rapid rise in prices as currency loses it's value
Don't abandon me. I'm not going to write about economic principles. Imagine if you will, going into Trader Joe's to buy a loaf of Milton's bread for $3.59. Now imagine just one year later that bread, in that same store, made with those same ingredients costing $179.50. Your salary has not increased and so buying this bread is impossible for you and considering that 4 people in 5 are without work where you live chances are, you are part of that unemployment statistic. Twenty hours out of most of your days are spent without electricity. And one candle, on most days, costs twice the daily official government wage for a farm worker. It's a dark time for Zimbabwe.
It's hard to believe that the African country with the highest literacy rate (85%) could be in such a bad situation. President Mugabe decided that 20 years after Zimbabwe gained independence and most of the farm land was still in the hands of white farm owners he would unveil a plan for seizure of land without compensation. This looked like a government official
forcing a white farmer and his family off their land and giving it to a black family. As you can imagine, a person without training in methods of farming would be doomed to failure. Picture Lesley trying to start my dad's tractor and plow through the orchards. Or Anna directing field laborers when and how to prune the the trees... You get the picture. The farming economy that was doing very well went down hill and so now the country faces the annual 5,000% inflation rate. Or rather, hyperinflation.There is a teacher at the Bridges Academy who has moved to South Africa with one million other Zimbabweans looking for a way to get their lives back. His name is Owen and he still has four siblings that are in Zimbabwe. He told Chase yesterday that he doesn't believe he will ever see them again. It's scary how fast a bad political situation can take over and negatively affect civilians who were previously doing so fine. It's like this weird thing where a good thing, like justice, gets hijacked and the wrong people try and make something happen that they believe is fair for them but ends up going so bad. We can cross our fingers that Robert Mugabe doesn't get re-elected in March despite all his efforts to take control of the election process. If he is re-elected he could be in office until he is 90, unless he dies first. It's ironic to have a dictator in a country that is supposed to have a democratically elected leader.
3 comments:
One-- I love my shout out on your blog. It actually made me miss Modesto, strangely, since I've been to you house once. But, it made me think of our August retreat in 2006 and how much fun we had.
Thanks for the break down on what's happening there. It reminds me how important it is to be informed of what's happening around the world and also to vote and have a voice in our own country.
Is there a chance of riots if the election doesn't go as planned?
Maybe I WILL taking over pruning duties, thankyouverymuch. Let's be honest, though, riots would surely ensue.
There are things that happen almost daily that make me appreciate the systems that America does have in place. In Zimbabwe, my impression is that they have a really tight reign on anyone speaking against Mugabe. But if you look into the political situation here in South Africa there is something in some ways similar to what is happening in Kenya currently. The ANC is split for the first time around ethnicity (Zulu vs. Xhosa) There is mounting tension, I can't get a read on how serious it is though. Can you imagine Republicans just going ape shit when Obama or Hilary wins and like killing people in the streets who are democrats. I'm smiling, but it's not funny.
Post a Comment