...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.