The East African Federation experiment
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The East African Federation experiment
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Re: The East African Federation experiment
#2I appreciate the enthusiasm, but as the EU shows (and the US in its Confederation incarnation in the 18th century), creating a super-state is not easy.
I wish them luck, we badly need a large and developed country in Africa.
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#3I appreciate the enthusiasm, but as the EU shows (and the US in its Confederation incarnation in the 18th century), creating a super-state is not easy. I wish them luck, we badly need a large and developed country in Africa.
I recently heard a quote: “These countries aren't underdeveloped, they are overexploited.”
EDIT: Found the source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14#t=3m
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#4I appreciate the enthusiasm, but as the EU shows (and the US in its Confederation incarnation in the 18th century), creating a super-state is not easy. I wish them luck, we badly need a large and developed country in Africa.
I recently heard a quote: “These countries aren't underdeveloped, they are overexploited.” EDIT: Found the source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14#t=3m
You can only be overexploited if you are underdevelopped and vice versa.
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently heard a quote: “These countries aren't underdeveloped, they are overexploited.” EDIT: Found the source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14#t=3m
You can only be overexploited if you are underdevelopped and vice versa.
It’s important which word you choose, since both words bring with them its own implied solution to the problem. If we call it “underdeveloped”, the implied solution is to foster development. If, on the other hand, we call it “overexploited”, well…
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#6Citizen of an East African state here. Don't read too much into this experiment. At best it's a limited regional partnership framework (emphasis on limited), at worst it's a private club for a bunch of crooked politicians. Nothing to see here.
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently heard a quote: “These countries aren't underdeveloped, they are overexploited.” EDIT: Found the source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14#t=3m
You can only be overexploited if you are underdevelopped and vice versa.
I would disagree because in my opinion it seems that there are some parts of the western developed world where levels of exploitation are increasing.
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#8In west africa there are plans for a single currency (beyond the already existing CFA franc)
https://www.dw.com/en/ecowas-west-african-bloc-aims-to-launc...
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#9Citizen of an East African state here. Don't read too much into this experiment. At best it's a limited regional partnership framework (emphasis on limited), at worst it's a private club for a bunch of crooked politicians. Nothing to see here.
I believe a customs union and common market are not nothing. The article is a bit too optimistic in speaking already of a federation. The EU shows that a political union is difficult, but simultaneously shows that a union of currencies, customs, borders, and regulations can be wonderfully effective. In this spirit, the EAC is going in the right direction.
Re: The East African Federation experiment
#10I appreciate the enthusiasm, but as the EU shows (and the US in its Confederation incarnation in the 18th century), creating a super-state is not easy. I wish them luck, we badly need a large and developed country in Africa.
I recently heard a quote: “These countries aren't underdeveloped, they are overexploited.” EDIT: Found the source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14#t=3m
I fail to see how this argument helps the countries - or rather the people - in question, that is unless you subscribe to the Marxist idea (which probably applies to the lecturer, given he's apparently well-known for his Marxist writings) that the economy essentially is a zero-sum game, in which invariably somebody has to lose for somebody else to win.
In my opinion, that's just a defeatist view because it means poor people in underdeveloped countries will remain poor unless we somehow manage to entirely undo 500 years of colonial history.
Rather than dwell on the past, we should try and find ways to create a better future. Mind you, this doesn't mean forgetting about the past and the atrocities committed under colonialism or revising history accordingly, but rather have that past inform our actions today.