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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (22194)	8/15/2001 5:17:21 PM
From: CharleyMike	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

...<Every white, however untalented, lived like a goddam king. Or queen. .... in my office in Gaborone....> And you, E, while you were working there, how did you live?

To: E who wrote (22194)	8/15/2001 6:05:27 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 82486

One of my favorite childhood books was Camera Trails in Africa, by Martin and Osa Johnson, who were early movie maker/lecturers who filmed Africa when it was just transitioning from wild to more civilized. It was in my room at my Grandmother's house where I spent several weeks every summer, and I re-read it every year. One of the amazing things about the book are the number of black servants, bearers, etc. they were able to hire for virtually nothing. For peanuts they lived as well as the wealthest European could on any fortune he could amass.

To: E who wrote (22194)	8/17/2001 5:40:37 PM
From: Constant Reader	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

I thought of you when I read this editorial in today's Wall Street Journal: August 17, 2001 Review & Outlook Mugabe's Descent Forget racism, colonialism, land reform and all the other excuses trotted out by the head of Zimbabwe's tottering regime. This past week's violence and the arrest of 21 white farmers should finally put the lie to those excuses. The crisis in Zimbabwe is simply caused by an autocratic government that is itself destroying the legal protection of its citizens in a desperate attempt to hold onto power. For the past week, government-backed mobs have stormed farms in northeast Zimbabwe, the breadbasket of Southern Africa. Even as starvation looms in many regions, the mob has invaded some of the most productive farms on the African continent. They have attacked white farmers and black laborers with axes and machetes. Houses have been torched, tractors smashed, crops trampled and livestock hacked to pieces. Which begs the question: If these criminals truly wanted land reform, why would they destroy the farms that they hoped to own? Slash and burn Some 60 farms have been evacuated and whites are leaving the country. Some determined farmers are staying, but they are painting their radio call signs on their roofs to make contact with passing planes. Zimbabwe hasn't seen that since the worst days of the 1970s civil war. Most of the whites carry Zimbabwean passports, have lived there for generations and risk losing everything when they flee the country. The police simply refuse to enforce the law. Valid court orders to remove farm invaders are ignored, as are urgent calls from farmers. When the police do become involved, things sometimes become worse. During a farm attack last week, the owner desperately radioed for help. Twenty-one white farmers came to his rescue. Then the police appeared -- and arrested all of the whites. They are being held without bail in an unheated prison in the middle of the Zimbabwean winter. Meanwhile, not a single farm invader was arrested. The motives for these attacks are not primarily racial. Before the waves of violence instigated by the regime of President Robert Mugabe, an American visitor to Zimbabwe's farm belt would be reminded of California's Central Valley. These were modern, highly mechanized farms worked by men of different races and tongues without enmity. Some recent events show that race and tribe mean less in Zimbabwe than ever before. Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, is the largest interracial political party in Africa today. Even the two rival tribes that divided Zimbabwean politics for decades, the Shona and the Ndebele, have come together in the MDC. If the opposition is not cheated out of its expected victory in next year's presidential elections, Zimbabwe could be ruled by the most diverse and liberal coalition in Africa. Land reform is also a red herring. In 1980, when Zimbabwe became independent of Britain, the U.K. pledged to help finance the purchase of white-owned farms. After a decade and more than $44 million spent, the British government cut off the funds. Zimbabwean officials were forcing white farmers to sell -- a clear violation of the agreement that the U.K. government had struck with Zimbabwe. As for the farms that the Zimbabwean government did buy, most were simply looted and abandoned. Settling city dwellers with no agricultural experience on large commercial farms simply didn't translate into success. Most of the hapless urbanites were reduced to demolishing farm buildings and selling the bricks for food. In 1998, Britain agreed to another land-reform scheme. The U.K. agreed to pay for the purchase of 100 farms. Mr. Mugabe responded by demanding funds for 1,500 farms -- nearly one-quarter of all white-owned farms. When the British government learned that the farms would remain government property, it balked. Thus began Mr. Mugabe's crusade for land seizures. His government has announced plans to seize 95% of all 4,000 white-owned farms, mostly without compensation. Remember, these farms are an economic pillar of the Zimbabwean economy and are heavily taxed. It makes little economic sense to destroy what is still working -- but sadly it does make political sense. Nearly two million blacks live and work on white-owned farms. Mr. Mugabe believes they are the source of the opposition party's strength. Wrecking those farms and turning those blacks into refugees will flatten the opposition. Too bad he has to destroy the country to do it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- URL for this Article: interactive.wsj.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription Agreement and copyright laws. For information about subscribing, go to wsj.com