A car was stopped at a road block in Zimbabwe. On winding down the window the driver was informed that Mugabe had been captured by rebels. They were threatening to douse him with petrol and set fire to him unless a ransom was paid. The road-blockers were making a collection.
"How much are most people contributing?"
"About two or three liters."
Jokes are the last weapon available to the oppressed. They were common in satellites of the USSR. One story tells of a citizen who was disgusted at joining queues for unavailable staples. After spending a day in a queue on the unfounded rumor of the availability of tomatoes, he decides he must buy a gun. "I am going to shoot Brezhnev." In the evening he reurned despondent. He friend asked, "Well, did you shoot him?" "No, the queue was too long."
2 comments:
What is to be done with the monstrous dictators? Often the citizenry is too cowed by a heavily-armed police and army, and killings to keep the rabble in line.
It has often been said that the final, last resort tactic is the general strike. The army and the police cannot kill everyone.
However, in a country such as Zimbabwe, the economy is the equivalent of the general strike as it is.
They say the only road to replacing Mugabe is through South Africa. Because Mugabe was instrumental in ridding the country (formerly known as Rhodesia) from its British rulers, his fellow African leaders are reluctant to remove him.
Meanwhile, the people slowly (or not so slowly) starve to death. Aid will not help, as it is siphoned off to the ruling class.
And the West cannot help since they are afraid to shed a drop of blood liberating others because (1) they will get no lasting thanks from the populace (see Iraq) and (2) the history of American and British intervention in Iraq has turned the liberal against the use of force.
You can be sure that if President Obama desired to send troops there, he'd never have the support of the Conservatives, nor would he have much support from Democrats.
Meanwhile, people die. So sorry!
Mugabe didn't lead his people against the British. He led them against Ian Smith's illegal white regime, that had declared independence form Britain and was subject to many years of sanctions from Britain.
Post a Comment