I'm still flabbergasted that so many African countries see Russia as an anticolonial power. And antiracist. Because I can assure you, Russia is neither.
@LiberalLibrarian: Ye Olde Marxiste Rhetoric still gets people going, especially folks who have hold of the short end of the stick. The spiel gives them something to rally about and get their hopes up over... and for their leaders to get some pocket money from and to shore up their images at home.
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian
Nor are we completely blameless in this. It could just be an exchange of exploiters as far as most of these nations are concerned.
"America and the West have had their crack at us. Let's give this other group a try."
@testamonk @LiberalLibrarian: That's a generational ignorance of history, if so. Everyone's had a crack at them, and everyone has fucked them over, and this was not a conversation about East vs. West and blamelessness, at least AFAIAC. It's commentary on a current event, though one that repeats every twenty years or so.
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian
One of the current summaries I was reading was braking down the aid received from US funds. And aid distributed etc. And then the abuses of the governments associated with those US aid.
Then when the nations governments change the next group lean towards Russia and/or China. I'm surprised that other people are surprised. Everything the current people know has been unpleasant and associated with US ties.
Am I completely nuts?
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian
Doh. I reread the thread and I sound argumentative. I really don't mean to. I just tend to come across that way.
Apologies if I offended. Not my intent at all.
@testamonk @LiberalLibrarian: Everything the current generation knows has been unpleasant with the Russians and the Chinese as well. That's in the last twenty years also. In some African countries it's gotten to the point where mine and other workers have openly revolted violently against their Russian and (more commonly) Chinese bosses for treating them like subhumans, and Russia and China are paying not few officials and leaders to quash or talk down unrest.
@testamonk @LiberalLibrarian: Again, it's a darkly absurd and futile swing to the Russians by them, especially seeing as how the Russians are quite plainly doing it for influence over rare earth metals and also playing keep-away with much-needed grain shipments to Africa.
Other summaries you can find show the same behavior and problems with Chinese and Russian aid. There're no "good guys" involved, only Africans being meddled with, extorted, and kept hungry.
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian
Yes. Exactly. That's exactly what I was trying so absolutely poorly to state.
All of that exactly.
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian
I hear you. Sorry that I misinterpreted the overall tone. It's heartbreaking that so many people are being preyed upon by their own nations whole being emploited in a rinse/repeat cycle by larger nations.
@testamonk: You are making sense. It's just that what you're saying is what's alway said by spectators watching the pendulum swing over to the other end. @LiberalLibrarian and I were lamenting/commenting about how the Africans are still getting played and walking right into it again. Regardless of any sympathy anyone might have towards them and their situation it's them being nice to the other lion hoping it will eat them last.
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian
Sure. But we're the current yeah? That's what this generation is dealing with. So their making the swing over.
But if we are wondering why these nations are looking at Russia now as this or that, it's in relation to what they have now.
I might not be making sense probably.