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IQ is only a correlation and IQ tests are historically known to be biased anyway. I bet you are just saying this as an excuse to say "Africans are inferior and therefore a lost cause". That is my take on it.
So? Although correlation does not equal causation, it still shows a strong linear relationship between two variables. Correlation may not tell a complete story, but it does constitute a critical piece.
I can't believe so many people are overlooking the obvious. Africa is "poor" because the wealth of the continent--which was CONSIDERABLE, lest we forget history--was stolen.
To be fair, you can also consider that the African wealth was "won."
The nations in Africa subjugated and the conquerors took their stuff. Land, minerals, jewelry, servants, weapons you know...the stuff. Should not be a surprise to any student of history. The same story happened in Latin America and the South Pacific.
Well, that and the deflation of "salt" as currency. LOL I hope this isn't news to anyone, but both salt and cowrie shells used to be used as money. "Mali" ring a bell for anyone? In fact, the Chinese character for money is based on a cowrie shell. Just goes to show you that material wealth really is fleeting...
Think about that OP the next time you feel like being SMUG and pointing the finger at another group of people...
As for MIU who claims that African Americans are not giving enough money to Africa. Guess what? African Americans are poor, too. They had nothing (well, less than nothing since they didn't even possess themselves, technically) when they came to the "New" world.
AAs subsequently worked very hard against their will (along with us Caribbean blacks) to create vast economic wealth from the sugar, cotton and other trades for their masters. In the aftermath of the world wars, at least in the United States, the resulting wealth was re-distributed to other Europeans via social welfare programs, some of which excluded blacks from participation.
Because many black Americans (sorry, "African-american" is a ridiculous term and I will not use it again in this post. There are whites and Indians etc in Africa who have lived there for generations.) do not have a lot of family wealth for the reasons I stated above.
A lot of them can barely afford to educate, feed and house themselves and their OWN families, much less prop up the economies of an ENTIRE CONTINENT. Additionally, I know it makes a lot of us feel better about ourselves to blame Black Americans for anything, but they're only TWELVE percent of the population. Unless they're all millionaires, I doubt they're going to rescue anyone's economy.
What's strange now is that it looks like many European countries are running out of the money that they um ... won from the conquered nations and have to make changes to the extensive welfare systems that they were able to create as a result.
At the same time, the HIV rate in Africa is being reduced, thank God, and Nigeria recently celebrated it's first Billionaire.
I am unsure of the future of African countries, but I can only hope that whether or not the various countries on the continent are "rich" or "poor" they will continue to have the beauty and natural diversity they have now. What remains to be seen is whether or not "developed" countries will stop overfishing African waters and dumping toxic waste off of the coasts of Africa.
I remember something my mom said as we looked at a new shopping area in my native country that was created by a US investor--currently in prison for fraud BTW. She said "Wow, it is a shame that one of the natives could not manage to do something like this." Indicating her approval of the indoor plumbing, concrete pathways, ATM machines etc.
But as a person who has tried to clean up the waters in my home state for several years, I was not too sure. Would I trade a fancy new mall for clear water? A mall can be built in a few months, but even after decades, our once-crystal-clear Chesapeake Bay is still a mostly-dead, heavy-metal-filled body of black or dark brown water. In my underdeveloped country, the water is pure and blue and has tons of sealife...
So? Although correlation does not equal causation, it still shows a strong linear relationship between two variables. Correlation may not tell a complete story, but it does constitute a critical piece.
Correlation DOES NOT tell the complete story. There are people one here who want to state that it is the complete cause. It fails to look at history. Do you even know the history of the IQ test? Do you know the history of the nations in Africa?
And one thing that's practically never considered is the ever-increasing human population. Our planet has a finite amount of space and finite energy, and every human born is another mouth to feed, more space to provide room for, more energy to make clothes for, etc etc etc - more demand for limited resources.
We've almost eliminated all of our natural predators, we've nearly conquered the world around us, and now we just keep reproducing like jackrabbits. When things go from bad to unbearable it's not like we can just pack our bags and move to another planet to exploit. This planet is the only one we have. Earth has only so much to give.
I know this doesn't specifically address Africa's problems, but I guarantee you that Africa is one piece of humanity's much, MUCH larger puzzle.
I can't believe so many people are overlooking the obvious. Africa is "poor" because the wealth of the continent--which was CONSIDERABLE, lest we forget history--was stolen.
To be fair, you can also consider that the African wealth was "won."
The nations in Africa subjugated and the conquerors took their stuff. Land, minerals, jewelry, servants, weapons you know...the stuff. Should not be a surprise to any student of history. The same story happened in Latin America and the South Pacific.
Well, that and the deflation of "salt" as currency. LOL I hope this isn't news to anyone, but both salt and cowrie shells used to be used as money. "Mali" ring a bell for anyone? In fact, the Chinese character for money is based on a cowrie shell. Just goes to show you that material wealth really is fleeting...
Think about that OP the next time you feel like being SMUG and pointing the finger at another group of people...
As for MIU who claims that African Americans are not giving enough money to Africa. Guess what? African Americans are poor, too. They had nothing (well, less than nothing since they didn't even possess themselves, technically) when they came to the "New" world.
AAs subsequently worked very hard against their will (along with us Caribbean blacks) to create vast economic wealth from the sugar, cotton and other trades for their masters. In the aftermath of the world wars, at least in the United States, the resulting wealth was re-distributed to other Europeans via social welfare programs, some of which excluded blacks from participation.
Because many black Americans (sorry, "African-american" is a ridiculous term and I will not use it again in this post. There are whites and Indians etc in Africa who have lived there for generations.) do not have a lot of family wealth for the reasons I stated above.
A lot of them can barely afford to educate, feed and house themselves and their OWN families, much less prop up the economies of an ENTIRE CONTINENT. Additionally, I know it makes a lot of us feel better about ourselves to blame Black Americans for anything, but they're only TWELVE percent of the population. Unless they're all millionaires, I doubt they're going to rescue anyone's economy.
What's strange now is that it looks like many European countries are running out of the money that they um ... won from the conquered nations and have to make changes to the extensive welfare systems that they were able to create as a result.
At the same time, the HIV rate in Africa is being reduced, thank God, and Nigeria recently celebrated it's first Billionaire.
I am unsure of the future of African countries, but I can only hope that whether or not the various countries on the continent are "rich" or "poor" they will continue to have the beauty and natural diversity they have now. What remains to be seen is whether or not "developed" countries will stop overfishing African waters and dumping toxic waste off of the coasts of Africa.
I remember something my mom said as we looked at a new shopping area in my native country that was created by a US investor--currently in prison for fraud BTW. She said "Wow, it is a shame that one of the natives could not manage to do something like this." Indicating her approval of the indoor plumbing, concrete pathways, ATM machines etc.
But as a person who has tried to clean up the waters in my home state for several years, I was not too sure. Would I trade a fancy new mall for clear water? A mall can be built in a few months, but even after decades, our once-crystal-clear Chesapeake Bay is still a mostly-dead, heavy-metal-filled body of black or dark brown water. In my underdeveloped country, the water is pure and blue and has tons of sealife...
What kind of manufacturing base does Africa have? What goods are they producing that aren't available in most of the rest of the world already?
They have natural resources, yes, but not the regular production thats needed to sustain a civilized western European society that most of us see as a progressive society.
Deep in the rainforested Nigeria, exists a brewery. The Nigerian Government bought, lock, stock, and quite a few barrels, a German Brewmaster and most of his staff. The instructions were simple, "Create for us a Premium Lager Beer". In their first year of operation the beer won a variety of European beer tasting events. The government pronounced "CHAMPION" to be the brandname and brewing went into high gear. It is sold in green quart bottles, a bit stronger than your average U.S. beer with a much better flavor. Being white, I had the advantage of free access to the brewery and the authentic German Bierhaus, located on site and could drink for free. I was responsible, of course, my driver was always with me on my jaunts into Uyo.
Deep in the rainforested Nigeria, exists a brewery. The Nigerian Government bought, lock, stock, and quite a few barrels, a German Brewmaster and most of his staff. The instructions were simple, "Create for us a Premium Lager Beer". In their first year of operation the beer won a variety of European beer tasting events. The government pronounced "CHAMPION" to be the brandname and brewing went into high gear. It is sold in green quart bottles, a bit stronger than your average U.S. beer with a much better flavor. Being white, I had the advantage of free access to the brewery and the authentic German Bierhaus, located on site and could drink for free. I was responsible, of course, my driver was always with me on my jaunts into Uyo.
In all of this, this begs one question for me: Does this mean a Black man could never get access to the brewery?
For example again take Equatorial Guinea which is very wealthy by nearly any standard with a per capita GDP of $18,573 putting it right behind Saudi Arabia and ahead of Hungary $18,506, Poland $18,050, Croatia $17,707, Estonia $17,695, Antigua and Barbuda $17,308, Lithuania $16,529, Russia $14,913 and Argentina $14,525. Source. All that money yet it is a squalid, miserable place without hospitals. paved roads or adequate housing and where it's leader is reputed to be a cannibal.
Why? It is all about IQ and nothing can change that.
Equatorial Guinea's population is just under 700,000 in what is a very small, but oil rich country. I hope that you are not under the impression that the wealth in that country is distributed in a communist-Utopian fashion. The country has one of the world's most brutal human rights records. That wealth you base your premise on is concentrated in very few hands. So you should give that another shot...
In regards to IQ; it looks all fancy and neat on paper, but really what you're doing is comparing the education levels of children growing up in villages with those of children going to school for 6+ hours a day for 12 years of their lives. Children grow up to be products of their environments, and no amount of pseudo science will ever change that fact. The children in the developed world are beneficiaries of the Enlightenment, where as children in the third world are beneficiaries of economic imperialism and corruption. Factor in "brain drain", and you are left with a system whereby those who are fortunate enough to get an education use it solely in search of greener pastures in the developed world. Hence, the discussion intended for this thread Mr. Watson...
Last edited by africanboy; 11-21-2010 at 09:22 PM..
Equatorial Guinea's population is just under 700,000 in what is a very small, but oil rich country. I hope that you are not under the impression that the wealth in that country is distributed in a communist-Utopian fashion. The country has one of the world's most brutal human rights records. That wealth you base your premise on is concentrated in very few hands. So you should give that another shot...
In regards to IQ; it looks all fancy and neat on paper, but really what you're doing is comparing the education levels of children growing up in villages with those of children going to school for 6+ hours a day for 18 years of their lives. Children grow up to be products of their environments, and no amount of pseudo science will ever change that fact. The children in the developed world are beneficiaries of the Enlightenment, where as children in the third world are beneficiaries of economic imperialism and corruption. Factor in "brain drain", and you are left with a system whereby those who are fortunate enough to get an education use it solely in search of greener pastures in the developed world. Hence, the discussion intended for this thread Mr. Watson...
It comes as no surprise to me that alot of people will throw in this "IQ" crap. Where I go to school, there are many people coming from Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, and many more nations in Africa attending university. I know some who have recently graduated.
You mentioned Enlightenment. It is during the "Enlightenment", so ironically named, that you see this scientific racism(such as the "IQ" test) developing.
Isolated cultures, in Europes best tradition, coupled with tribal competition, chacteristic of and as a remnant of, a hunter gatherer society are some of the pieces of the puzzle.
Africa's terrain and infrastructure was so different from the deforested countryside, well trodden trade routes and Roman built highways, Africa was known as the 'dark continent' well into the 20th century.
Africa is evolving in the center of a well established world whose culture and standard of living is held in stark contrast to Africa at large. The dramatic difference invites a sunami of change to fill the void as cultural, social and political equilibrium rushes in.
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