Why aren't people more angry?

[Global_Justice]

why aren't people more angry about the situation in africa? 30,000 children die everyday because of preventable problems like malnutrition and diahorea. all people seem to say about it is rubbish like, 'makes you think' and 'were all lucky' it's not a sufficient reaction. thousands are dying, saying 'count your blessings' and giving a tenner to oxfam doesn't quite do it. it's the biggest example of the evils of capitalism and imperialism but the only people making any noise about it are wankers like bono and bob gandolf, 'asking' leaders to donate a little more. why doesn't the revolutionary left take this issue more seriously? it should be top of the agenda, but it's as if the world has accepted poverty in africa.

[Pirate Utopian]

because they think it will all work out, they give to charity and then their coincious is cleared

[MrDoom]

People aren't more angry because it's not them, and they live in a capitalist system where concern for anyone other than yourself is unprofitable.

[rouchambeau]

why doesn't the revolutionary left take this issue more seriously?
I think it might have something to do with the fact that most Africans are black. The "revolutionary" left (which seems to be made up mostly of white males) has had a problem with racism for a very long time. When one looks at the intellectuals and activists that are glorified by these "revolutionaries" one generally sees a bunch of white men.

[Janus]

why doesn't the revolutionary left take this issue more seriously?
We certainly do take it seriously though it certainly is true that communists generally do focus more on issues in North America, Europe, and South America as opposed to Asia and Africa. As communists we do recognize that charity cannot effect social change in Africa, it must be done by the people there themselves. However, the problem is that there are so little progressive elements in many poor African nations.


but it's as if the world has accepted poverty in africa.
Well, the media has certainly "deadened" our reactions to violence and poverty in foreign nations but I think that such complacency is more or less natural in the system in which we live in.

[piet11111]

we cant do anything about it untill we deal with our own problems.
we unfortunatly are not numerous enough to start dealing with our problems yet.

fuck so far we cant even unite the different factions in the revolutionary left !

[Kia]

MrDoom Posted on Yesterday at 10:11 pm
People aren't more angry because it's not them, and they live in a capitalist system where concern for anyone other than yourself is unprofitable.

I think this is pretty dead right. We tend to care far less when it isnt us..and frankly most of us (including myself) dont truly understand how bad the situation is. All we ever do is read article, watch the news, etc... about how fucked up africa is. The fact is though that unless were experiencing the same things that africa is first hand....we dont really care that much. The best thing we can do is to keep donating, to continue to bring up problematic issues, and support movements that are trying to make a real differance. Sadly, we cannot just suddenly all dash over to africa and fix things up in a jiffy. :(



Janus Posted on Just 52 minutes ago
Well, the media has certainly "deadened" our reactions to violence and poverty in foreign nations but I think that such complacency is more or less natural in the system in which we live in.

I dont think the media has "deadened" us to the problem in foreign countries at all. Shit, its all about foriegn countries now. What the media has done is really just ignored Africa almost all together. However much i despise the media one of the best things that could be done would be to get the media to change focus and pay attention to africa rather then what the government is saying is important for the world. Sure Iraq is fucked up, sure iran may be dangerous...but how about the hundreds of waring factions across africa, the millions of refugees, the starvation of millions, millions below poverty, The worst AIDs problem in the world, Worst disease problem in the world, and the rest of the awful problems that africa is facing.

[Kropotkin Has a Posse]

My fear is that our good intentions will be used by world leaders to their own advantage. I want the problems of Africa solved without anyone trying to turn it into a profitable enterprise or an excuse for further globalisation.

[R_P_A_S]

i am a prisoner about capitalism and unfortunately i have my own problems and my own debt. i have no money to go there, i have no time.. because my time is spend selling my labour power to pay bill so that I can live and feed my self.

I can't do shit for my brothers in Africa.. the capitalism can. but there's no money in fighting hunger and aids. :rolleyes:

[BreadBros]

Hmm, part of it is due to ignorance. Part of it is due to inability to do anything. The thing is that the misery and poverty in Africa isn't some new occurance. Its not some sudden conflict the US can engage in, bomb a few people and call it over. Its the product of the insane imperialist raping of the continent that has gone on for centuries. For the most part those who control the media and the methods of communication tend to emphasize world problems that can be blamed on some immediate cause, invasions and warfare for example. Putting a light on Africa's problems would be putting a light on the entire worldwide capitalist system...so of course its ignored and of course most people are too busy to be able to seek out alternative methods of information...and even if they could theres not much they could do about it (in the immediate traditional sense)...so it goes on.

[Comeback Kid]

Why? because people just dont give a fuck.
not racism, not because they hate poor people, not becuase its uncool.
It does not affect them directly, so they do not give a fuck.
People will talk about it to make them not look like heartless bastards, but really they are too busy complaining how bad their day was because their car didn't start or they missed an important meeting or they lost something.
thats the plain and simple truth.

[Global_Justice]

well at least this thread has restored my faith in mankind :rolleyes:

who was it who said we can't do anything until we fix our own problems? ah, the spirit of a revolutionary! what do you mean we're not numerous enough to fix our own problems? the majority of the world is working class, thats pretty fucking numerous.

[Comrade_Scott]

Originally posted by Big [email protected] 20, 2007 04:06 pm
because they think it will all work out, they give to charity and then their coincious is cleared
not only that but also because they have there lives to get on with.. working kissing bosses ass and trying to avoid losing the house keeping a marrige together and money problems im sorry to say they have no time to think about let alone be outraged over africa.... and thats just what the fat cats want. keep us preocupied and against each other and saddly its working.

[cumbia]

Why dont all of you put your money where your mouth is and go there and help out? Im sure its very difficult to go there of course, many reasons but jeez why do you guys have to put evey thing down and talk about the "masses" like your not part of it? Just because you considered yourselves this or that dosent mean anything.

[Hate Is Art]

30,000 children die everyday because of preventable problems like malnutrition and diahorea.

And that's why people aren't 'bothered' you can't pshyically be angry about it all the time else we'd all the just collapse into a big pile of mess.


Why doesn't the revolutionary left take this issue more seriously? it should be top of the agenda

Shouldn't the 'revolution' be top of the agenda?

[Tekun]

Why? Because we're all victims of capitalism
Sure, some are worse off than others like our brothers and sisters in Africa
But we suffer different types of exploitation: we have to deal with the shit that capitalists throw at us also
And that's why we aren't fully engaged in revolutionary activity in Africa, unfortunately

Personally, I think the cappies know that if they throw shit at us (who are better off) we'll be fully engaged in solving our own problems, and we'll be less likely to unite and engage in revolution within Africa and the developing world
Its a classic setup

Therez a great number of ways that we could all help Africa, but the bottom line is that sooner or later we'll all have to face and fight capitalism be it united with the world or alone in order to stir up a revolution

[Global_Justice]

Originally posted by Digital [email protected] 22, 2007 02:05 am



Why doesn't the revolutionary left take this issue more seriously? it should be top of the agenda

Shouldn't the 'revolution' be top of the agenda?
improving the lives and conditions of exploited people throughout the world should be top of the agenda, surely revolution is simply a means to achieve that.

[Hate Is Art]

Well then they are the same thing? Which they aren't. Lives of people living in the western world have improved, but we are still exploited. An end to exploitation is top of the agenda, else all the improvement in quality of life will make as much different as a drop of ink in the ocean.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

I see alot of bullshit here. There are most definitely progressive, even communist forces in Africa. At one time there were many, many more. The problem is fighting against the might of imperialism from very underdeveloped (and even what developement exists has been restricted by imperialist oppression) countries can be difficult, especially without revolution spreading to other parts of the world. It's not to say it can't be done, a number of progressive revolutions did go down in Africa, they were just all overturned.

[Cryotank Screams]

Of course I am both enraged and sickened when I hear reports of this, in comparison to the overtly decadent society of the west, however what am I really to do? Hmm? I have no means to get over there, nor does anyone here, plus there is struggles in our respective areas, while I am not saying that they are more important than the africa situation however, they must be taken into account, so in short there is little if nothing we here can really do that would be truly constructive for the african struggle, aside from trying to voice our anger at the injustice louder, and write more about it, that's about all we can do.

[black magick hustla]

not all underdevelopment in africa is due to imperialism and capitalism

subsaharan africa has most of the time been extremely bacwkard, except for some of the sudanese kingdoms like mali. underdevelopment has been mostly because the climatic conditions of subsaharan africa werent apt for the growth of energy-concentrated crops like barley, rice, and wheat.

of course imperialism did ravage some very succesful civilizations like ethopia. however blaming everything to capitalism is myopic, emotional and devoid of any historical analysis.

[Janus]

I dont think the media has "deadened" us to the problem in foreign countries at all. Shit, its all about foriegn countries now. What the media has done is really just ignored Africa almost all together
The media has certainly helped to lessen our reactions towards a lot of the suffering out in the world. Take Rwanda for example. Now, the same thing is happening in Sudan, Burma, etc. in which people have more or less grown apathetic to what is occuring.

[midnight marauder]

I think we're underestimating a lot of people here.

Obviously the American media doesn't give a fuck about any of these struggles. It's a very systematic institution, and there just isn't anything to gain by reporting on the HIV/AIDS crisis, hunger and malnutrititon, the 30,000 deaths per day due to easily preventable diseases and health problems, the wars, conflicts, and even genocides occuring across the contintent. The media just doesn't see any reason to report on it.

Which leads me to, I think, the biggest reason as to why more people aren't angry, which is that people simply aren't aware. We live in a world where news about Afrika is completely shut out of mainstream news sources, except where it affects us, and a lot of people just don't know the situation. And more than that, I think that if people not only knew what was going on, but knew the causes of why these problems occur (and how things like "first world" imperialism directly caused or contributed to them), more people would be up in arms about these issues.

[Dante666]

well one of the most affective ways of helping Africa is to monitor your personal consumerism of African goods. Donating money will just further disrupt the situation as a good portion of it will go back to violence. Most of the violence in Africa is the cause of European and western imperialism. Being thrown as a new civilization suddenly without developeing into the modern world is difficult and it is hard for us to change the effects of what we have done on the people. Its much like the situation in Iraq the violence will never stop as long as there is ethnic and religious differences.

A lot has been done for Africa by leftists though. Castro gave south Africa a huge amount of weapons troops and doctors also Che spent part of his time as a guerrilla in Africa. I do believe right now it is important for us all to focus on our own issues but show solidarity with each other.

[pandora]

Originally posted by Big [email protected] 21, 2007 01:36 am
because they think it will all work out, they give to charity and then their coincious is cleared
They don't give crap! How many people do you know who donate 5% of their income to African aid societies.

People are bothered when you bring it up in discussion. The level of noncommitment has surpassed indifference to downright hostility towards those who would force them to face the truth of what is happening in the world.

Since 911 in particular, the vast majority of Americans went into a denial they refuse to be awaken from.

Yes, the world is a scary place, but so much can be done community to community if people cared a little bit.

Doing things in smaller countries where individuals can have more affect is much easier than working in huge 1st world countries where people are jaded, and corporate dominance is so severe.

However, with more and more smaller countries looking for a more sustainable future there is great hope, they influence the larger countries.

I think caring must come before anger or rightous rage. You have to care about people to get angry.

I do have a problem with the "pity" mentality though, the reality is many smaller nations are more aware of sustainability and social justice issues than the U.S. and other nations on a day to day basis. We just think they are subhuman because most people there use an out house. Ha ha ha ha, not very funny eh, and very stupid, but this is how policy makers regard other nations.

Tragically ignorant.