This is why I love Boris Johnson

[kentonio]

Whereas reverting to colonialism is preferable? How does that work?

That article didn't call for a return to colonialism (sarcastic comments aside), he was saying that the best future for Africa is for the people of the west to re-engage with the continent via tourism and business. Not to just send charity to assuage guilt while basically avoiding the place, but to engage and help build.

At least that's how I read it.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

That article didn't call for a return to colonialism (sarcastic comments aside)

Here it is-

Heaven knows what the Foreign Office has cooked up for Blair, or quite how this British prime minister will choose to break the winds of change. But we must hope, for the sake of candour and common sense, that he does not blame Britain, or colonialism, or the white man. The continent may be a blot, but it is not a blot upon our conscience. The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more.

Sarcasm?

If left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain. You never saw a place so abounding in bananas: great green barrel-sized bunches, off to be turned into matooke. Though this dish (basically fried banana) was greatly relished by Idi Amin, the colonists correctly saw that the export market was limited.

Sarcasm? Seriously?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

No, it is not sarcasm. He is not writing for an audience that would welcome that. He's dishing out the usual "Africans always needs the Public Schoolboys of England to civilise it" stuff the Spectator readers love.

[kentonio]

Why are we bothering to have this conversation? For you he's seemingly a symbol of a lot of things you hate, while for me he's a funny guy who I think has a lot of intelligence and a lot more good in him and people give him credit for. The fact you can read an article where he uses a line like 'Believe me, you blush, you fat, white chiefs, at that kind of reception' and still insist he's pandering to public schoolboy colonialism just reminds me that as with Thatcher and so many other Tories, it's easier for the left to just make them into a hate figure rather than actually try and understand their motivations and genuine beliefs. I can't critisize too much because I used to do the same with the old Labour politicians (until Tony Benn taught me a valuable lesson), but it doesn't change the fact that it's just laziness.

[pchang]

Doesn't the fact that HC took such a quick liking to this guy give you some pause?

[Hauldren Collider]

It's hard to imagine Africa being run worse than it currently is. While colonialism was pretty bad, it seems to me the worse part was the way the withdrawal was handled. Colonial governments were torn down too quickly and got replaced by despots and civil wars.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Why are we bothering to have this conversation?

Because, clearly, we both want to.

I am firmly convinced that Boris Johnson is a man of no strong convictions who spectacularly u-turns when expedient to himself to do so (see his stances on gay marriage and the worth of Islam over the past 10 years). He is also a man of little personal integrity and a spectacular lack of judgment (sacked from the Times for fabricating quotes. Sacked from the shadow cabinet for lying to Michael Howard. First marriage broke down due to him impregnating another woman. Second marriage has seen him impregnating two other women he wasn't married to. Nearly sacked from the Telegraph when caught agreeing to supply personal information that would allow his jailbird best friend to commit GBH on a journalist. Subject of an official complaint by UK Statistics Authority for lying about youth reoffending rates).

You invite the comparison with Tony Benn. Could you see Benn doing that?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

It's hard to imagine Africa being run worse than it currently is.

History can help you there. See Belgian Congo 1885-1908.

[I AM I AM MOBIUS]

I see some things never change!

[Hauldren Collider]

History can help you there. See Belgian Congo 1885-1908.

See Democratic Republic of the Congo 1998-2003.

[Sava]

The golden years.

[Bereta_Eder]

even when colonialists started to butt out of former colonies they took care in instituting, instigating and inflaming divisions in order to keep looting.

congo, lumumba and the rich kinshasa are no exception to this unfortunately.
actually the main proponent for human rights and democracy in the colonies was the soviet union (even if the people fighting for freedom didn't like it very much, but you have to have someone on your side)

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

See Democratic Republic of the Congo 1998-2003.

Extend that to 2008 and you have an estimated death toll around 5 million, equivalent to 7% of population.

Estimated death toll 1885-1908 10 million, equivalent to 20% of population.

[Hauldren Collider]

10 million is a highball estimate, while iirc 5 million is a lowball. They are in the same order of magnitude. I won't disagree that the Congo Free State was ludicrously awful, but I stand by my contention that it's not possible for governance in africa to get much worse than it is.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

10 million is a highball estimate, while iirc 5 million is a lowball.

Try checking them.