<<I believe absolutely nothing that is said by the South African government.>>
that's your prerogative, but if i may ask, why not? i regard the South African government as more trustworthy than any other government on the continent. it has clearly delivered on its promises regarding economic reform and fiscal and monetary rectitude.
<<He is a typical superstitious barbarian African thug dictator with no political leanings whatsoever. Do you really think that Mugabe knows anything at all about Das Capital, Lenin, Engles, etc.?>>
yes, he is all that of course, but he's still a 'socialist' as well. of course he's a typical representative of the African variant of socialism, which means he uses it only insofar as it suits his agenda.
<<Yes, it is intractable. The S.A. government can not guarantee property rights, which in turn guarantees that the economy will continue to decay.>>
"intractable" was perhaps too harsh a formulation. what makes you think the SA government can't guarantee property rights? besides, your assertion that the economy "continues to decay" is not in accordance with the facts - South Africa's economic data haven't looked better in many years. you'd have to go back to the early 80's to find economic growth and low inflation comparable to today's.
<<You write as though this is a given. Why do you expect that the South African government will successfully solve its problems, which grow worse by the day? Even if the S.A. government was not an incompetent bunch of crooks, how could they deal with a people who can not understand the cause of AIDS? If a people can not understand what causes AIDS, how do you expect them to understand what makes electricity generate, or a car engine work, or a kidney, or a phone, or a sewer treatment plant?>>
that the problems grow worse by the day is not entirely true. SOME problems do, but others clearly are on the wane. that SA's government is a bunch of incompetent crooks is something i don't agree with. not everybody in the government is as competent as one would like, but you could say the same of virtually every government on the planet. corruption does not appear to be a problem at the government level in SA. in fact, corrupt ANC officials have learned that there IS a rule of law in SA, and have paid the price (see Alan Boesak for example). it is not the government's job to understand how a car engine works. there's a big and vibrant private sector in SA, you know. it's the only African country that manufactures cars. similarly, it produces nearly 70% of Africa's electricity. ESKOM, the SA electrical utility, is a company of first world standards, and electricity in SA is MUCH cheaper than in the industrial countries. neither electricity generation, nor kidney dialysis are the government's job.
that the causes of AIDS are widely misunderstood is a big problem, but the chances for that to change appear better in SA than elsewhere in Africa, as the population is generally better educated (although there is of course still a very high rate of illiteracy by Western standards).
<<You contradict yourself. You claim that these problems are intractable and terrible, and then you simultaneously write as though they will certainly be solved.>>
yes, there are big and terrible problems. big and terrible problems have beset mankind throughout history, and human effort and ingenuity has proven to be quite well suited to solving them, wouldn't you say? why should that be different in SA?
<<Go ahead, invest your money in South Africa.>>
thanks for the good advice, but i already do, and with great success! looked at the SA stock market lately? |
