"It's so tragic that the world can afford to sit back and let these atrocities continue like this," said aid worker Marie Walterzon of the Swedish Pentecostal Mission. "Possibly because it involves poor, voiceless Africans," she said
... Most certainly because a war-torn country that has no natural resources and is almost completely bereft of human capital has absolutely nothing to offer modern-day politicians.
"It's so tragic that the world can afford to sit back and let these atrocities continue like this," said aid worker Marie Walterzon of the Swedish Pentecostal Mission. "Possibly because it involves poor, voiceless Africans," she said
... Most certainly because a war-torn country that has no natural resources and is almost completely bereft of human capital has absolutely nothing to offer modern-day politicians.
While I'm certainly not pro-rape or anti-American culture, 12 rapes per day in Sud Kiva Province, population 2.8M, per person is actually comparable to the 36 reports per day in NYC, population 8M. And if you say NYC isn't a cultural representative for the US... really, 12/3M is not that much higher than 1082 rapes per day in the United States, pop. ~300M.
Would you say that Congolian(?) and consequently American cultures are then both cultures of rape? Because that might explain my own personal culture of fear since every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted...and 90% of the time they're female.
Of course, maybe I wouldn't try to make a case for "cultural superiority" on the back of a metric of rapes per day per person; not that I don't appreciate that New Jersey (50th in national ranking based on #forcible rapes/100000 people by state in 2000) has a far superior culture than Alaska (#1 on same ranking), obviously.
Doink - Actually Africa is one of the resource richest areas on the planet. It's the economy and the infrastructure than just fails to extract it. I forget who it was but he wrote something like;
Everything from Nothing - Hong Kong Nothing from Everything - Tanzania Good socialism - Norway Bad socialist - North Korea
Mariam - Yes, but rape is not the only thing addressed here. It's just the general way they treat women or some of the beliefs they have (one particularly revolting bit is where they will find dead female infants because it is believed in some cultures that if you have sex with a virgin you will be cured of all your diseases. Babies are virgins. Unfortunately a full grown man's anatomy will rupture internal organs of an infant). I'll gladly live in the presumably equal Finland than the presumably just as equal Togo.
marium also assumes that reported rapes are also the actual number of rapes that happen. In the US, there are serious legal consequences to rape, and the women are motivated to tell the authorities. When the military are the ones doing the raping in the congo, who are you going to get to enforce justice? What motivation is there to turn them in? You're motivated to not turn them by the fear of retaliation.
6 comments:
"It's so tragic that the world can afford to sit back and let these atrocities continue like this," said aid worker Marie Walterzon of the Swedish Pentecostal Mission. "Possibly because it involves poor, voiceless Africans," she said
... Most certainly because a war-torn country that has no natural resources and is almost completely bereft of human capital has absolutely nothing to offer modern-day politicians.
"It's so tragic that the world can afford to sit back and let these atrocities continue like this," said aid worker Marie Walterzon of the Swedish Pentecostal Mission. "Possibly because it involves poor, voiceless Africans," she said
... Most certainly because a war-torn country that has no natural resources and is almost completely bereft of human capital has absolutely nothing to offer modern-day politicians.
The idea that people are not subject to an objective standard of humanity is perhaps flawed, but definitely lethargic.
While I'm certainly not pro-rape or anti-American culture, 12 rapes per day in Sud Kiva Province, population 2.8M, per person is actually comparable to the 36 reports per day in NYC, population 8M. And if you say NYC isn't a cultural representative for the US... really, 12/3M is not that much higher than 1082 rapes per day in the United States, pop. ~300M.
Would you say that Congolian(?) and consequently American cultures are then both cultures of rape? Because that might explain my own personal culture of fear since every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted...and 90% of the time they're female.
Of course, maybe I wouldn't try to make a case for "cultural superiority" on the back of a metric of rapes per day per person; not that I don't appreciate that New Jersey (50th in national ranking based on #forcible rapes/100000 people by state in 2000) has a far superior culture than Alaska (#1 on same ranking), obviously.
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/
pretty rockin' page.
Doink - Actually Africa is one of the resource richest areas on the planet. It's the economy and the infrastructure than just fails to extract it. I forget who it was but he wrote something like;
Everything from Nothing - Hong Kong
Nothing from Everything - Tanzania
Good socialism - Norway
Bad socialist - North Korea
Mariam - Yes, but rape is not the only thing addressed here. It's just the general way they treat women or some of the beliefs they have (one particularly revolting bit is where they will find dead female infants because it is believed in some cultures that if you have sex with a virgin you will be cured of all your diseases. Babies are virgins. Unfortunately a full grown man's anatomy will rupture internal organs of an infant). I'll gladly live in the presumably equal Finland than the presumably just as equal Togo.
marium also assumes that reported rapes are also the actual number of rapes that happen. In the US, there are serious legal consequences to rape, and the women are motivated to tell the authorities. When the military are the ones doing the raping in the congo, who are you going to get to enforce justice? What motivation is there to turn them in? You're motivated to not turn them by the fear of retaliation.
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