…This Can’t Go On
Imagine if a giant cyclone struck Zimbabwe, but nobody noticed. That’s practically what’s going on there right now:
Some 40,000 farm-workers and their families have fled their homes in Zimbabwean election violence, a trade union official says.
“They have been accused of voting for the opposition. Most of them are either on the roadside or sheltering at some farms,” said Gertrude Hambira.
What the story doesn’t make clear is which farmers are fleeing. Are they the next-to-useless, can’t-even-feed-themselves farmers installed by “President” Mugabe after he drove productive farmers off their lands? Or are they some of the last remaining farmers who are actually capable of growing, you know, crops?
I suspect it’s the latter — Mugabe’s loyal thugs should have no reason to leave. If that’s the case, then Zimbabwe’s long downward spiral is accelerating.
We go to church with a family whose parents are there in Zimbabwe as missionaries. They can’t get out and things aren’t getting in to them either. They were supposed to come home last week and be here for Mother’s day, but they can’t get a plane.
It’s a scary sitch that I don’t wish on anybody. As for sending aid to these third world dictatorships, (such as Burma or Myanmar or whatever they call it next week…) I don’t think we should send money without feet on the ground in the country to make sure it gets put to the purpose for which it was sent. For all we know, we’re lining the pockets of the despots and leaving the citizens to perish. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
But at least they had an election! Sure, all it did was allow the ruling asshole a way to create an enemies list. But teh democracy!
Could be worse, it could have happened in Gaza and led to a transition to ruling assholery.
Actually, when I look at things in Africa, it is worse. Our (meaning “civilized people who may or may not agree on most things, but can call a Mugabe an asshole”) options always seem to suck there. In this case, I haven’t heard of refugees getting out, so there isn’t the usual trigger that allows outsiders to come in and handle things (or feed starving people.)
What’s needed is for the United States to commission a gun: the Freedom Pistol. It should be as simple as an AK, able to be dropped by air, use AK ammo (so thug victims can use their thugs’ weapons against them,) small, and easily concealed. It should be issued to every Iraqi and Afghan woman, any Zimbabwean with a desire to be free of tyranny, come with each bag of rice going to North Korea, and so forth. I would like for there to be fewer guns in the world, but in the end, what’s much more needed is fewer government thug guns. And since we can’t do away with all of those, we should make an effort to even the odds.
I’m in the midst of re-reading If This Goes On. Get out of my brain man.