Profitable but Costly Ignorance
Seventy-seven-year-old EU official Josep Borrell Fontelles (born in Spain, partly educated in US Ivy League, holder of Spanish and Argentine citizenship documents) declared “Europe is a garden.”
“We have built a garden,” he said. “Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.…
“Here is a big difference between Europe and the rest of the world …. We have strong institutions. The big difference between developed and not developed is not the economy; it is institutions.”
To which professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history Joseph Massad responded
The institutions of “colonialism and slavery … (“from Portugal to France, to Belgium and the Netherlands”)” —… immigrant labor from the “‘rest of the world,’” and “stolen wealth of the ‘rest of the world’’— … built the European ‘garden’,” Massad writes.
“Not Europeans’ ingenuity or goodwill.”
In a self-serving “vanity” adopted from the European character, manifested in these institutions, Borrell chooses to ignore Europe’s prosperity built on robbery: past and present thievery, by force, of the world’s resources; the plunder of the great continents of “Asia and Africa …, making life impossible for the inhabitants of both continents.”
Unlike immigrant Borrell, Professor Massad writes, immigrants from Asia and Africa “are not enamored of Europe’s alleged ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy,’” which have caused Asian and African immigrants enormous, unending “suffering inside and outside of Europe.”
Fantasized ingenuity of Europeans: Ironically or rather because the terms, choice of content and slant and the means of communication are manufactured, sustained and spread through violence (the point of a gun, bomb, strangulation sanctions) by a global minority, the accepted mantra for too long has been that Europe represents “‘civilization’” (and) “the rest of the world represents ‘savagery’ and ‘barbarism.’”Could it be that reality is the opposite of the accepted mantra?
Excerpts from
Imperialist powers gathered in Berlin to formalize rules for the annexation and plunder of Africa. The conclusion of their assembly known as the “Berlin Congress” (Africans excluded) brought about the acceleration of “European colonial expansion” of “‘the Scramble for Africa’”—a violent undertaking that
In part two of his discussion of 140 years from the late nineteenth century conference, Alejandro López describes a “new epoch of imperialist barbarism.”
Following the slave trade intent on developing European and American capitalism and stymieing African development, the “Scramble for Africa” imposed on the “African masses” “a new stage of barbarism.”
African ruling elites perpetuated “the divisive tribal dynamics engineered by colonial powers,” thus further entrenching social divisions and undermining the unity of workers and the rural masses.”
Tribal society meant that small, scattered and diverse units and kingdoms lacked any possibility for continued resistance—let alone the revolutionary overthrow of imperialism.
Resistance was met with extreme forms of brutality.
In concluding Part 2, López observes that imperialists’ unending wars (working classes taking the brunt in suffering) are executed by capitalist nations in their quests for
Washington has been executing wars without end for the past three decades in Eurasia and West Asia “in an attempt to offset” US “economic decline.”
United States created AFRICOM and using its dozens of outposts works with local proxy forces to launch commando raids, drone strikes, and secret assassinations—all intent on exerting greater military influence over Africa and facilitating Washington’s exploitation of the continent’s vast economic resources and labor force.
2011 (US devastation of Libya) (Obama Era)
United States and European powers launched a regime-change operation against oil-rich Libya (killing 50,000 people and leaving the country in chaos, with no functioning central government and an apocalyptic landscape of instability; the emergence of rival tribal factions, competing for dominance over the country’s vast oil reserves.”)
As European capitals facing the threat of additional trade war measures from Washington and increased competition from China aggressively pursue new markets, raw materials, investment opportunities, and cheap labor”—the new head of state in Washington will “further accelerate militarization on the African continent.”
Lethal arrogance and a character of sadistic belligerence bent on razing countries, cultures and nations, strangling and stymieing populations, plundering others’ resources and maintaining control of vital mineral and oil reserves, raw materials and markets (barbarism); together with the battle for world domination (narcissism, sadism) between major powers against emerging capitalist powers
Sources
Excerpts from
Alejandro López’s Three Part “New Scramble for Africa” “140 years since the Berlin Congress”
1884 and 1885
Imperialist powers gathered in Berlin to formalize rules for the annexation and plunder of Africa. The conclusion of their assembly known as the “Berlin Congress” (Africans excluded) brought about the acceleration of “European colonial expansion” of “‘the Scramble for Africa’”—a violent undertaking that
“Redrew Africa’s borders
Fractured ethnic, cultural, and linguistic landscapes, and
Entrenched capitalist exploitation and plundering by imperialist powers (continuing into the 21st century)
Mission of the Assembled German Congress (no Africans allowed) beginning the “Scramble for Africa”
The exclusive profit taking of the imperialists and their exploitation of the “rich resources and human labor” of the African continent.
In service to imperialists quest for “world hegemony…,” the reckless (free, reckless, and callous) conversion of Africa’s “mountains, lakes, rivers, canals and coastlines”, even its remotest regions (into) “geostrategic enclaves.”
Though not a signatory to this particular abomination (otherwise engaged with the Native Americans), Washington pressured for a policy “that would secure its access to markets controlled by others—a strategy of imperialist exploitation… later imposed on China.”
The world had never witnessed “robbery on so large a scale”(Lagos Observer-Nigeria, February 26, 1885).
Under three decades following the conference, imperialists ruled “90 percent” of Africa (“a fifth of the planet’s surface”).
“Five major imperialist powers” had “carved up into around 40 colonial territories”:
- West Africa was dominated by France
- Eastern and southern Africa dominated by Britain
- Congo by Belgium
- Namibia, Cameron, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda (contemporary names) by Germany
- Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Angola (contemporary names) by Portugal; and
- Morocco and Equatorial Guinea (parts of these) by Spain.
Barbarism Personified
Following the slave trade intent on developing European and American capitalism and stymieing African development, the “Scramble for Africa” imposed on the “African masses” “a new stage of barbarism.”
“Tribal identities, once relatively fluid, became rigidly defined and entrenched. European colonial powers classified and codified Africans into specific groups, often aligned with territorially demarcated administrative units or based on pre-existing prejudices, which portrayed some tribes as more warrior-like, others as smarter and more capable of serving indirect rule, or as more business-oriented, hardworking, or lazy.” (a cautionary tale, perhaps, presaging the course of domestic USA)Newly independent economies (dominated by bourgeois nationalist forces) remained subordinate to and dependent on imperialist nations for investment, technology, and access to global markets.
“The partitioning of Africa, the fomenting of tribal divisions, the establishment of exploitative colonial economies had devastating consequences for the post-independence (rendered interminably dependent) states that emerged after the Second World War.”
African ruling elites perpetuated “the divisive tribal dynamics engineered by colonial powers,” thus further entrenching social divisions and undermining the unity of workers and the rural masses.”
Amputation of Resistance
Resistance was met with extreme forms of brutality.
“German imperialism carried out its first genocide against the Herero people in (what is today) Namibia, killing 80 percent of the population, many driven to the desert to starve to death.
“Belgian imperialism’s “forced labor” tactics against Congolese included “a notorious practice (of) cutting off the hands and ears of workers who didn’t meet the quotas.”
The British instituted “concentration camps” against the Dutch migrants (Boers) in southern Africa ensnaring the general African population.
In concluding Part 2, López observes that imperialists’ unending wars (working classes taking the brunt in suffering) are executed by capitalist nations in their quests for
- for world markets and
- for the expansion of capitalist domination in foreign countries
New Scramble for Africa, world Domination, Unending wars
The continent of Africa is the USA's other war front for resources. “Driven by internal crises and faced with the rapidly declining position of United States and European imperialism on the world scale,” Lopez writes in Part 3, the African continent and its rich resources (the theft of these) “are increasingly seen as a necessary means for (United States and European) wars.” (AFRICOM 'R US)
- Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt is vital for lithium-ion batteries used in advanced military hardware
- South Africa and Madagascar’s rare earth elements are indispensable in the manufacture of electronics, lasers, and sensors used in military applications.
- Niger and Namibia’s uranium deposits Namibia are crucial for both nuclear energy and weaponry
- Across Africa is an abundance of metals like tantalum which are vital for missile guidance systems.
- Nigeria and Angola have significant oil and natural gas reserves key to fueling military operations worldwide.
1992 - 1994 (From Bush I into Clinton years)
- US troops occupied Somalia.
- US supported Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia (in 2006) and Kenya’s invasion in 2011.
- Tens of thousands of Somalis have died
- US w European powers backed Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) against pro-French Hutu-led government in power (genocide occurred during this 1990s period)
- US backed Rwandan RPF and Ugandan invasions of mineral-rich Zaire (today DR Congo), to install a pro-US regime, leading to First and Second Congo wars in the 1990s and 2000s (more than five million deaths).
2006 (Bush II Era)
2011 (US devastation of Libya) (Obama Era)
United States and European powers launched a regime-change operation against oil-rich Libya (killing 50,000 people and leaving the country in chaos, with no functioning central government and an apocalyptic landscape of instability; the emergence of rival tribal factions, competing for dominance over the country’s vast oil reserves.”)
Through 2025 “various global powers continued to vie for control, leveraging local proxies to advance their interests.”
2013- 2017 Obama into Trump Era
US special operations forces“Saw combat in at least thirteen African countries”
Lopez concludes Part 3
As European capitals facing the threat of additional trade war measures from Washington and increased competition from China aggressively pursue new markets, raw materials, investment opportunities, and cheap labor”—the new head of state in Washington will “further accelerate militarization on the African continent.”
“The same conflicts—over markets, sources of raw materials, and access to cheap labor—which led to the First and Second World Wars are leading relentlessly to the Third.”
Lethal arrogance and a character of sadistic belligerence bent on razing countries, cultures and nations, strangling and stymieing populations, plundering others’ resources and maintaining control of vital mineral and oil reserves, raw materials and markets (barbarism); together with the battle for world domination (narcissism, sadism) between major powers against emerging capitalist powers
portends
an insanity-driven level of global conflict
summoning
global annihilation.
Sources
Massad, Joseph. 20222 “Josep Borrell’s European ‘garden’ is built on the plunder of the ‘jungle’ World Socialist Web Site October 19, 2022 “The EU foreign policy chief’s … comments are nothing short of a smokescreen to cover up Europe’s ongoing and actual neocolonialism in Asia and Africa” https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/eu-josep-borrell-europe-garden-built-on-plunder-jungle
López, Alejandro.
López, Alejandro.
- “140 years since the Berlin Congress: The new Scramble for Africa—Part One” January 10, 2025, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/11/qceh-j11.html
- “140 years since the Berlin Congress: The new Scramble for Africa—Part Two” January 12, 2025, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/12/kdmf-j12.html
- “140 years since the Berlin Congress: The new Scramble for Africa—Part Three” January 13, 2025, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/13/szsh-j13.html
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PROLIFIC SOUTHERN-BORN AMERICAN WRITER DR. CAROLYN LADELLE BENNETT focuses on People, Press, Politics USA; Domestic and Foreign Affairs (no copyright claimed in direct quotes and individual image)
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