The Richer You Are, The Smarter You Are

At least some progress is being made

I'm sure all of you have heard of IQ tests. How IQ tests manage to measure our intelligence compared to other people. It's generally believed that the higher your IQ is, the smarter you are. Apparently Albert Einstein, the revolutionary physicist had an IQ hovering above 160. That's great and all but he's just an outlier. How about the IQ's of nations.

Yes, staticians have decided to tally the IQ's of countries around the world. Number One seems to be the Chinese territoy of Hong Kong, followed by South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore then the first European nation.. Austria. The lowest seem to be in ascending order (in the countries studied) Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, DRC and Zimbabwe. All of them Black nations in Africa.

So obviously, people have used IQ as a way of scientific racism. A form a racism which uses the idea that certain 'races' are inferior to others due to factors explained through science. This pseudo-science has been with us since the 18th century when Europeans would compare the skull shape of Great Apes to Africans to find similiarities between them. Europeans, the educated masses thought were greater than any other races (in those days they thought their were as many as 20 races!) such as East Asians, Black Africans, Australian Aborigines. It was the Enlightenment gone awry basically. But seriously, there must be a reason why these Black African nations don't seem to be as intelligent as East Asian or European ones. There is. It's all down to wealth.

The richer your country is, the smarter you are. Also coupled with cultural emphasis on education, access to education, literacy etc. A reason why a lot of sub-Saharan African nations do so poorly on IQ tests is because a large segments of their populations cannot read nor write. If a person who is not literate in any form, but may appear to be intelligent can come off as a retard on an IQ test. The more literate the society you live in is, the richer your country is because there's more specialization of jobs which bring in more wealth for your country as business ties are developed in this Free Market world.

An example of this is South Korea. 100 years ago, most Koreans were agrarian peasants farming wheat, rice and other cereal crops while they suffered under the Japanese yoke. Japan was a highly literate society then (I'm guessing around 50% of them could read some Japanese script then, 50% was a lot back in those days). While perhaps less than 10% of Koreans could read. However after the Korean War education was emphasised greatly and South Korea went from an agrarian to a industrial country in less than 40 years.

An example of this trend going backward is Ethiopia. During the reign of the Ethiopian Emperors, only the wealthy nobility could have the privelege of being educated in Ge'ez (Ethiopian script). The wealthy nobility and those who wished to become Ethiopian Orthodox Priests. That's not really a large segment of the population, considering that most Ethiopians or the Amharic ones anyway were peasant farmers living like serfs. Even after the Communist take over in Ethiopia where education was finally emphasized, only 35% of the population could read by 1979. Now, about 42% can read. In today's world, your society having a literacy rate of close to 95% is key. Today, most Ethiopian farmers live like peasants although the nobility is gone. This, couple with drought, war and disease make Ethiopia one of those hell-holes in the Horn of Africa.

There are, of course outliers. Like the Gulf States in Arabia. Their IQ's are said to be around 78. Less than Egypt but more than Zambia. However, their vast mineral wealth (ie Petroleum) allows them to overcome this burden and now that money is being used to educate the Bedouins. The Gulf States can easily become richer is this trend continues.

So, there you have it. The more literate your society is. The smarter you are and the smarter you are. The richer your country is. Also, scientific racism is pseudo-science.

Africa: Top Five Reasons For the Mess It's In and Solutions!

One of the Bad Guys of Africa

Like i've said before in a previous post. Africa most resembles medieval Europe during the 'Dark Ages'. Like that period of time in Europe, tribes are still moving about (Well not anymore unless you live in the Sahel region). Instead of Avars, Huns and Magyars (Hungarians) migrating in you got Fulani, Hutu and Tuareg moving about. In the rare places you'll get settled tribes or mini-nations like the Tswana in Botswana (70% of the population) or the Akan peoples in Ghana. Like i've said earlier, Africa isn't settled yet completely and this is where many problems stem but I think I can categorize the problems of the African continent (or at least Black Africa) in 5 categories.

1) Tribal Conflict

2) Poverty Gap

3) Politics

4) Disease

5) Corruption

Tribal Conflicts: My Tribe, Right or Wrong

When Europeans drew up the map of Africa in 1884-1885, they forgot the ethnic groups living in them. Of course, you can't argue that Europe was ethnically homogenous then regarding say Austro-Hungary, Spain, Russia and the United Kingdom but seriously putting all those ethnic groups together was a horrible idea. Especially in countries like Nigeria where an ethnic group had then the population of a European nation. It was a cost-saving measure which would cause millions to die post-colonization.

In Nigeria alone there was 200 tribes. Plus, half the people in Nigeria were Muslim.Politics in African countries are tribal nowadays. Like the Zulu Inkatha party in South Africa, or the political fighting which turned into rampaging mobs in Kenya not too long ago and even when they're no tribal politics, there's always the rampaging mob which can kill innocents. Nigeria, like in Nigeria last year. Nigeria is the prime example of tribalism. In 1967, a Civil War commenced in the country. The Igbo people of South-Eastern Nigeria had just recently been massacred in the Muslim north of the country. A million fled home and declared their own state - Biafra. It held out for 3 years until it was bombed, blockaded and starved. A million Igbos starved to death. It was a war that mostly pitted Christian Igbos against Muslim Hausa-Fulanis. This isn't the only place this has happened however.

From the early 1960s onward the Tutsi and Hutu peoples of Central Africa have been fighting each other, which exploded in 1994 when a tenth of all Tutsi was hacked to death. It's a shame considering that the Hutu and Tutsi both speak the same in Rwanda, and another one in Burundi. Their conflict is now spread across the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi. Millions have died in the aftermath of it with Tutsi flying columns launching raids in the Congo and the Hutu are killing any Congolese Tutsi they find. Such is life in Central Africa where Medieval France and China seem to be fair comparisons.

Solutions - Why not create ethnic regions in countries so mitigate their calls for independance. Ethiopia has done it and I haven't heard any attack from the Oromo Liberation Front in a while from Oromia. Only the Somalis are giving trouble because they have their own anarchistic nation-state next door they want to be a part of. If it's a large ethnic group, recognize their special status as an ethnic minority. Allow fair representation in government of all ethnic groups in your country and as a last resort, partition your country along ethnic lines but that's never done any good. Ever.

Poverty Gap: Shacks Next To Mansions

There are 82,000 millionaires in Africa. That seems a lot but considering the continent has more than 900 million people and the US has 1 million millionaires (maybe less due to the Credit Crunch) that's not a lot of purchasing power. Most people in Africa are subsistence farmers who barely scratch a living and cannot afford to go to school. As Africans urbanize, there's still issues with worker rights, pay, drugs and alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS etc. The main problem is debt and a lot of it.

After independance from Europe, African nations began getting a lot of loans from European nations and the US. They used these loans for large - and mostly useless construction bids. For instance, to build a giant dam in Ghana which couldn't really create electricity due to a lack of generators nearby. Things like that. After the oil boom of the 1970's and interest rates rose in the 80's, African governments struggled to pay their debts. Sometimes, debt payments exceed the amount of money spent on education and healthcare in some African nations.

When a country cannot pay for its healthcare or education, everything goes to hell. Diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS become more rampant and not a lot of people can read. If not a lot of people can read, how can they possibly continue their education and be trained to be doctors, nurses, engineers, architects and even teachers! They're forced to pickup the hoe and farm because there's no other jobs available except manual labour.

Solutions- Debt relief to African governments which are reliable and responsible so that they can start afresh. Microloans to poor farmers who're struggling. Paying for things like a milking goat can easily raise their standard of living so that they can sell the milk for money. Finally the creation of more schools so that kids can learn to read, become educated and become the specialists African countries need.

Politics: A Joke..

African politics is a joke. Seriously, I wouldn't lie about this. It's seen as a way to get rich for warlords, ambitious businessmen and crooked politicians. They're are the people who steal hundreds billions from Africa. Who neglect the poor people. They're parasites.

Solutions - Besides killing them, enforce the Rule of Law, ethics and governmental responsibility. Also, cap salaries for politicians perhaps the median income to make them work harder for the nation.

Disease: Too Many Ways to Die

Most African countries lack the infrastructure for healthcare. This problem comes from the colonial days when Europeans (and African governments today) only cared about the money they could get from the resources they could export. Things like large hospitals are only seen in Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria and cater to the rich mostly. Even politicians in those countries don't even use the hospitals. They go to Europe for healthcare. Most of the population must rely on small, understaffed and under equipped clinics. This is especially not good when diseases like malaria, yellow fever and HIV/AIDS ravage the continent not to mention the whole batch of other tropical diseases.

HIV/AIDS is a destructive force. It kills not the sexually promiscuous but young children and those who are unknowingly unaware of the things their spouses are doing. It kills the most productive people in societies leaving the Dependency Load (under than 15 older than 65) with nothing to rely on. It can destroy the incomes of African nations if left uncheck and make orphans out of everyone.

Solutions - Create infrastructure to deal with these tropical diseases. Allow generic drugs which are cheaper and will perform the same job flood into your country to help the sick and dying and don't let Pfizer have a monolopy on who gets treated in your nation. Allow childhood vaccinations to be done on all children under 5 to save children from dying needlessly. Teach kids about AIDS, I mean sex-ed isn't fun for anyone but it will save lives. Ask what Ugandans had to do in order to stop their country from being runover by AIDS. Malaria nets save lies and cost like 60 cents ( 1 million Zimbabwean pounds) each and will last for a year. Distribute them to everyone and save lives.

Corruption: A Game Everyone Can Play

Corruption is a leach. It really is. More than a 100 billion US dollars are stolen from Africa each year and deposited in Carribbean and Swiss bank accounts. Its seen as a way to enrich oneself. This is why civil servants are corrupt - You're a civil servant in Kenya. It's hard to be you. I mean it really is, how can you afford to pay for your 5 kids, your wife, plus your 2 mistresses on the side. It's not like you're getting a pay raise anytime soon. Considering you're Luo and the government still is Gikuyu run, though Odinga has some power. However you can get rich. You handle a lot of money being a government accountant. Why not take a few hundred pounds for yourself. I mean, who's it going to hurt, some hospital in Masaai country. You're not Masaai. Government apathy and tribalism create corruption.

Solutions- The Rule of Law must be respected and those found guilty of corruption must be severely punished. Anti corruption monitors must perform regular witchhunts to find out who's corrupt. Finally, governments must curtail unimportant spending like that new 10 million dollar mega Church or that huge mansion for the Minister of Culture.

I'd talk about rapid population growth but that's for a story for later. Have a nice day

The Collapse of the American Empire?: I Hope Not

The British Empire

The American Empire

So, Empires. What are they? Definitions say it's an extensive political entity ruling over other ones or peoples. We have Empires today. We just don't know it.

the US of A is an Empire. Even George Washington liked to call his new nation one when speaking to foreign diplomats. If the conquest of the Middle North America wasn't enough for the American people. The conquest of the Pacific islands of Samoa, Guam and Hawaii. Coupled by Carribean possessions did the job. Finally, the economic clout of America has turned the entire Americas into the US backyard. Russia is an Empire. Even after the collapse of Imperial Russia and the USSR, Russians though dominant in their new country rule over tons of non-Slavic peoples such as Samoyeds, Tartars, Yakuts and others.China is an Empire. The Han ethnic group is well over 1 billion people. But 100 million Chinese are of Hui, Uighur, Tibetan and other ethnic groups. You could also argue that India, Indonesia and others are Empires. You can rule out African nations with lots of minorities because most of the time except in Ghana and Botswana... there isn't an overwhelmingly dominant ethnic group like the Akan or Tswana peoples.

These modern Empires are powers today but we all know and recognize the immense power Rome had. That Chinese dynasties like the Tang and Han had. The Ummayad Caliphate was a biggie too not to mention the millions they converted to Islam. The biggest is the British Empire though. It was said the "Sun never set on the British Empire". 1/4 of the world's people were under British dominion, especially in India and parts of Africa. In fact, the only reasons why these modern states exist today is BECAUSE of the British Empire. Amalgamating conquests is a way of running an Empire on the cheap.

I'd argue the history of the British Empire has 2 before Yorktown, and after Yorktown where the French and American surrounded the British garrison there and forced them to surrender. Thus, ending the American Revolutionary War. This was a huge loss. 1/4 of all Brits at the time were in America. All those taxes.. gone. The Second British Empire had its revenge in India and the Napoleonic Wars. It killed the Tipu Sulta, Tiger of Mysore and seized his kingdom in Southern India. It seized the Cape of South Africa and many other places. In the wake of the American loss it consolidated Canada, established Australia and led the way for the colonization of New Zealand. It met victory in the Opium Wars with China which pushed Indian opium unto millions of Chinese addicts and it met defeat in Afghanistan. For the Empire, " To stop is dangerous, to recede, ruin". The Irish famine and the Indian munity weakened it, it was always weak however. It relied more on collaboraters than any other Empire. Without the people it conquered, it could not function. The conquest of Africa strengthened it, although defeats in South Africa and Sudan hampered it's cause. The Boer War tarnished it's legacy especially but the First World War ruined it.

The Empire was fighting for its survival and lost in Ireland, almost lost in Iraq. It lost a generation of ANZACs in Anatolia and Canadians at Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, the Somme and Ypres. If the first World War wasn't bad enough. The Second one was. The Second one showed Britain's Asian subjects that, Asians could conquer the White Man. In this case,the Japanese did. It embarassed Britain at Singapore and threatned it's Indian Raj. After World War II, it's most powerful remaining element. India, left to forge a path to "Empire" on its own like America. Britain's Empire ended with the handing of Hong Kong to the Chinese, foes they'd beaten more than 100 years ago in 1997.

When Empire collapse. It's rarely pretty. Most wars of the 20th century are because of collapsing Empires. The collapse of the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Romanov Empires still haunt us to this day in the Middle East, the Balkans and parts of the former Russian Empire. The collapse of the German Hohenzollern one caused the rise of Nazism and Hitler no doubt. The loss of German lands allowed the ferment of resentment to the treaty of Versailles and a Casus Belli for a Second World War. The Ottoman Collapse allowed the rise of the feuding Arab states in the Middle East, the "Jewish Problem" there etc. The Balkan Wars in the 90s are the cause of the Austro-Hungarian collapse effects and the Romanov collapse created Soviet Communism which plagued America for nearly 50 years.

The collapse of the British one causes so many problems. All of British Africa is a mess. Too many tribes, too few resources among them in most countries. The peaceful ones still have terrible colonial economies (eg using resources such as cash crops, tin, oil) to fund GDP. India and it's brother Pakistan have nearly had nuclear gunfights and the Israeli-Palestinian one is a British made conflict.

So.... if one day. America's hegemony collapse like the USSR or faded away like United Kingdom's... how would it affect the world? East Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, Taiwan would be left to their own defenses against a nuclear North Korea and People's Republic of China. It would have to bow to Beijing or band together for protection like a Judah, Israel and Tyre banding together against Assyria. East Asia might go nuclear for protection. The Middle East will be worse. Israel might have to fight an Islamic Egypt, a Ba'athist Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Fatah and the big-boogie man, Iran. A fight it might not win without nuking Tehran, carpetbombing Cairo and driving Tank brigades into Damascus. A Middle East "Great War" is possible. Iraq might crumble or let Kurdistan mess up the region and a democratic Turkey even more. Europe would have to fend for itself against Russian agression on former Soviet States. A Russian battle for the Crimea where it would not be America fighting, but Britain, France and Turkey again seems likely. The EU would have to become a dominant force for its own survival. Latin America would either become Brazilian, or Venezualan-Cuban. A battle of interests between the two parties may arise. Argentina will band with Brazil but Peru might go with the Leftists.

All these power-struggles have the potential to kill millions and I havent even mentioned the shit which would engulf Pakistan and Afghanistan. I'm not going to. It ain't pretty.

For my sake, and for yours if you live in the West.. i'd hate to see America collapse or fade away. Otherwise, what liberal Empires would replace it?