“Whites Steal African Resources!”

The growth rate of Subsaharan Africa for the past two decades...


https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?end=2019&locations=ZG&start=1999&view=chart

... is much higher than the growth rate in more advanced countries.

Why shouldn't we allow Africans to immigrate here based on their qualifications? People aren't on this earth to serve the interests of the state.

 

The important question is .. what makes the difference between 'will and desire', and the opposite. Only one thing - privilege.

When you live hand to mouth, you understand inately that speculation isn't an option. Any pause (for thought and invention) in the brute work of staying alive could bring disaster, so you don't do it. There's much less ignorance in it than appears, to our 'ivory towerist' way of looking at it.

We in the First World have long had so much certainty, that we now regard dreaming and inventing as indicators of higher intelligence. It's an arrogance and assumption about why other peoples do what they do. There is arguably greater intelligence in restricting human activity to the sustainable simplicity of the rustic.

 

Yes. This has been going on for nearly a half-century.

Don't forget China.

 

This is utter nonsense. Liberals are arguably less racist than conservatives.

People opposed to all immigration are economic ignoramuses. Racist? Some, yes.

 

How about you beginning to research and then understand about IQ?

 

Anecdotal, it was, but you have offered nothing.

 

There are no people who have never lived without. My great-grandfather migrated here with nothing- and struggled. My grandfather grew on a tiny farm they had- and the his father and 3 brothers all died in one week from a typhoid epidemic when he was 15, leaving him to lead the family. My mother- left home at 14 because they were too poor to feed everyone. They literally knew which wild plants could be eaten, and that food- dandelion, dock, poke- made ip a substantial part of her diet as a child. Mom and dad both survived the depression- but mother had many health issues, including 26 bone operations and sleeping sickness; should have died several times. At one point in the 50's, they both worked 17 hours a day for three years without a day off. My wife was one of 13 kids, her father an illiterate share-cropper. A wise man, but not educated. She was literally-picking cotton at age 8. When I met her she was near 60, and running her own business, the second she had started. I had also gone into business for myself- and I had also worked and struggled to succeed- but we both did, and my brother did as well. The comfort and security we have today wasn't given to us at all, we built every bit of it from scratch without help. Now I've been broke, had major cancer and surgery without insurance and spent a winter living in a storage space along the way- but I've never taken so much as an unemployment check from government- and paid my own way. So both my wife and I, and the families we came from, have indeed lived hand to mouth... part of the path you travel to learn to live better. The fact life isn't easy is not unfair- its the process of education, learning how to manage your own life. We are happy people, too. No regrets for the struggle. Mom used to say the old line "That which does not kill you makes you stronger". She died at 97. Many of the finest people I've known as well as the most successful came up from hard beginnings. It's only a barrier if you think it is.

There is one person put here to care for everyone- and that's ourselves. Those who drone on about how they can't- would if they could but they can't because they won't. If they put as much effort into figuring out they could succeed as they do explaining why they can't succeed, their problems would be solved. Our society of today has come to believe that "Free" and "Easy" are birthrights instead of sales pitches. They need to face the man in their mirror and demand they start doing their job.

I have sympathy for the man who is down through no fault of his own, and I will give him a hand-up because I know he will soon be back on his feet, and he will pay it forward- and we will all be better for it.
The man who is down because he won't get up, who thinks it's just too hard and unfair- will never get up. You can't give him a hand-up, only a hand-out that insures he won't ever get desperate enough to try harder. Everybody loses.

We try to build things to pass on to our kids, so they can add to it- because that is the way great things are built, taking more than one lifetime, like this nation.... forever a work in progress. It's when we get complacent and think we can ride on someone else's coattails or make others pay our way that we lose our dignity, our independence, our self-respect- and spend life whining about how terrible and unfair it is. Politicians actually want you to be weak and dependent- Because that makes you a sucker they can manipulate. Free men want you to be strong and free, as they are- they don't fear your strength, they admire it. YOU have to decide for yourself which you will be. The right choices are not the easy ones- but they work.

 

On the contrary, they're FAR more racist. And I say that as a non-white Lefty.

 

Without wanting to dismiss your interesting story (which was a good read!), I believe it can be distilled down to this.

 

Idiotic.

 

Leftwingers are more racist than rightwingers? Not in this country.

 

Yep, you can tell by the fact that we nominated and elected a black POTUS twice and have more minority congressmen than repubs. Plus interns.

 

White Progressives (who run the Left in the 21stC) are the most racist group in the First World. No one else comes close.

 

That may be true- but I don't hold at all with the idea that racism is any more than a fraction of the past, being promoted and resurrected for it's political value and personal profit in the present.
IF we focus on that, we aren't really solving any of the real problems.

 

People have been colonizing since humanity first began. Skeletons at stonehenge reveal people from all over Europe. The Norse colonized parts of the British Isles. The Vandals began in east central Europe and wound up; in Spain and North Africa. There are hundreds of such examples from history. On the other hand physical European colonialism in Africa lasted roughly from the discovery of quinine in the 1870s, to somewhere in the 1960s.

 

It's not possible to discuss IQ tests with someone who thinks they are SAT or ACT tests; test of knowledge. Nor should anyone who is illiterate or has no written language in their culture be taking IQ tests. Is that what you think its happening? We're testing illiterate Kalahari tribesmen and we're surprised when they don't do well?

 

Pineapple is arguably a pizza topping. Racism, on the other hand is a function of human cognition. It's the result of the simplification of a complex set of inputs, something every brain must do in all processing operations. The liberals currently seem obsessed with the simplification of individual hardships into racial categories. The entire identity first movement actually strips people of their individuality and sorts them into conceptual groups that are assumed to behave in a certain way. This is a prejudice that leads to false conclusions about individuals. Liberals assume that skin color, for example, identifies a defined set of life experiences. BLM, unless you're the black face of white supremacy like Larry Elder. Rather than alter their prejudice about black skin, they simply call him white. Easy peasy.

Just because the two groups make different cognitive leaps, that doesn't mean one set doesn't produce the prejudices we define as racism.
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Not in the least.

 

No clue how that is a "left wing" argument. It is an African "if the white man didn't come....." argument. Even today they don't have an education system to create an educated society which it in position to compete with the West and Asia in manufacturing, so at best they would be in position to sell raw materials, which still leaves them at 3rd world nation.

Correct. They were way behind Europe and didn't realize they had resources which were in high demand in Europe. The Europeans didn't come to trade, they came to colonize in order to become owners of the resources, which of course included slaves. This is a historical fact, not a "left wing" argument.

Is merit based immigration an argument of "the left". It seems that any idea that you do not personally agree with is automatically labeled "an argument of the left".

To answer your question, the answer it no, - it is not stealing if their best educated people decide to move to the US. Its up to those countries to make their nation a desirable place to live in.

It could be an interesting topic, so its a shame you ruin it by trying to make it about "the left" and "the right" when it has nothing to do with it.

I guess thats the kind of comment the OP was looking for by inserting "the left" in every paragraph.

 

On the contrary, US was a colony itself. US was colonized for raw materials too. That was the name of the game back them.

 

Then it makes sense.... to you. Some people find it useful and convenient to say the world won't let me win, so it's not my fault.
Yes, there was a time when this was true- long ago, but you and I were never part of that. We have to be accountable for ourselves, for today. Racism tries to use history- conveniently stopping and focusing on points that support an argument..... skipping those that do not.

It's been destroyed as a social malfunction- but that was a convenient tool for many, and they still try to keep it working.
That trait was observed and noted by many highly respected writers and philosophers.... and has been for a very long time.

Booker T Washington-1911.
"There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs-partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."

Thomas Sowell- I think he's 91 today, a man with a beautiful mind that has always been able to see past the smoke and mirrors of emotions and see truth.

"Racism is not dead, but it is on life support — kept alive by politicians, race hustlers and people who get a sense of superiority by denouncing others as "racists."



I spent a lot of time trying to teach people how to turn their minds into mature effective thinking machines that they could use to determine their own destiny. I knew how to make that change, I had done it. Psychologists came to the classes I taught to learn it. But eventually, I had to quit. I could teach the simple rules, show the path- but I couldn't make people commit to it, and it only works if you live it. The majority of people want the benefits of this, but they want it to be "easy", and to fit neatly into what they already believe- and refuse to let go of. A few successes, but the majority think that society should drag them, kicking and screaming, to the success they think they deserve. They lacked the courage to face their own excuses and take the risk, and I couldn't give them that.

What would it take to convince those who embrace the belief that racism is the reason why they do not thrive today? There is nothing, because it's one of their most valued assets; and a necessity. All that's been done to create opportunity, to remove barriers and help... is spit on by the people who want racism to stay around as their benefactor. This is a barrier within themselves- but they use it to tell themselves it's part of others. I think they believe it, because that avoids a great deal of personal reflection that would be very uncomfortable. There's nothing anyone else can do about that, and trying actually feeds that illusion. I for one am in favor of declaring racism in any general sense as history- and no excuse for anything today. I'm in favor of discontinuing any and all things we do to try to appease those who claim entitlement on that basis. Same rules for everyone, period. Race is no longer a plus or a minus- unless you, the person, make it so.... and I will see that as their problem, not mine.

Am I prejudiced? Do I discriminate? Yes. I detest thugs, criminals, people who refuse to take care of their families, people who think the world owes them not only a living but happiness. people who refuse to accept personal responsibility, people who lack a moral compass and have no self-respect or self-discipline. Color has nothing to do with those things- conduct does. When those who embrace racism stop thinking that color excuses or causes conduct, they will be on the path to personal independence and genuine self respect. Until then- they are their own worst enemy. That is totally their choice, not mine.

 

My three decades of experience teaching history to adults and high school students says you're wrong.

 

This is completely devoid of reality.



Psst. The folks above aren't progressives.

 

Both sides accuse each other of racism, and lately it had become a standard line from the right wing.

Maybe it boils down to what is considered racism?

RW racism excludes people based on race
LW racism includes people based on race

So, when both sides treat people based on race, then it can be argued both sides are racist. This expansion of the definition allows RW to accuse LW of "racism", but in the past the definition of the word was simple "racism = discrimination based on race" and the RW is more prone to that type of racism.

 

The evasions just never stop.
Without question, it is the left that keeps racism alive, gives it values that serve the unscrupulous and plague society- and sadly, do the most damage to the people it claims are the victims.
True racism is virtually dead. It has been eradicated by concerted effort- and by time. But it is the left who is resurrecting it, making it a political weapon- while not really giving a damn about the people involved.
The right doesn't exclude people based on race- neither does it include people based on race. When race IS NOT an issue, meritocracy dictates the positions of people. Diversity happens naturally within that, not by a formula that overshadows the purpose of the group involved. It's the way you maximize performance. Why are most basketball players black? Because on average, they more often have the height needed to prevail. It would be stupid to build your team to a standard of diversity, because they would be- losers. The left doesn't understand this, and somehow think color replaces other requirements. That IS racism in action.

The left is the side of politics excusing and dodging the crime issues- indeed being directly responsible for a great deal of it- by attempting to justify crime as acceptable on racial grounds; even arresting a black criminal becomes an act of racism. Really? YES.

The black guy who drove through a parade killing six people, a man who already had a miserable history and should have been in jail- is being quietly overlooked by the MSM. The reports literally described the vehicle as the cause, not the driver. If that happened once, we could say the person editing stories was inept- but it happens over and over; a pattern. People burning cities and looting described as "peaceful protestors", when each and every one of them qualified as rioters under the federal laws describing that offense. BLM representative after the looting of Chicago's miracle mile shopping center allowed time on TV to explain why it wasn't looting, it was taking reparations- and those businesses had insurance anyway. Hordes of low-life criminals, mostly black, are now regularly rushing stores, looting and leaving in broad daylight- gang robberies, literally organized crime... with no serious prosecution. Overall- crime is out of control, because some elements of governance, almost all democratic run- refuse to enforce laws, and the leftist MSM refusing to call it what it is and demand it be stopped. Walgreen drugs has now closed 28 stores in San Francisco alone because of this.
Nothing prevents the evasion of truth by the media, and the process of feeding propaganda to the gullible and willing. Nobody on that side wants to be responsible for what they do.

Racism- will never end unless you stop making it an issue, and stop making it an excuse. The left IS doing that. It is conduct that makes people what they are today- not color.
Do we have more black people incarcerated? Yes. Is that racist? The left claims so, and IF all other things were equal- it would be true; but they are not equal.
As a racial group, black people commit 4 times their population share of murders- they are 13% of population.... commit 53% of murders. That's from FBI crimes stats, not commentator opinion. The same ratio is true of most serious crimes. 89% of murders of black people are committed by- black people.

Prison populations are going to be predominantly black, because criminals are predominantly black. That IS NOT racism- it is the direct result of their choice of lifestyle.
Being black does not make you criminal. But- as the odds of a black person vioilently attacking a white person are 42 times that of the reverse scenario. People, including black people- are going to look at color as an indicator of possible risk. Jesse Jackson once said that when he walked a dark street alone and heard footsteps behind him he was always relieved to find those were white footsteps.
Sounds like something the left would quickly label a racist statement if they could make tt benefit the narrative, doesn't it? They can't- so they pretend it never happened. Of course- it's not racism, it's fact.
Denying the facts would be racist; recognizing them- is not.

It is CONDUCT, not color, that matters; and the left seems to think color excludes you from the rules of conduct, even of law, the rest of us must live by. THAT is racist.
The left simply wears the racist hat, and tells us it represents righteousness- and points the finger of guilt at others. No Sale.