South Africa plumets further into darkness...

[DeathevokatioN]

I've just watched the news tonight and Julias Malema announced a few hours ago that he is hiring merceneries to "take" the land back from the white farmers.

Here's a link what happened yesterday.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20100405043644101C720884

This is it, I'm saving up enough money to buy a ticket out of here.

Hopefully I can get out of here before I get killed or something.

[Enjay]

Shit, I hadn't even picked up that Terre'Blanche had been killed. Not that he was exactly a nice guy by all accounts mind you.

At least Malema is doing his bit for racial equality by showing the world that being a biggoted racist dickhead isn't the exclusive territory of the white man.

[Shaikoten]

Huh. I don't know you, but I'm curious as to what your situation is down there in SA.

[phi108]

"We were just talkin' about apartheid." "Yeah, it's bad."

Anyway, I thought Morgan Freeman had already fixed all their problems. I guess nothing can be resolved simply and peacefully anymore, like with a game of football. (With no angry football fan rioting, thanks.)

*video may not apply, I'm not informed

EDIT: Dang, how did I double post? Foiled by the quote button.

[Csonicgo]

Perfect Environment for a Soccer Tournament.

[Mr. Freeze]

I'm not religious, but my prayers go to you. Hopefully, you'll survive the fiasco down there and move somewhere safe.

[Ninjalah]

Just curious, are you white? And what Shaikoten said.

[Aliotroph?]

I went there once, for about three weeks. Things I noticed:

The white people lived in fear. They were scared shitless and usually wouldn't even look at me in the street (I'm white, btw). The black people were tipping their hats and wishing me a good morning and all.

There were so many murders at the time that everybody had clever security measures like hedges full of razor wire. Fun stuff, that.

I managed to launch one of dad's white academic friends into a speech about how in the 60s they all honestly believed apartheid was a wicked idea. It was funny.

All the contestants on the South African edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" were fantastically stupid. One guy died on the second question and when they did a new "fastest finger" round only four of nine contestants got the question (order these shapes from least to most sides).

I also met a kid who claimed to be the best Quake player in the country at the time (summer 2000). I can't say anything one way or another about that. We didn't do any gaming.

Interesting place. I was honestly much more scared in some of the places I visited in China despite the nonstop racial tension in SA. Met good people of all colours. Given a situation like the present, I think I might want to GTFO too.

[Stygian]

DeathevokatioN said: Julias Malema announced a few hours ago that he is hiring merceneries to "take" the land back from the white farmers.

My English teacher, who visited parts of Africa a few years back, told my class about a similar purging of white farmers in another African county (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was Zimbabwe). The rate of inflation exploded and the economy was basically ruined as a result.

Here is a Wikipedia article.

[GreyGhost]

It was Zimbabwe. Malema should take a long hard look at that failed state before attempting similar "reforms" in South Africa.

[DeathevokatioN]

If anyone wants to know more about the situation happening over here.... then please watch these 2 videos in order from start to finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukY8XZBRYGo <--- this video will probably blow anyone's mind who thinks they know whats going on in South Africa and even Zimbabwe, a lot of it discredits people who are held as "champions" by the US media, and it shows a side to the story that was censored by mainstream media and replaced by fucking stupid stories of black people peacefully protesting running around with daisies, it's raw, unbiased and cuts to the point..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H9-YgNZySk&playnext_from=TL&videos=S20Q1epZ1Qw&feature=sub <-- Another good video dealing with the death of Terre'Blanche... also if you scroll down a few pages on beneath this vid you'll see comments posted by black people leaving threats, and saying that they're coming to get the whites and how we must stop moaning and just leave our country before we get killed. While there are a TON of black people that are awesome and good natured loving people, there seems to be a growing number of militants that want nothing but to see blood. And since a violent government like the ANC is firmly in power I'm guessing most of them over here are militant.

Mr. Freeze said:

I'm not religious, but my prayers go to you. Hopefully, you'll survive the fiasco down there and move somewhere safe.

Thanks a lot bro, it means a lot.

Enjay said:

Shit, I hadn't even picked up that Terre'Blanche had been killed. Not that he was exactly a nice guy by all accounts mind you.

Yeah, but to celebrate openly someone getting brutally beaten to death is beyond evil, and is sickening. Let alone the president of the ANCYL joining in the celebration.

[Enjay]

DeathevokatioN said:

Yeah, but to celebrate openly someone getting brutally beaten to death is beyond evil, and is sickening. Let alone the president of the ANCYL joining in the celebration.

Agreed. I wasn't saying that he should have been killed or that celebrating his death was justifiable. Just that he was a bit of a shit too: an unrelenting racist with his three-pointed-swastika-party. However, I am aware that the situation in SA has... well has never been simple. I have a friend with a ranch out there and I worry about how his situation is. :?

[Sharessa]

Yikes, I hope you make it through all right. I've heard rumors of what was going on down there for years. Now I see the US media is definitely putting a 180-degree spin on the issues.

[Enjay]

DeathevokatioN said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukY8XZBRYGo <--- this video will probably blow anyone's mind who thinks they know whats going on in South Africa and even Zimbabwe, a lot of it discredits people who are held as "champions" by the US media, and it shows a side to the story that was censored by mainstream media and replaced by fucking stupid stories of black people peacefully protesting running around with daisies, it's raw, unbiased and cuts to the point..

And whilst that video does show hideous and brutal acts that cannot be justified and paints a pretty grim picture of the "reforms" in Zimbabwe - and where that may go in SA, (BTW, it didn't tell me anything new) it is also clearly a hugely slanted document with a definite agenda and deliberately emotive imagery selected (much of which was clearly not contemporary). For example, along with all the images of Mandela meeting and greeting obvious icons of anti-Americanism, (Castro, Gaddafi etc), where were the images of him meeting Clinton, Bush (snr & jnr), and other western leaders (many of whom have also met Gaddafi and Castro)?

I'm not saying that the information was incorrect, just hugely slanted.

[DeathevokatioN]

Enjay said:

I'm not saying that the information was incorrect, just hugely slanted.

It might be slanted with regards to the pictures showing Mandela's ties with the Communistic icons, but the purpose of that was just to show that he did have ties with Communism and to show that he was part of the violence when he was caught with all those explosives and weapons. His role in this video was just to break down the perception that he was some perfect blameless being that just got arrested by "the evil white man" for not liking their rule. If mainstream media wasn't so biased, then the underground media wouldn't have to be slanted to blow the conceptions created by the mainstream media out the water so I guess it's a vicious cycle.

I posted the video more to show how dangerous it is in South Africa with the mobs and stuff running around killing people than the political side of it. So that other people can just get a glimpse of the violence that plagues our history and our everyday life and in that regard it hits the nail right on the head.

[NiGHTMARE]

I have a few distant relatives (third and fourth cousins) over in SA. I don't really keep in touch with them, so I hope they're okay.

[Mr. T]

Communism. The cold war ended 20 years ago, and guess what? WE WON!

I would suggest the makers of this documentary, if you want to call it that, label their enemies "terrorists" next time. It's much more 21st century.

It feels great watching these people get their come-comeuppance for apartheid and years of murdering. Zimbabwe is certainly fucked, but things will sort themselves out in a few years. Old Rob can't have that long left - how old is he now? 80?

[Enjay]

Mr. T said:

Zimbabwe is certainly fucked, but things will sort themselves out in a few years. Old Rob can't have that long left - how old is he now? 80?

Cold comfort to those who have been beaten, raped, murdered and otherwise abused under his regime though.

[Mr. T]

Well they should take comfort that history is on their side. Germany went from being in a situation as bad as Zimbabwe to being one of the world's strongest economies in the space of 20 or so years.

[GreyGhost]

In-between time Germany started and lost a world war, had it's population decimated and cities reduced to rubble, as well as being partitioned and occupied for decades by foreign armies. A small price to pay for economic prosperity?

[Mr. T]

GreyGhost said:

In-between time Germany started and lost a world war, had it's population decimated and cities reduced to rubble, as well as being partitioned and occupied for decades by foreign armies. A small price to pay for economic prosperity?

That's irrelevant to the point I was trying to make - in spite of all the things you said, Germany was able to go from rock bottom to an economic powerhouse. Doomsayers for Zimbabwe take note.

[GreyGhost]

West Germany had outside assistance. With thousands of Russian tanks and 250,000 Warsaw Pact troops just across the border, the US couldn't afford to let the part of Germany they controlled be anything other than a model capitalist state. I don't see those circumstances being replicated in Zimbabwe.

You should read up on the Domino Theory.

[Sharessa]

Mr. T said:

Well they should take comfort that history is on their side. Germany went from being in a situation as bad as Zimbabwe to being one of the world's strongest economies in the space of 20 or so years.

So are you saying they should elect a dictator then kill 7 million Jews?

[Snarboo]

We had a heavy hand in the reform of Japan and Germany after WWII. We have no real interests in Zimbabwe, so unless another world power steps up, they will probably remain screwed. For whatever reason, Africa is largely ignored by the world at large despite the fact that some of the worst crimes in recent history have been committed there.

Then there are places like Somalia that are pure anarchy. I've heard it's really attractive for some European countries to dump their waste in Somalia since there is no government or military to stop them.

[Mr. T]

@GreyGhost: Yes I did do high school history. Here's a link for you: Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.

I used Germany as an offhand example of a country that suffered a similar kind of economic situation that Zimbabwe currently does.

Zimbabwe, like most African countries, is rich in natural resources and has a young, growing population. With competent leadership and an end to the culturally endemic corruption or an adaption of it to a more succesful system, Africa could enjoy prosperity Europeans robbed the continent of.

[deathbringer]

Danarchy said:

So are you saying they should elect a dictator then kill 7 million Jews?

Well not Jews exactly but they're probably getting close to 7 million people who voted for the wrong party in the free and fair elections...