One Giant Leap For Africa

When most people hear Africa, they think brutal regimes, rebel armies, AIDS, poverty, starvation, and basically every other form of human suffering. But, how often do you ever ask why Africa is in this state? The media likes to paint the picture that Africa is simply a hopeless and backwards continent, and that without our foreign aid or assistance from the UN, Africa would be in even worse shape than it is now.

But does this really make sense? You're telling me a whole continent is backwards? There must be something more to the story.

Well, the answer should not surprise you. Yes there is much more to the story, and yes it deals with the global elites and their "foreign aid". Thanks to the media's portrayal of Africa as a backwards continent, there has been a growing cry for foreign aid, and even peacekeeping missions (peacekeeping forces? isn't that an oxymoron?). Now, of course, in media-land, there are only two sides to this issue. The cold-hearted "conservatives" who couldn't care less about the poor Africans, and the "liberals" who are so compassionate that they want government officials to use stolen money (i.e. taxes) to give foreign aid to the archaic countries. As usual, people generally fall into these categories because the media puts them out there, not because the media is portraying what they have seen from people.

The real problem with Africa, in fact, is the foreign aid. Firstly, the global loan sharks, who are creditors to these nations, make participating governments agree to all sorts of regulations. One of those is usually a debasement of the country's currency, which raises food prices and causes much of the starvation (inflation and soaring food prices, sound familiar?). Also, whether it is the global loan sharks or some other form of "foreign aid", the resources always end up with the strong arm in the region. This means it ends up in the hands of an oppressive regime which uses that money to continually suppress its people. This has the double effect of not only stifling any potential capitalistic development, but also perpetuating the chaos and violence created by those oppressive regimes. Foreign aid, while the citizens who call for it mean well, is nothing but a means for government to have spheres of influence and control all around the world. Just look at how we have given $10 billion in foreign aid to Pakistan to support an oppressive dictatorship. Spreading "democracy", huh? Right.

But, the question is, why would these global loan sharks want to harm Africa? Well, it is no different than any other creditor-debtor relationship. They assume implicit ownership over the government to whom they supply foreign aid because those kleptocratic oppressive regimes could not exist without continued artificial funding. This implicit ownership allows them to control the country, reap the benefits of debt payments (which they make sure can never be fully paid off), and keep Africa in a third world continent status. What? They want to keep them in third world nation status? Well, I can't read their minds, but it certainly appears that way. Isn't it a rule of history that elites always wage war against the middle class? A middle class created by a free market economy places a giant obstacle in the way of elites having total control over a country, pure and simple. Without the free market and our economic powers (both of which are derived from private property), we have no political powers. The same thing applies to Africa. If the global elites can suppress them while appearing to "help" them, then they can make sure Africa is always without any sort of middle class, and therefore without any sort of autonomy.

Sad as it is, it's true. All the horrible suffering and nightmares you hear about arise from "foreign aid." But, there is hope for Africa. In 1991, Somalia's central government was overthrown by a rival warlord. The new power however failed to stake any solid political or military control, and they eventually fell apart leaving Somalia as a stateless anarchy. Ever since, despite attempts by the UN collaborated IGAD to install a "transitional federal government", most of Somalia has remained effectively stateless.

So, what would you expect? Without a government to receive foreign aid, Somalia must be in bad shape, huh? Wrong. According to African officials, Somalia now has the best telecommunications industry in Africa. They've developed a strong herding economy, their currency has stabilized (without the inflationary policies of the global loans sharks to destroy it), and their exports have increased by a factor of five. Without the heavy fetters of government intervention and kleptocrats, Somalia has managed to become a successful free market economy. Sure, they still experience residual violence from their chaotic past, but most of the perpetuated violence occurs on account of international attempts to install governments. A stateless society provides fertile ground for conquering and oppression by bureaucrats who would love nothing more than to tame those "wild" and free peoples so they can reap the benefits of a monopoly on force and theft.

But doesn't Somalia at least need some kind of government for law and stability? Michael Van Notten, a Dutch lawyer, married into a Somali tribe and has lived there for 12 years. He says that they have a system of natural law (not legislation like "civilized" western countries), which is very effective. According to Notten, here are some of the natural intuitive principles they employ,"

The five main characteristics of the Somali law are:
* No punishment for crimes, only restitution or compensation.
* No public prosecutors, no victimless crimes.
* Fines are limited and must be paid to the victim or to his family.
* Every person is insured for his liabilities under the law.
* Judges are appointed by the litigants, not by 'society'. "

Let's see here, no government cages, no forced state arbitration, no politically driven prosecutors, no arbitrary laws, an insurance network to ensure liability, and free market arbitrators appointed by the litigants instead of easily bribed public judges. And, best of all, the central tenets of their law system revolve around private property and voluntary association. Maybe we should take a hint from these uncivilized "barbarians", and privatize our law so that property can actually be protected instead of methodically abused and stolen.

Without government intervention, the "chaotic" Somalia is finally beginning to experience peace and prosperity. Not only do they provide a perfect example of how to solve Africa's problems, but they are even showing our "civilized" kleptocratic Republic a thing or two about what freedom is truly about. If you want to be compassionate towards the suffering in Africa, make sure to protest foreign aid at all costs, and make sure to advocate the downfall of the oppressive regimes, which should be replaced with nothing.

Like I quoted in the first post, "Liberty is the mother, not the daughter, of order." Spontaneous order arises from the condition of liberty, liberty is a prerequisite of order. It is not our government that "creates" order through force and theft, but the American people operating in the free market who prevent the suffering and chaos manifested by government. Liberty gives rise to order, order to peace, peace to prosperity, and prosperity to happiness. If we can let go of the status quo and truly become a lawful nation then maybe one day, God willing, we can be as free and prosperous as Somalia.