[ExI] Africa wants to double in size

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat


>...In a nutshell, that seems to be one of their biggest problems: need and greed are so endemic and primal, that in many places you just can't set up infrastructure, even local infrastructure.  And thus, the people continue to suffer the problems that we'd just casually set up infrastructure to solve, trusting that people would largely let it be.

>...One might consider this to be an aspect of crushing poverty that is experienced by the masses.  Okay, so, how does one fix mass crushing poverty before infrastructure can be set up?

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Adrian I am taking an other-way-around approach: the crushing poverty cannot be solved without some infrastructure, which is used for injecting the information needed to solve the crushing poverty.

We have an American-style vision, where a power grid spans the continent, is highly reliable and everyone has access to power, even the very poor.  That has failed every time in Africa and will in the future if they keep trying, for Africa is cut up into a bunch of little kingdoms and such, with the rulers in it for themselves generally.

Now imagine abandoning the whole notion of a continent spanning power grid, but instead setting up a reactor or a good old fashioned coal plant, in a small enough area to be lethally defensible (it will require that (just tellin it like it is)) and a small grid which covers what we might think of a small county or city, population a mere 10 to 100 thousand perhaps.  Cover them with reliable utilities, cover them with military muscle (theirs, not ours) bring in leapfrog technologies, resources such as StarLink receivers, tablets, inject information, educate the (small) masses.  Start from the coasts and work inland if necessary, piecemeal as required.  They could even be made as closed or semi-closed civilizations, loosely analogous to our university campuses, where people come and go, but not completely at their discretion.  These would be islands of western civilization in very dangerous neighborhoods, analogous in that way to UC Berkeley.

Adrian, the reason I go on so is that western capitalist visions like this are kinder and gentler than the Chinese plan for African colonization.  If I may delicately mention, Chinese and Africans tend to just not get along very well.  From what I can tell, the Chinese have zero interest in preserving African culture or even African people.  They want the land and resources, and will push the people aside, even if there is no aside if you get my drift.  American-style capitalism will exploi... eh... rather... will DEVELOP... what is already there using the people already there.  Educate the locals, don't send them off to reservations, the way Europeans did to the Native Americans.  The Chinese will not do this.  

Don't worry about how I know that Chinese and Africans don't get along.  I know.  I have seen, and I have heard.  Tis true.  But the Chinese are commies, and we are good old self-righteous CAPITALISTS.  We want everyone to win.  Especially us of course, but we want the Africans to win too.  We are sensitive to other people and other civilizations, you know?

Adrian, you know my intentionally self-ridiculing style by now.  But think about what I have written, for it has an important underlying message.  Africa is the up and coming place.  China has figured it out and it is mowing across that place as fast as it can go.  Africa is huge, resource rich as all hell, has enough manpower to do everything it needs, build everything, fix up, clean up, etc.  Such potential!

spike