical analysis of this hypothesis. Feel free to unload on me.

Answer 1

I think bush caused all of the problems in africa. it was a very nice place before he took over.

Answer 2

The first problem with your synthesis is that the Zulus's oposing cultures where not destroyed as settlars in the Southern tip of Africa did not eliminate the indigenous people as was done in Australia and to a large extent in the US. The Xsosa speaking tribe in fact rule the governing party, up until recently.

In terms of the rest of your hypothesis it is indeed very accurate. When cognitizing the sosio political differences between Europe and Africa a couple of thing should be brought into consideration.

1. Africa, pre-colonialism, lacked uniform and solid political institutions. The form of political intitutionalition known today in western countrys was a developement of political thought as a science since Aristotle(384 BC – 322 BC).

2. The post treaty of Westphalia in 1648 meant that the rational developement of the nation state in Europe, meant government by Nations(a group of people that share a common culture, society and political pilosophical views. Wich developed into what is now known as Europe we see today.

Even today the flaams belang in Belgium are fighting for a seperate state.

The problem with Africa, is that the form to wich the political views are distorted is into the pre-colonial chieftenhood. Wich makes demoncracy a joke in the tradisional sense of the word. Africa will not in the near future build a solid foundation, because the flow of political thought did not occur naturally but rather on a premature synthetical basis.

Answer 3

Very nice.  At least someone is trying to understand the problem.  I only can add that, if each and every one of us were to try to understand with our individual opinions we still have only scratched the surface of this complicated multi-dimensional, plury-stratified problem.

Answer 4

just make some oil deals with the govt and help them w/ aids and education. free markets, etc.

Answer 5

Two points where you are wrong. First, it is not that Africa experiences conflict because it is diverse, rather, it is diverse because its conflicts are still so ongoing. Countries that are relatively homogeneous in culture became that way because certain conflicts came to an end... They fought wars to define and defend their borders, and either exterminated internal minorities, forced them to leave, or otherwise assimilated them. In the modern world, only to the extent that one group can dominate and impose a uniform culture do conflict and diversity both seem to disappear. Of course, there are also stable compromises of dominated but still resistant populations in many countries, but the basic fact is still that one group has succeeded in subjugating others.

But perhaps more importantly, ethnic conflict is fueled by -particular kinds- of ethnic identities and political systems, not just diversity. In Africa, the nature of those identities and political systems (for example, the idea of a "Hutu" identity and that group's genocide against the "Tutsis") were radically destabilized by colonialism. Our whole idea of uniform nation-states was invented in Europe and then imposed on other places, where it did not develop through the same homogenizing process.

Answer 6

Tribes are the inhabitants of Africa exactly like french, italians, spanish, german people were in Europe in the old times. The colonization divided their  land with the sheer logic of land possession conquered with arms or insignificant amounts of money to some local leaders, tribal chiefs, without considering main cultural divisions, that are exactly comparable to the divisions existing in Europe in the far past. The competition then blew very badly after the colonial period, due to sheer greediness of the new local rulers and the local upper classes and almost all the liberators from the colonization rulers become, or tend to become, despots or, in any case, are exploiting their people and their land for personal gains (Mobutu, Mugabe, ecc.ecc.)

Answer 7

we should start doing that one dollar for every person in africa thing again.  that way, they could have a lot of money.

Answer 8

The Zulus were not the only conquerors. Learn but the history of Egypt. Africa is a very moving continent. There were plenty tribes that had disappeared through history without leaving much too souvenirs, and probably it will go this way further. There has never been any slant to an anthropological stability, it simply does not take a part of their mentality (same as with the Kelts in Europe). Sure there is no way to change it, the idea Europeans could have had that power is slightly magnifying their possibilities.

Answer 9

There is a long history of moving tribes killing all the other tribes they meet on their way. In African politics you'll always see when there is a president of one tribe, he will be favouring only the people from his tribe or only his family. It's a very violent culture. Apartheid in South-Africa was crazy, but you could visit a bank without carrying a gun back then. Zimbabwe is even crazier nowadays. What happens is that people of European heritage are moving away from these countries because the tribes are back. In East Africa, islam is also posing a problem, don't forget. And what do you think about the racial hypothesis? This idea is widespread here in Asia where I live. Maybe China can colonize it again and take over the power, they are very interested in the resources on the eastcoast already.