Zimbabwe: Tales from the front

An unnamed Newsweek reporter recently saw, firsthand, the thuggery now ruling the streets of Harare, and files this chilling report.

It's a mess, obviously, and it's easy to shout, "Ian Smith was right". I have written a few things here which might sound exactly like that. In this case, events have validated some of the old RF fear-mongering. But I think that's more an unhappy coincidence than any kind of psychic ability or inherent rightness of the minority rulers of the past.

Rhodesia was, as has been pointed out here and in many other places, able to feed itself and economically sustain itself (at least in the short term) despite near-complete isolation from the rest of the world. No one, and I mean NO ONE, would touch Rhodesia, with the exception of equally-racist and equally-shunned South Africa. Yet, even with trade and diplomatic sanctions levied by nearly the entire world, Rhodesia was a pretty good place to be if you were white and willing to ignore outrageous injustice around you on a daily basis. The Lake Wobegone-ish hagiography which has grown around the old Rhodesia ("...where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average...") isn't totally made up.

So, nearly forty years after the white rulers were sent packing, Zimbabwe finds itself in serious competition with a host of other failed states for the unenviable role of "Most Screwed Up Country on Earth". Mugabe and ZANU-PF have taken a country blessed with natural resources out the kazoo, a ton of initial international goodwill, and a motivated population, and, through insane land and economic policy followed by retaliatory (and equally racist) treatment of the white landowners, have found themselves facing possible famine, hyper-inflation which makes Weimar Germany look stable, and a full circle back to international condemnation. Quite a record.

But, it's stupid, not to mention flat-out wrong, to generalize and say, "This is what happens when the 'civilized' folks bail and leave the 'savages' to run the shop." There are many, obvious examples of the complete opposite being true. Just in the southern Africa neighborhood, Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) is a stable, relatively prosperous nation.

It's somewhat more than bad luck, but not much more, that a psycho like Mugabe winds up with his hands on the levers of power. The destabilization of the Rhodesian Bush War made it nearly inevitable that a violent nut-case would emerge as the strongest guy on the block.

For those "Rhodies" around the world who point to Zimbabwe as proof of the failure of majority rule, I would say Zimbabwe is reaping what Rhodesia had sowed.

That doesn't make it any less tragic, though.

Daily YouTube: Beautiful Rhodesia

From our Theatre of the Surreal, today's entry is a series of home movie clips and patriotic songs from that idyllic moment in time: Rhodesia in the early 1970s.

Stick around for the end, where there's lots of mention of Rhodesia's "men of good quality" and those evildoers who sponsored the birth of Zimbabwe, referred to as "people of poor quality". Not too difficult to figure out the meaning behind those words, is it?

Hard to believe it was just 30 years ago...

Zimbabwe: My God

First, a little scene-setting: Go read this Newsweek article on the state of the Zimbabwean economy. It is the most shocking thing you will read today. Guaranteed.

Now, we switch over to election news. Zimbabwe went to the polls this past Saturday. While it appears the opposition has won a majority in the Assembly, no one knows who won the presidency yet. That sound shady to you? It should.

Robert Mugabe, president since Zimbabwe was formed from unilaterally-independent Rhodesia (actually, there was a British colonial step in-between, called Zimbabwe-Rhodesia) in 1980, has rigged elections in the past. And that was before he went completely nuts. In recent years, his paranoia and isolation from the rest of his countrymen has grown at an exponential rate. Think he's not capable of stealing an election? Then I have some Zimbabwean currency I'd like to sell you.

How do you bankrupt a country which is blessed with fertile soil and abundant natural resources? Well, the Burmese have managed to do it, but even they can't hold a candle to Zimbabwe. This nation has been screwed for over a hundred years - read a bit about how it was treated by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company to get a sense of just how bad the screwing was - but, even with that, it has been a relatively prosperous and stable country until recently. Now? It's the most f**ked up country on Earth.

Zimbabwe: Time to pay the piper

As has been predicted for some time, Zimbabwe's economy is now circling the drain. Years of mismanagement, boneheaded decisions, thuggery, corruption, and total governmental incompetence has brought the country, once the breadbasket of Africa, to the brink of complete collapse and chaos.

The increasingly corrupt and incompetent government of the increasingly paranoid and delusional Robert Mugabe has, apparently, driven a stake into the economic meltdown by trying to reverse several years worth of increased-money-supply-driven rampant inflation (by some estimates over 9,000%) by ordering drastic price cuts and jailing managers and business owners who refused to comply.

This colossal shock to the already-free-falling economy has resulted in widespread hoarding, riots, empty shelves in stores, and approaching chaos in the cities.

It seems, tragically, almost inevitable that there will be widespread violence and starvation in Zimbabwe in the near future.

All of this could have been avoided by competent governance, as Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) is exceptionally blessed with fertile soil and abundant natural resources. Prior to Mugabe going off the deep end, Zimbabwe/Rhodesia fed most of sub-Saharan Africa.

There are lessons to be learned here. However, since there are no real strategic issues at stake in Zimbabwe, most of the world will ignore them.

Start writing your checks to Oxfam right now. I'm sure they're stocking up for what's coming.

Zimbabwe on the verge of big trouble?

From Reuters today: An analysis piece on the current situation in Zimbabwe. The news ain't good.

Growing up Jewish in Dallas, I had lots of friends from southern Africa - for whatever reason (similar climate, growing city w/ lots of opportunity, an even sillier local accent than their own?), many South African and Rhodesian Jews relocated to Dallas in the late 70s and through the 80s. Today, quite a few of my kids' schoolmates are 2nd or 3rd generation southern African immigrants, and many of their parents (our contemporaries) retain the distinctive accent and drive for success that characterized the first wave.

So, with that background, I do keep an eye out for news from southern Africa, and have written about the region several times here. While South Africa has had it's share of problems since majority-rule, the overall trend has been mostly positive. Not so in Zimbabwe.

Back when it was called Rhodesia and it was ruled by minority whites, this south-eastern African country was the breadbasket of the continent. Easily able to feed itself and it's neighbors, it was one of the leading exporters of food in the world. Further blessed by abundant natural resources (nothing like the treasure-house next door in South Africa, but better than most countries), Rhodesia was among the most prosperous countries in Africa and, indeed, the entire world.

The news seemed good in 1980 when, in a largely bloodless transition, the country moved to majority rule and changed it's name to Zimbabwe. The business and agricultural environment remained robust and prosperous, and it seemed like the success story would continue.

The wheels have been slow, but steady, in coming off since then. Robert Mugabe, President since 1980, has become more and more radical as time has gone by, foisting ever-more destructive economic and agricultural policies on the country. His disastrous land-reform methods (revocation of whites' right to own land and making most farmland available to any black who could grab it and hold it) were the most visible, but only average in terms of damage caused to the economy.

So, now here we are, in April of 2006 and the economic news from Zimbabwe is beyond bad - it's nearly incomprehensible. The inflation rate has topped 900%, unemployment is over 70%, an entire generation has never held a job, and the country is on the brink of... what?

Well, we'll find out in the next few weeks. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has proposed mass demonstrations in the next few weeks (no dates have been announced yet, just the intent). While the government is outwardly blowing this off, internal, unnamed sources are saying they're worried.

They should be.

Robert Mugabe deserves the Nicolae Ceausescu treatment more than any world leader not in Burma. And he appears likely to get it.

Stay tuned to this one.

Daily YouTube: A movie recommendation

I caught the Leonardo DiCaprio/Djimon Honsou/Jennifer Connelly movie Blood Diamond on HomeShowMaxChannel (one of 'em, anyway) the other day, and was quite impressed.

DiCaprio, whom I have come around on, is a very convincing Rhodesian smuggler who uses/helps Honsou's refugee Sierra Leonean fisherman find a huge diamond and get his family back. Connelly is a bit more than the usual bosomy love interest as an American journalist who helps Archer (DiCaprio) in an effort to get the real story behind diamond smuggling from the late-90s Sierra Leone war zone.

I've always been a fan of the white African - not the die-hard, bring-back-apartheid Afrkaaner fascists, but the regular dude and dudette who has lived in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia or South Africa for generations and is just looking to make his/her way. DiCaprio, though portraying an ex SADF special forces soldier of minimal moral constraint, pegs the accent and mannerisms of the southern African who's seen way too much carnage from way to early in his life.

Blood Diamond hits a lot of accurate historical points regarding the civil war in Sierra Leone, the terrible tragedy of child soldiers, the incredibly corrupt and manipulative diamond trade, and the sheer evil of blood diamonds.

Go check it out.